One of the highlights of our trip to Hawaii was actually renting bikes. it surprised me when I asked about renting Harleys and everyone was up for it, even the kids which had to passengerize. Below you'll see pictures of us with Helmets on but we pretty much lost those fairly early in the trip...no Helmet law so......[8D] Sorry this is a bit long but I thought I'd mix my comparison of the bikes with the trip info.

Since the big Island is the largest and the speed limits aremostly 25 - 55 (OK and we are slow pokes cause we look at everything), we ended up renting for 2 days - once on each side of the Island. One couple made it around the whole island in one day...They must have never stopped. In fact we saw them once and they asked if they should get off or if they had seen it....lol.

Kona:
Kona is the desert side of the island..in some places you almost couldn't tell the difference from California. We rented a Road Glide and Electra Glide. Hubby finally got to try a Harley Touring bikeand got to try one too. We both loved the radios...really got to get me one of those...and the passengers were very happy. Found if I would end up buying one I would definately need to adjust of change the handle bars. I was way more comfortable on the Road Glide then the Electra Glide, probably because it was a bit lower...though I did ride the Electra Glide in the rain and was ok with it. The Road Glide had cruise control and no matter what anyone says...I liked it. The shaking through me off...I'm used to my smoother Softtail. A couple oftimes Ithought I was lugging when coming to a stop and it was just the shaking Both were '07s so had the 96" there is a decent difference in the power between my 88" and the '07s. Not a huge difference that I could feel with a passenger just a more comfortable power. Unfortuanately we never made it to 6 sixth gear...just no place to get to cruising at a high enough speed. Here's a couple of pictures.....we rode the northern part of the Island which went from desert to lush tropical landscapes.

Mom & Daughter on the Road Glide


Dad & son on the Electra Glide


My kids thinking this whole riding thing might not be bad (son had no desire until now)


The end of the road (literally)


Hilo:
In Hilo we didn't have much of a chioce in bikes since they only had 2. [8D] I ended up with an 06 Heritage (with 46k + miles) and Hubby took the Electra Glide Classic. The bikes weren't very well taken care of...The Heritage was carbarated and diseled when I turned it off each time. The Hilo side is much moreof the tropical forest side. Again you will see Helmets but they didn't last long.

The Heritage:


Mom & Daughter:


Dad & son:


We stopped for sites like this


Just riding (the pic here does not do it justice):


Daughter on the back playing with the camera...you can see hubby's bike behind:

 

Glad that you got to ride a little bit. When I was stationed on Oahu, we shipped our bikes over to the Big Island 3 times, the shortest was 7 days. We had a blast. There is a lot to see and do, and it looks better on a bike. I think the coolest part was that your kids wanted to go with you.

 

I really was surprised that the kids agreed to go. Everytime I mentioned it before we lefteveryone sorta avoided it. After renting in Kona they had me book Hilo immediately, so I guess they had a good time . It was totally the best way to see the Island. Only a few places we needed the 4WD

Only commentsI got from the Daughter who rides with me here was that while she liked the Electra Glide back seat she actually prefered the open back rest on the Road Glide.

 

Sounds like great fun, Bev! Glad the kids enjoyed it too!

 

Those are some great pics Bluerose! Glad to hear that you had a good time!!

 

Sounds like a lot of fun. I've done drive from Hilo to Kona in a cage, nice drive but you and your family did it right.

 

I was born there. Life is so relaxing there. LOL! nobody goes fast there. only the tourist. Glad your family had FUN!!!

 

awesome pics and story.. thanks for sharing!

 

Looks like you had a great time...the wife andI were married on Maui last year and wanted to rent a bike after the wedding, but it was raining way to hard to hardly even leave the ship and enjoy it (guess that is our excuse for going back )

Looks like you had a good time

 

Thanks for sharing, BlueRose. Glad y'all had a good time and even got some scooter time in. The pics and narrative really made the post a welcome read. Thanks again, and welcome back!