Cuba's motorcycle culture roaring back to life

Varadero, Cuba (CNN) -- Decades navigating the roads in Cuba have left deep scars on Sergio Morales' jet black 1947 Harley-Davidson motorcycle.

The Harley's frame is a battlefield of craters and gashes. The frozen odometer stopped counting at 45,000 kilometers. In Cuba, where little is in abundance save shortages, Morales uses a car wheel for his motorcycle's back tire.

But when Morales kick-starts the Harley, its engine roars to full-throated life.

Morales is a "harlista," what Cubans call the small band of men and women who have preserved the island's motorcycle culture.

That hasn't been an easy task in a country where a five-decades-old U.S. economic embargo makes getting new parts -- much less bikes -- near impossible.           Read More