Copper yearns for the open road

A high-ranking police officer on a Harley Davidson might seem like an odd combination, but for Senior Sergeant Rod Boehm, purchasing the two-wheeled machine was something he had always yearned for.

The officer-in-charge of Kununurra Police Station, Sen. Sgt Boehm said he had long held a passion for riding motorbikes after first "mucking around" with them growing up in the Wheatbelt.

After owning bikes on and off for most of his life, a few years ago he decided to purchase a Harley, a move which reignited his passion for the open road.

"I've always had a yearning to own a Harley but for a long time in your life you can't afford it and it's a toy that unless you are going to use it, is probably not worth having," he said.

"A few years back it came to a stage one day where I thought, 'I can have one of those', and so I bought a second-hand one."

Straddling his 1991 Harley Davidson Softail Custom, Sen. Sgt Boehm and a friend recently returned from a more than month-long ride to Tasmania and back again.

The pair, departing in mid-January, rode down through central Australia and along the Great Ocean Road to Melbourne, before catching a ferry to Tasmania and beginning their tour of the Apple Isle.

"I think it's a great way to travel," he said. "You are limited to what you can carry with you, but you see so much on a bike and you tend to go to places you normally would not go to.

"For cruising on the highway, there is nothing better.

"Late in the afternoon your arms get a bit sore and your wrists ache a bit, but apart from that it was smooth sailing."

After some repairs at the Harley Davidson superstore in Tasmania, the pair began their return trip travelling up the east coast to Queensland and then back across to WA.

Sen. Sgt Boehm said despite riding 12,700km on the 43-day trip, if anything, he was more excited than ever to continue his love affair with the open road.

"I rode my motorbike to work today for the first time since the trip and I thoroughly enjoyed it so I haven't lost any of the passion," he said.