A bike-enthusiast great-grandma was recently granted her 90th birthday wish of riding a Harley-Davidson- courtesy of a biker gang. The woman, who is quite mad about motorcycles, stated that she felt like she was 21 again when she rode on the back of this cruiser bike during her spin around town. Barbara Morris, the fearless Brit, had mentioned to her family quite a few years ago that if she made it to the age of 90, she’d like to ride on a Harley one last time.
Yet, it didn’t occur to this great-grandma that her family would make this wish come true, so she was left stunned when her sons arrived at her nursing home with a few members of a local biker gang. Her desire to ride was so enormous that she had no concerns about the fact that she was wearing a dress. She straddled the bike on the spot and then took a trip with 13 other rides to a nearby pub. Barbara later mentioned, “I just felt the years melt away. It was just an incredible experience to feel the wind blowing in my face again.” It was 1950 when this great-grandma received her first motorcycle license when she was just a teenager. One can attribute this great-grandmother’s love for bikes to the very first bike she received, a classic Royal Enfield 350 when she was 19 years of age.
Great-Grandma Rides A Harley Davidson For Her 90th Birthday
Her granddaughter, Kirsty Harvey, 34, fulfilled her birthday wish. She organized the entire surprise for her great-grandmother along with the Widow Sons, a local biker gang. Kirsty mentioned that Barbara was a daredevil and wasn’t afraid of anything. She stated, “My uncle said to her, ‘You always said if you made it to 90, you wanted to go on a Harley,’ and then she said, ‘Oh my gosh, I can’t believe you remember that.’ She’s got nerves of steel, she’s not really afraid of anything. She’s kind of from that generation that was made of tough stuff. Nothing really fazes them.”
The great-grandma recalls how she used it to get around while she was in college. Since she had the bug, it was only natural that she passed it on to everyone else. Kirsty said, “She always had a little bike she nipped about on. Her three sons later all had motorbikes and a keen interest in motorbike racing and groups.” Riding a Harley-Davidson became even more special for her- for she had never ridden it before.
The great-grandmother’s family had also asked the staff at the Ambleside Bank Residential Home in Manchester to organize this surprise. Kirsty mentioned, “They permed her hair and did her make-up, and got her dressed up nicely. She can’t see very well, so they had to take her right up to the bike, and when she realized what it was, her face was ‘just a picture’. She thought it was just a nice bike to look at, and when we actually told her she was going on, she was a bit speechless.” Needless to say, she had a hard time believing it.
Keep Reading: 6 Generations Captured in 1 Photo as Woman Meets Her Great-Great-Great-Granddaughter.
Sources
- “Great-Grandma Gets 90th Birthday Wish to Ride a Harley Again, Courtesy of a Biker Gang.” Good News Network. April 29, 2023.
- “Wigan great-grandma’s wish to ride a Harley-Davidson on her 90th birthday comes true” Wigan Today. April 24, 2023