South Salt Lake • Harley-Davidson and motorcycle enthusiasts with hogs of all shapes and sizes revved their well-known rumbling motors as they gathered for an afternoon ride with presidential candidate Jon Huntsman.

About 70 motorcycles and at least 100 people gathered at the Harley-Davidson of Salt Lake motorcycle shop at 2928 S. State St. on Saturday.

Brian Brown, marketing director for Harley-Davidson of Salt Lake, said although the ride was a last-minute idea he was pleased with the turnout. Brown said they learned of Huntsman's plan to go on a ride late this week.

"Jon was in town, it was a good day to go on a Harley ride, he called and asked if we could bring some friends together to go on a ride with him," Brown said.

Huntsman, a former Utah governor, arrived in leather gloves and business casual clothes with his sleeves rolled up just after 1:15 p.m. to hop on his bike awaiting him in the parking lot of the bike shop. He answered a few questions about the current debt crisis going on in Washington before heading off on his hog. He said the time to make real cuts is now.

"I believe we have an historic opportunity to get moving on a balanced budget," Huntsman said Saturday. "Not that you are going to get that overnight, but you can begin to put the pieces in place and to look at capping the percentage of GDP [gross domestic product] that goes into government spending. You can begin that process immediately."

Brown said the planned ride gave Huntsman another opportunity to continue to share his interest in bikes.

"Jon is a good guy. When he was governor, he supported a lot of our motorcycle charities. I think his connection with motorcycling here in Utah hasn't been lost with his presidential bid either."

Motorcyclists rode with Huntsman nearly five miles from Harley-Davidson of Salt Lake to Plaza Cycle on 1379 West and 3300 South in West Valley City.

Huntsman has had several meetings over the last few days with governors visiting Salt Lake City for the National Governors Association summer meetings, including Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, who has been critical of Huntsman for intending to skip Iowa's first-in-the-nation caucuses.

Branstad said he wanted Huntsman to hear his opinion that there are likely only two tickets out of Iowa.

"I think Governor [Mitt] Romney is clearly the frontrunner and I think whoever does well in Iowa, or exceeds expectations and comes in second is going to be who's going to be considered the challenger to Governor Romney come New Hampshire," Branstad said. "If you don't [compete in Iowa], your chance of getting any attention come New Hampshire is going to be low."

Huntsman said he told Branstad he understood his opinion, but his strategy is to compete in the early primary states "and we never meant it as a slight to anybody."

Branstad also said he spoke with Texas Gov. Rick Perry on Friday evening and is convinced that Perry will end up joining the Republican presidential field.

"He told me his wife is supportive of him running and he's been making a number of calls into Iowa and I got the definite impression that we're likely to see a lot of him," Branstad said.

While Perry would become a top-tier GOP candidate, Branstad said it could help Huntsman in Iowa, since it would mean one more candidate would be dividing Iowa's evangelical vote,

Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker said he met with Huntsman but it was mostly a courtesy call. Walker said they spent much of their time talking about their Harley-Davidson motorcycles, which are made in Wisconsin.

"He has a Road King. I have Road King. He has a '99 with white walls, I have a 2003 anniversary edition with white walls," Walker said.

Walker — a controversial figure nationally and in Wisconsin because of labor reforms he has attempted in his state — said he doesn't plan to endorse a candidate anytime soon because he is focusing on issues at home.

Huntsman said that he also met with Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and met Saturday afternoon with Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.

Barbour, who explored a presidential bid of his own, said his meeting with Huntsman was "very cordial" and a "pleasant visit." Huntsman didn't ask for Barbour's support and Barbour said he doesn't plan to make any endorsements any time soon.

Huntsman said he feels good about how the campaign is shaping up at this point, even though he remains well behind the front-running candidates.

"It's early days and we're putting building blocks in place to be sustainable over the longer term," Huntsman said in a brief interview. "They're organizing blocks, they're financial blocks and we want to be sure they're sturdy."

Huntsman is spending time with family Saturday evening and heads to California on Sunday.

cimaron@sltrib.com Twitter: @CimCity