Gaddafi's old 1962 Harley pulls up at Bike Fest
HE'S one of the world's most feared dictators, but Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is clearly also a Harley Davidson enthusiast.
A 1962 Duo-Glide once owned by Gaddafi has ended up in Killarney and its owner has the paperwork to prove it.
Motorcyclist Pat Teehan came across the link with the Libyan dictator by accident and says the bike's previous two owners had no idea who owned it.
Mr Teehan found the documents in a compartment of the motorcycle he purchased in Northern Ireland in 2006.
"An Englishman who used to work in the embassy in Tripoli bought the bike there and did it up," Mr Teehan explains.
"He sold it on to a man from Northern Ireland and I bought it off him in 2006. It had a Libyan licence and plate and I decided to do a bit of research.
"I met a solicitor from Libya who was able to translate the documents and we found out it had belonged to Gaddafi."
The restored Harley Davidson Duo-Glide was just one of the motorcycles being shown off by their owners at the Ireland Bike Fest in Killarney this weekend.
More than 30,000 visitors and an estimated 7,000 bikers are expected to hit the Co Kerry town for the fifth Bike Fest, Ireland's largest biker festival.
- Majella O'Sullivan
Irish Independent
