Believe it or not but Pope Francis does own a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The Pope was presented with the 1,585cc Harley-Davidson Dyna Super Glide in June 2013 to mark the 110th anniversary of the motorcycle brand. Since the Pope prefers modest modes of transportation – he used to take public transport as a cardinal in Buenos Aires, Pope decided to auction his Harley for charity at the Grand Palais on 6 February 2014.
The Sale, which is taking place as part of Rétromobile Week, will see the motorcycle raise funds for Caritas Roma, which works on behalf of the Roman Catholic church to support those in need around the world. The money raised by the sale will go towards the renovation of the charity’s Don Luigi di Liegro hostel and soup kitchen based at Rome’s Termini railway station.
The hostel opened 30 years ago to help the homeless, jobless and the poor, and the money raised by the Harley Davidson’s sale will allow it to continue to provide food and accommodation to more than 1,000 people in need every day.
Ben Walker, head of motorcycles at Bonhams, said, “We are incredibly honoured to be selling this item on behalf of Caritas Roma. We hope to be able to do both Pope Francis and Harley-Davidson proud by raising a significant amount of money for a very worthy cause.”
