James Caan
The businessman, entrepreneur and Dragons’ Den star comes across as a smoothie on television but in his spare time the 51-year-old likes nothing better than hitting the open road on his Harley Davidson
IHAVE always found the concept of motorbikes exciting. They seem to suggest a sense of freedom. When you are on your bike you feel like you own the road and I think Harley Davidson is probably the best brand in the world. They give a real man’s feel to a bike.
Their styling is great and I love the fact that their bikes are still a bit old fashioned-looking. They are very robust and have incredible attention to detail. The performance is really impressive too; it is a proper bike. I feel like Harley is the original and it is like the rest of them are trying to clone themselves off it.
A Harley has that iconic feel about it. If you are somebody who wants to have the best of something then a Harley would be right up there.
I have got the Roadster which is the very standard-looking Harley without all the souped-up stuff, although I have all the gear too, the jackets and the gloves and so on. Riding a motorbike is not something I do every day but when I get the chance, in the summer at the weekend, it is a real passion. It is my little solitary escape.
I have had a love of bikes since I was a teenager but obviously, as you get older, with responsibilities and children, you tend to spend less time on things like that. When I was younger I would get out probably every other weekend whereas now it is just occasionally in June, July and August. I was 18 when I first learned to ride and I got my first bike not long after. I think it must be Steve McQueen in The Great Escape that inspired me. He was just amazing in that movie, an amazing rider. Plus, in real life he was a passionate collector.
My first bike was a Triumph, which I picked because a friend of mine had one and I learned to ride with him. It was a bike I felt really comfortable with as I had learned and practised on one like it, so I just bought the same sort of bike my friend had. I cannot remember exactly what model it was but it had a very similar design and shape to the Harley and that was the next bike I bought. I have had Harleys ever since.
At the moment I have an 883 Roadster. It’s black with silver detailing. Since I do not use it every day and I wanted something that was very classic, something I could use for pure pleasure, that one was perfect for me. I have had it for a couple of EOPLE are always surprised when they find out about my love of solitary motorcycle journeys though. I think I am probably more associated with cars or boats so the bikes are a hidden passion. It’s a very personal thing.
Thank God I have never had any mishaps or accidents. I have been riding for nearly 30 years so I feel reasonably comfortable that I know what I’m doing.
I’m not interested in the mechanical side of things. I don’t like to tinker around with my bike; I put the key in and it starts. That is what makes me happy.
As told to CLARE HEAL
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