All H.O.G.® Chapters world-wide are associated with a local sponsoring dealership. Ours is Riders of Bristol.
Riders is a family business that was started up in Yeovil in 1976 by Phil Jessop. This was just the start and, in 1981, Riders of Bridgwater was born. The business expanded rapidly and by 1991 moved to Wylds Road.
In 2003 (the 100th Anniversary year of Harley-Davidson) Riders of Bristol opened on Stockwood Road, Bristol in “The Shed”, not much bigger than a double garage! Duncan White, then a mechanic, and now General Manager of the Bristol site, recalls ‘the real squeeze to get all the bikes away at the end of the day and having to climb over them to get out’.
With the opening of the Riders of Bristol store, 2003 also saw the beginning of our “Great Western H.O.G.® Chapter”.
Fortunately, “The Shed” was only temporary and, on Saturday September 13th 2003, trading finished there to begin afresh on Monday 15th in a custom-designed building. This boasts 10,000 square feet of ground floor retail space for bikes (Harley-Davidson and Ducati), motor clothes and workshops, on the upper mezzanine floor there is PJ’s cafe, the Great Western Chapter information board and display cabinet.
The store is staffed by friendly and helpful individuals, with whom you will soon be on first name terms. If you have a problem, or are looking for a particular piece of kit, they are always ready to give advice and go the extra mile, if needed.
Harley Owners Group
It is believed that the first use of the term “hog” in relation to Harley-Davidson traces its origins to the early 1920s.
The official Harley-Davidson company racing team of that era was known as the “Wrecking Crew” because of their nearly total domination of the dirt track races they entered.
An additional non-racer who was a member of the team was a small pig. Whenever a Harley-Davidson team member won a race, he stopped to pick up the pig and took it with him for a victory lap. After a while, race fans and some in the media began to informally refer to the team as the “Harley Hogs”. However, the “Wrecking Crew” moniker was the one that persevered over time.
As the “Harley Hogs” nickname faded, the word “hog” endured as the slang term among enthusiasts for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The 3rd Edition of the Dictionary of American Slang even contains an entry for “hog” as being a “1960s motorcycle or motorcyclist” with a following entry mentioning Harley-Davidson by name. The word then became more official when the world’s first factory-sponsored motorcycle club appeared. The choice must have been obvious: The Harley Owners Group, or H.O.G.
