No, this is not a prank, the Pope does actually own not just one but four Harley Davidson hogs, two of which he now intends on auctioning off to raise funds for a soup kitchen and hostel for the homeless run by the Caritas charity located near Termini station in Rome.

The Pope came to acquire these fine automotive specimens after he blessed 35,000 odd Harley Riders in June at the Vatican, where they had ridden down to in celebration of Harley completing a 110 years of existence. Watch this short video of the Pope interacting with a leather clad biker at the Vatican:

There’s another video of him addressing the massive throng of bikers gathered to seek his blessings

Harley gifted the Pope the four prized rides after this event as a gesture of appreciation, but sadly any hopes of seeing the Pope astride one of his massive cruisers, tearing up the streets of the holy city are all but dashed after he announced his intention of selling the bikes to raise funds. If you’re still clinging to the idea that he might take a quick spin on one of the remaining two Harleys forget about it, as it is being reported that they will be donated to the Vatican Police.

So if you happen to be in Rome, and have always wished to own a wicked Harley, but with a proverbial halo around it’s head,and resplendent in a godly aura, you can actually make that dream come true!

Picture Courtesy: Reuters

Story: Harket Suchde

The fourth edition of Harley Davidson’s yearly Rock Rider’s gig brought the house down at Mehboob Studios in Mumbai on the 12th of October 2013. Featuring the biggest names in India’s rock and roll dynasty, the show was bigger (and louder) than ever before. Check out the nation’s most celebrated growlers and shredders in action from the show.

KTM will début its brand new 450 Rally bike at the upcoming Morocco OilLibya Rally. The Rally in Morocco will be used by KTM and partners Red Bull as an opportunity to suss out the bike’s biggest issues and prepare to have it firing on all cylinders for The Dakar Rally next year.

The 450 Rally is a completely new design developed by KTMs Motorsport focused engineering division, The same team that has churned out the eventual conquerors of the Dakar Rally since 2001, an undefeated streak stretching back over 12 editions of the competition.

The 2013 world rally champion will also be crowned based on how the race pans out in Morocco, so it’s more than just a training exercise, with KTM’s Spanish maestro Marc Coma holding a slender 3 point lead over his closest rivals. KTMs riding team is completed by Kurt Caselli from the United States, Portugal’s Ruben Faria, and Francisco Lopez of Chile, who will all ride the new 450 Rally in the Dakar Rally come the 5th of January in South America.

Story: Harket Suchde

Harley-Davidson’s long standing association with rock n’ roll music is well known globally, and keeping up with the tradition, Harley-Davidson India is hosting the grand finale of their 4th annual Harley Rock Riders gig at the Mehboob Studio in Mumbai on Saturday, the 12th of October 2013.

Boasting of a stellar line up, the gig will see international electro-rock duo Shaa’ir + Func, Mumbai based hard rockers Overhung, and celebrated Alt. Rockers in the form of Junkyard Groove, play out scintillating sets.

Along with this, the Rock Riders show will also see the top 3 bands of Harley’s inaugural ‘Find your Freedom’ contest take to the stage in an attempt to woo the trio of celebrity judges present for a chance to earn a chance to perform at the The European Bike Week in Austria in 2014. These hopefuls will be judged by Musician,Actor and VJ Luke Kenny, Zero and Tough on Tobacco’s Sidd Coutto, and Lalitha Suhasini, Editor, Rolling Stone India.

Visit the Harley-Davidson India web site or their Facebook page for passes and more information with regards to the show.

Story: Harket Suchde

Bollywood icon Salman Khan’s Being Human Foundation is instantly recognisable thanks the amount of promotion he and his superstar friends have carried out for it. Recently, this promotional activity was taken to a whole new level, when Suzuki along with Salman announced the release of a special, limited edition ‘Being Human’ version of the Suzuki Access.

Speaking at Suzuki’s Mumbai dealership, Salman, who was there to purchase his very own being human scooter, spoke about this collaboration and what he hopes will come out of it, he said, “I am really happy that Suzuki has launched a co-branded Being Human scooter. This is the first step in a long association between Suzuki and Being Human: The Salman Khan Foundation. Suzuki’s nationwide network will help the Foundation increase its reach in its mission to provide education and healthcare for the underprivileged.”

Through this collaboration, Suzuki will not only sell this special edition of the Access, but also various other Being Human merchandise in it’s outlets across the nation. The proceeds from these sales will be used to help educate underprivileged children, pay for heart surgeries and cataract operations, and organise bone marrow donation camps.

Atul Gupta, Executive Vice President of Suzuki India felt optimistic about the masses also joining in on the cause, he said, “Suzuki is proud to extend its partnership with Salman. Suzuki globally is committed to contributing to the development of the community though social action programs. We are very happy to be able to contribute to the Being Human effort by promoting the cause through the presence of branded apparel at our dealerships and we are sure our customers will become partners in the goals of the Being Human Foundation.”

Story: Harket Suchde