Riding a Harley-Davidson around the north-western outskirts of Auckland on a sunny Sunday afternoon wasn’t on my bucket list. It should have been.

Invited by North Auckland Harley-Davidson to experience riding one of their massive touring bikes, I thought it would be just another motorbike ride. I’d rather fancied myself on two wheels in the past – buying a Lambretta (without parental approval) when I was at school, and later “upgrading” to a Suzuki 125cc motorbike. Last year, many years later, I tootled – pillion-style – around Hue in Vietnam and despite the tourist-identifying pink helmets, enjoyed experiencing the city and all its crazy traffic as well as the feel of the wind on my face as we moseyed into the countryside.

Stepping up to a Harley-Davidson was another whole experience. First, the instruction to wear jeans and ankle-covering boots. Really? On the hottest day Auckland had had in weeks? And then there was the gear Phil Heath from Harley-Davidson lent me for the experience: the triple-layered “light” jacket, complete with middle waterproof layer, the hand-protecting gloves – and the full-face helmet. This was firm-fitting and heavily padded inside, with a visor that once down, successfully blocked out my driver’s voice, but also allowed full vision, and none of the watery, wind-blown eyes that I’d experienced when wearing only glasses on lesser vehicles.

All this gear was for safety, of course – and I’d thoroughly recommend it, even when riding pillion as I was. The brand-new FLHXS Street Glide Special (with its 114 cubic inch (1868cc) V-Twin engine, for the technically-minded) throbs as Phil Heath, my fellow rider for the afternoon, kicks the motor into life, hinting at the power these machines pack. This is a serious touring bike, designed for the long distances and straight roads of the United States; one to get you and a partner to Wellington or beyond, and one that just loves the hills and corners of Auckland’s hinterland.

The panniers on either side of the pillion seat are roomy enough for all your gear – if you travel light – on a long trip, and perfect for whatever you’d need if you used your Harley-Davidson for a weekend jaunt as we did. The pillion seat slopes backwards so Phil fitted a back rest that provided me (and no doubt him) the security that I wouldn’t slip off en route, and allowed me to fully appreciate the g-forces as he dropped through the gears, engine shifting from gentle throb to heavy roar as we accelerated to pass mere mortals in cars on Auckland’s back roads. This was more like aircraft take-off than anything I’d ever experienced – a mere hint, I suspect, of what the Street Glide could do if not constrained by local speed limits and Phil’s consideration of an inexperienced pillion passenger on board.

We cruised along the motorway, passing when we could with an acceleration that most cars couldn’t match if they tried, then off onto the winding roads round Waitoki, Kaukapapa and west Auckland. We enjoyed views out to the gulf, and across tinder-dry farmland; raced past lifestyle blocks with goats, alpaca, sheep and corn, and through small villages where the waft of takeaways or roasting coffee took over from the more rural olfactory sensations in the countryside. You’re really in the countryside, rather than simply driving through, as you do in a car.

It was such fun, blatting along the few straight stretches, angling into the corners and accelerating out of them up one hill and around the next. As Phil says, a corner in a car is nothing, but a corner on a bike is a beautiful thing. It sure is. I’d have loved at this point to test my old motorcycle riding skills, but common sense suggested that the weight of this machine might be more than a match for me.

Not so, says, Phil, when we return, exhilarated and alive from the sounds, smells and sights of parts of Auckland neither of us had ever been to. He says, correctly, that he’s not a large person. But he can handle any Harley-Davidson model. You just need to know how.

First step is to have to have a motorbike licence – and if you have one but it’s years since you last drove your 250cc road bike and have never ridden a Harley-Davidson, he strongly recommends a refresher course. There’s just one Harley Davidson model that’s approved for learning on: the Harley-Davidson Street 500; if you fancy making a ride like ours part of your weekend routine (as part of a Harley Owners Group outing, or solo) you can contact ProRider, where you can get on-road training, your learner licence, and progress to a full licence.

But back to our ride. As the Harley-Davidson PR blurb says: “In the saddle... sights and sounds fill the senses. And responsibilities blow off your back like dandelion seeds in the wind. Few experiences can be described as life-changing. But a ride on a Harley-Davidson motorcycle is one of them….”

I’m sold. Bring on the next opportunity for me to let a Harley-Davidson “blow things wide open".