Raymond Ma Siu-wing can't wait for the weekend. That's when the 55-year-old dentist exchanges his clinical whites for a wardrobe of black, with a leather vest, bandanna and boots. For Ma, they signal a respite from root canals and bridgework, and the freedom of the open roads on his bike with fellow members of the Harley Owners Group (Hog).
Weekend biker warriors have long rumbled across Hong Kong, where there are now more than 49,000 registered machines, and about 30 clubs that serve the diverse interests and styles of the bikers.
'We have limited roads for riding and venues to meet, but our enthusiasm is no less than in any other country,' says Irish architect and the organiser of next month's Motorcycle Show, Ian Foster.
You might see the members of the BMW Owners Club on big tourers in Shek O on Sunday mornings, and then run across a sleekly garbed group on Ducatis. Then there are the tattooed Mad Dogs, and the flamboyant types of the Chopper Union.
The clubs usually keep to themselves because each embraces different ethos and riding lifestyles. But on November 4, these biker tribes will meet in Chater Road, Central, at the Motorcycle Show, to celebrate their diversity and love of two wheels. The 120-strong Hog will be at the heart of it, in their Sunday-best black in a sea of well-polished chrome. 'We love our machines,' says Ma. 'The Harley is strange; heavy, noisy and clumsy, but you just can't resist it.'
Like Ma, many Hog members developed a passion for the American bike and its rugged image while at university and now, as rich urban bikers, shelling out HK$100,000 to HK$300,000 is no longer a problem. 'We live in style and we ride in style,' says the dentist. 'It's a symbol of freedom. I can break away from my four walls and make a lot of buddies.'