story and photos by M. Stemp

For the second time in as manyyears, Harley riders have goneto sea. That’s right, the second

annual Hogs On The High Seas(HOHS) 7-Day Caribbean RallyCruise is officially over, thoughechoes of a fine time can still beheard ringing from Margaritaville inOcho Rios, Jamaica, to Carlos ‘nCharlie’s in Cozumel, Mexico.

The idea was hatched two yearsago by Dean and Debbie Anderson,a couple of riders like us who weretired of attending the same old mo-torcycle rallies. The first HOHS rallytook place in November 2003, (seeIronWorks, May/June ’04) doubledin size for 2004, and already hasbookings for 2005. One change forthe 2005 Caribbean Rally is a newembarkation point at Port Canaver-al, FL, rather than Miami, a wel-come change to many because of

38 IronWorks March 2005

Hogs On The High SeasBikers make waves in the Western Caribbean

39IronWorks March 2005

better access. The Andersons havealso scheduled a second itiner-ary—a June 2005 HOHS rally toAlaska that departs from Vancou-ver, B.C., Canada.

These rallies provide everythingyou’d expect from a top-of-the-line cruise ship—Royal Caribbean,in this case—plus biker-themedevents such as poker walks andvendor displays, not to forget theexclusive on-shore parties atports-of-call. As one cruiser put it,“I’ve come to party with 1,400 ofmy best friends.” Each day, thou-sands of dollars in prizes aregiven away, compliments of thevendors on board, and the grandprize is a custom motorcycle. Ifyou’re on the cruise with theHOHS group—and only if you’rewith the group—you’re entered towin any and all of the goodies.

Like most biker events, this oneraises money for a charity, too.HOHS benefits a dialysis fundthat allows otherwise home-bound dialysis patients a chanceto go on vacation. Over $31,000 was raised on the 2004cruise, enough to provide care, medical staff contractedwith Dialysis-at-Sea, and ship facilities for up to 14 pa-tients on the upcoming Alaska trip.

What’s missing from these events is likely the most at-tractive aspect to many bikers; dining room dress codes

are relaxed for HOHS cruisers sothat no dressing up is required—aclear case of less is more. This factalone accounted for not only thecomfort but the actual presence ofmany men we spoke with.

To account for the absence of at-tendees’ motorcycles at this rally,IronWorks tested the water thisyear with a virtual bike show.Cruisers were encouraged tobring along a photo of the bikethey left behind, to be displayedin the ship’s photo gallery. Apanel of judges comprised of in-dustry figures chose the winnersin various classes. The competi-tion was stiff; in fact, we ended upwith two winners in the TwinCam class, one built from partsthat included a Twin Cam engine,and another that traces its rootsright to the H-D factory, modifiedat its owner’s whim. We plan toshow some of the other greatbikes that joined the competitionin our Readers’ Rides section asthe year goes on.

To see more photos of the cruise plus get full details onthe bike show winners, go to www.ironworksmag.com.You also can find additional shots of the Redneck Engi-neering-built giveaway bike there.

Now, without further ado, here are the winners of theinaugural IronWorks HOHS Virtual Bike Show.

Organizers Debbie and Dean Anderson (far left and third from right) enjoy a brief calm moment with friends in the midst of avery busy week. Like the ship, cruisers hop from island to island to soak up maximum fun.

Happy new owner George Faria tries out hisprize, backed by John Franco of Wicked Bros.George's wife, Jeannie, gets a hug fromRedneck Engineering's Vince Doll whosecrew in Liberty, SC built the bike.

continued

40 IronWorks March 2005

Class: Big Twin/Twin CamWinner: Robert Kantor

Coral Springs, FL

Robert Kantor’s 2004 Thunder Mountain Custom tooktop honors in the Twin Cam class. Robert’s bike made thecut by virtue of its Twin Cam “B” engine, the same oneused to power all Thunder Mountain Customs. Andthough the bike wasn’t hatched at Juneau Avenue, themajority of its components were made by Harley-David-son, and assembled at Thunder Mountain’s Loveland,CO, facility. It has a 35-degree raked frame made especial-ly for Thunder Mountain, a 5-speed H-D transmission,and Metzeler tires. And that paint job is just striking.

