SCYTHING THROUGH TRAFFIC takes on a whole new meaning on a Harley. Mayhem engulfed a marled up M25. The Rover's left front wing, wheel ind tyre were write-offs. But the Harley, after T-Doning the lane-jumping mutha square-on at 25mph, was virtually unmarked. No bent forks, no buckled wheel and not even a puncture. "Hasta la vista, baby,"

I smiled to myself behind my Texaco wraparound shades and genuine Harley neckerchief. These things are tough.

And the soon-to-be superceded Low Rider Convertible remains (while stocks last) one of the most rugged, yet practical, of them all. Even if mine was a girly purple.

Harley-D label the Convertible as the versatile, functional machine of the Low Rider series. With a squat, deep seat, leather-trimmed panniers and detachable (hence the Convertible moniker) plexi-glass screen, this is the most cosetted, well-equipped and long-distance comfortable Harley there is short of an Electra-Barge.

Like all Low Riders, the short-assed, buttoned seat and supplementary highway pegs up front give you two ways to cruise. Around town it's feet on the stock pegs for gearchange and rear brake, a straight back, bent knees and the slight feeling that something's not quite right. But leant back out on the open road, with your legs stretched out up front it's time to relaaaax and where this, like any big bore Harley, comes into its own.

Kick the floppy, heavy lever into fifth and it's like turning a record player down from 45rpm to 33. Everything goes into a soft, lazy slow motion and you enter your own little dream world: Northamptonshire's desolate wastes transform into North Dakota, the A605 becomes the Adirondack turnpike and blazing summer sun is an absolutely vital ingredient. It all sounds a little bit wanky, but as surely as my cat craps on the carpet, it happens. And, being a Convertible, on this Harley it happens all day long.

Weather conditions permitting, three hours and 200 miles in the saddle are downright piddly on the Convertible. The deep seat is a sofa; the riding position a roomy and relaxed sun-lounger and all the vitals for that weekend with The Boyz stow easily in the plastic-backed, leather-fronted panniers (although they won't quite take a full-face lid... maybe Harley doesn't realise they've been invented yet).

For six-footers, the huge screen is just the right height for choosing between either peering over or sheltering behind. Smaller bods, however, don't get the same choice, and quite a few would have preferred to lob the thing straight in a skip simply for looking so ungainly. But as a weather and wind beater, it works well. After 150miles of 85mph motorway I didn't have an ache or pain worthy of the name. Not 'normal' Harley behaviour maybe. But it makes the Convertible a true long-distance tool.

There's also no denying that like most Harleys the Convertible exudes an inimitable stylish class. (I say 'most' because the 883s, and 'Glides in particular, can look disappointingly shoddy in some areas.) The paint and chrome is superb; the gleaming, chunky, carved-from-solid metalwork is virtually inde-structable (as a certain Rover driver from Wellingborough will testify) and even the plastic switchgear, seat and leather panniers have a well-made, 'last-a-lifetime' feel to them.

And that, essentially, is what you get with a Convertible. Style, legendary status and a few comforting frills. Performance, of course, isn't relevent because Harley has never tried to deliver it. Instead you get softly thundering, off the throttle pull... but just 90-odd mph; wooden brakes that'd be slated on anything made by anyone else and shopping trolley handling.

All of these things are not, of course, what a Harley is all about — and probably never will be. If you find yourself asking whether the Harley mystique, warts and all, is worth what they want you to pay, it's unlikely you'll ever end up buying one. In rational terms, there £10,000 anyone? Erm, yes, well... is absolutely nothing the Convertible delivers that a Moto Guzzi California won't at over £3000 less.

Except, that is, for kudos. A Harley is a Harley. It remains a unique proposition, if you want one, that's what it costs. And the Convertible remains, for my money, the most versatile Harley there is -there's no other Hog on which I'd have happily done 200 miles yet still had the style and pose to impress.

Harley-Davidson obviously think so too as the '94 Convertible due in February will get the smoother-still Dynaglide chassis, sharper steering and longer travel suspension with improved damping. The Dyna Low Rider Convertible, will still, in all likelihood, handle like a shopping trolley and it'll still be an extremely desireable bike: the Harley that's as comfortable and practical as it is stylish. Now isn't THAT an attractive proposition? □