Classic American cars and classic European motorcycles share the busy streets of Havana. Photos by the author.
I step onto Cuban soil knowing full-well that I?ll see American classic cars in all their mid-century glory. What I am not prepared for is the lively and unique motorcycle culture that thrives in the island?s capital of Havana.
In so many ways, Cuba is a country that is frozen in the 1950s. The current, tenuous loosening of American embargos and travel bans has started to thaw that freeze, but Havana is still on a several decade lag behind most of the western world. There is no small measure of charm in that antiquation.
Havana?s bayside road and the city?s historic district from the deck of the Norwegian Sky.
As my wife and I walk off of the dock of the Port of Havana, we are greeted by a post-vintage Yamaha Virago dressed as a police bike. The Virago?s street pilot, a uniformed Cuban traffic officer directs us across the busy bayside street. It turns out that the officer?s working mount will prove to be one of the newer motorcycles we?ll encounter in the historic streets of Havana. A classy Cuban on a classic HHH-badged Russian 2-stroke with a sidecar.
As we make our way to the other side of the street, we walk directly to a vintage Russian 2-stroke twin with a sidecar. Fittingly, a Cuban man, who exudes as much character as the bike, sits rakishly on the saddle smoking a Cuban stogie. Welcome to Havana!
The bikes on the Havana streets are old and diverse. The co...