Class: Big Twin/Twin CamWinner: Phil Seeley and

Jackie PiercySeattle, WA

To please those purists among us who say that a cus-tom built bike—even one with a Harley-Davidson TC88engine—shouldn’t win the Twin Cam class, we settled onthis stealthy 1999 Dyna Wide Glide from the great North-west as an additional pick. Assembled by Dan Brousardand painted by Gary Ebert, it’s been customized withVance & Hines pipes, Paughco fenders, LaPera seat, andForcewinder air cleaner along with some goodies fromNess and Kuryakyn. And though our judges almost in-sisted we get Phil to ditch the sissybar and passengerbackrest from a styling standpoint, we appreciate the factthat this bike is a rider, not a profiler.

Class: Big Twin/EvoOwner: Catherine Grabowski

Medford, NY

In the EVO class, honors go to Catherine “Cat”Grabowski’s ’98 FXDL Lowrider. This bike culled a sub-stantial number of votes in the People’s Choice category,too, showing the power of presentation. Along with ahealthy dose of chrome, plus paint by Cycledelics onLong Island, NY, for looks, Cat added a Hale Bob aircleaner, Yost carb and slash-cut H-D exhaust to addressperformance. Components from PM and GMA handlestopping duties, including the drive-side rear brake sothere’s no rotor on the exhaust side. Not bad for a for-mer nun of 20 years, huh? (Yes, you read that right.) You go, girl.

Class: Big Twin/Pre-EvoOwner: Bernie Ehrman

York, PAIn a fun coincidence, Bernie Ehrman tells us that his

bike appeared in the Seasoned Citizens section of Iron-Works a few years back. None of us around here canhardly recall what we did last week, let alone a fewyears ago, so we’ll take Bernie’s word for it. He says itwas before he added the sidecar; that’s probably why wedon’t remember. Anyway, the 1936 VHS is a classic withits 80-cu.-in. engine rebuilt by Andy Guard, with painthandled by Rick Bowman at Covered Bridge Customs.Isn’t she a beaut?

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Class: Sportster Owner: Debbie Kelley

Billerica, MANow here’s a good story for you: Bean Town Choppers built this custom

Sporty using an ’04 1200cc H-D engine, factory transmission, Buell frontend—and the Redneck frame that Debbie (the bike’s owner) won during lastyear’s Hogs on the High Seas cruise. And as the company’s first custombuild, it essentially put Bean Town Choppers in business, too (978-663-6374,www.beantownchoppers.com). Other Redneck components feature in thebuild, along with some Ness parts and one-offs by Bean Town. Now that’staking the ball—or in this case, the frame—and running with it.

Class: Special BuildOwner: Jeff Hunter

Hayes, VAThe fine, flowing lines of this 2003 Big Dog Bull Dog caught the collective

eye of our judges right away. Major components include an S&S 107-cu.-in.powerplant, Daytec Softail frame and Stealth swingarm, Baker 6-speed trans-mission with right-side drive, and inverted forks. Jeff added the BDL openprimary drive, a Wicked Bros. exhaust system and a few detail items like theJoker mirrors. Through careful research and comparison-shopping, Jeff got atop-of-the-line custom for what he felt was a good price. “Of course, I put an-other $5,000 into it,” he added. “But it’s an awesome bike,” he said. “So well-balanced and the ride is excellent.”

A Pirate’sTreasureVendor space is at a premium

on a ship at sea, meaningthat only a few select companieswere asked to attend HOHS. Ofcourse those companies provid-ed the bulk of the door prizes, sotheir presence was quite wel-come. Several of those folks alsodonated items that were auc-tioned during the cruise to bene-fit the designated charity, Dialy-sis-at-Sea. Notable among theauction items was a set of four,framed H-D 100th Anniversaryprints given by Segal Fine Artthat netted $4,700.

Primary vendors includedLuster Lace, Power-Tye, Hall-craft’s, On The Fringe Leather,Mustang Seats, Red Wing Shoes,Wicked Bros., Ego Tripp,Kuryakyn, Segal Fine Art,Franklin Mint, Coastline Motor-cycle Adventure Tours, Wind-vest, Milwaukee Iron, BikersAtlas, Tex Efx and Redneck En-gineering. Secondary vendorswere Sumax, Wimmer Machine,Widder Electric Clothing, Ol’Koots Motor Scoots, AmericanRoad Collection, Doc Bailey’s,MC-Tunes, Wiley-X, Avon Tyresand Performance Machine.

Many shops and dealers sentcompany logo gear, keeping waitstaff and bartenders in do-ragsand biker Ts all week long,adding to the casual, comfortableatmosphere.

In all, giveaways provided bythese companies totaled over$130,000. An additional $50,000 incash was also given out over theweek, not to mention a hand-builtmotorcycle worth over $40,000.Avast, me hearties! Raise a cup ofgrog in salute to all of these saltydogs.

Class: BuellOwner: Steve Mann

Powhatan, VALike any good racer,

Steve Mann and his rac-ing Buell S-3 are coveredin sponsor decals. It’sthat kind of support thatgets Steve to the dragstrip on weekends, andbodes well for success.He was ranked #7 na-tionally in 2004 andnamed East CoastChamp in the AHDRAfor 2003—no small feat.The mostly stock ma-chine sports carbon fiberbody parts and minimalfrills. After all, this is a

purpose-driven motorcycle. Steve is grateful for the support of De-parture Bike Works, Colonial H-D/Buell, Roberts Funai InsuranceAgency, Central Virginia Bank and Chesapeake Bay Cabinet Co.

Class: People’s ChoiceOwner: Michael C. Hudgins

Hayes, VAHere’s what we liked about this bike: It not only looks like a

Pro Street race bike but—as it houses the last engine that dragrace legend Jim McClure built before he passed away—it alsolikely acts like a race bike, too. HOHS cruisers apparently agreed,picking it as their favorite of the show. Technically, it’s a 2002American Thunder Pro Street V-Twin that incorporates a 150-cu.-in. S&S engine, Baker 6-speed tranny, Wicked Bros. exhaust andBDL primary. Wheels, brakes and controls are from PerformanceMachine and Scott Dale at Scott’s Custom Graphics splashed onthe race-inspired paint. Take a good look at this bike while it’sstanding still, because with its rider in place, it’s gone.

42 IronWorks March 2005

ResourceHogs On The High Seas1-800-444-8795 ● www.hogsonthehighseas.com

North, to Alaska!

Cruises often bring to mind sunny beachesand tropical locales. But for those looking

for different venues to sail to, consider thenext Hogs on the High Seas Rally Cruise toAlaska, June 26-July 3, 2005. It features all thebiker-themed fun of the Caribbean trip—along with hefty prize giveaways, too—butthe ship departs from Vancouver, B.C., Cana-da, for a seven-day inside passage cruise.Hubbard Glacier, Juneau, and Misty Fjordsare several of the stops.

We’ve heard that British Columbia and thePacific Northwest offer some of the mostbreathtaking riding you’ll ever experience.With that in mind, you might add a few daysat the beginning or end of the Alaska rally,and contact an area touring company for anup-close look.

Ol’ Koots Motor Scoots offers 1-, 3-, 5- and 7-day tours in Western Canada, on your bikeor theirs. Custom trips tailored to your speci-fications can also be arranged. Tours origi-nate in southeastern B.C., about two and ahalf hours north of Spokane, WA. Sights in-clude glacier-fed lakes, incredible vistas,Banff and Jasper National Parks, gold-rushtowns, waterfalls, hot springs and wildlife.Your guide knows these roads inside out,along with the most memorable and uniquestops for meals and accommodations. Ol’Koots promises zero stress and 100% fun.

Coastline Motorcycle Adventure Tours offer7- and 8-day guided tours for specific dates inJuly, August and September. They also designcustom tours for groups of six or more, andrent motorcycles. Tours usually originate inB.C.’s capitol city, Victoria, and incorporatesuch sites as Bow Glacier, Columbia Ice Fieldsand Lake Louise. But just for HOHS rallygo-ers, they’ve planned two specific trips, bothbefore and after the cruise—starting and end-ing in Vancouver. Rally attendees are even ex-tended a discount if they book early.

Our advice? Check out what these compa-nies have to offer and start planning the ad-venture of a lifetime.

ResourceOl’ Koots Motor Scoots250-357-9233 ● www.olkoots.com

Coastline Motorcycle Adventure Tours1-866-338-0344 ● www.coastlinemc.com