Happy Birthday Harley!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY HARLEY!
The only motorcycle company that can celebrate an 85th anniversary does
DAVID EDWARDS
AT ONE TIME, THE AMERICAN landscape was dotted with manufacturers of motorcycles. It was an era when a spindly frame, a couple of wheels and a primitive engine, along with goodly portions of sweat, skinned knuckles, hope and determination, were the only things needed to start a motorcycle company. In all, nearly 300 marques were once made in the USA. Some, like Ace. Excelsior and Indian. come easily to mind, while others, like Kokomo, Herring and Nelk, remain forever locked in the mists of obscurity.
They are all jone now, except for one: The Harley-Davidson Motor Corn pany.
Of~co~rse, back in 1903. no one knew what the future held for the fledgling motorcycle industry, but that was the year in which three young Milwaukee men-Arthur and Walter Davidson, and William Har ley-cobbled together the very first machine that would bear their names. Viewed through today's eyes. this original H-D appears to be more bicycle than motorcycle~ but with its 4 10cc engine (pumping out all of three horsepower) and now-familiar logo hand-painted on the fuel tank (by Aunt Janet Davidson, goes the legend), it set the Harley-Davidson story in motion.
Production doubled in 1904. to two machines, but by 1907 as many as 1 50 bikes rolled out of the HarleyDavidson `factory." a 10-by-I 5-foot shed, and the company was beginfling to get noticed. As one magazine of the period wrote, `The Harley-Da vidson is a machine, the very appear ance of which suggests substantiality of power.">
Eighty-five years later, that tradition continues. But from the three founders, the work force has grown to include 2600 people, and the company long ago outgrew its little wooden shed and now has a millionsquare-foot factory in Pennsylvania to go along with its engine plant and administrative facility in Milwaukee. This year, in spite of a world-wide downturn in motorcycle sales, the company will sell almost 50,000 bikes and currently has a 50-percent share of the 850cc-and-above market in the United States.
To celebrate both its longevity and its good fortune. Harley-Davidson threw itself a party. A party unlike any the sport of motorcycling had ever seen. The company simply invited every rider in the country, regardless of brand affiliation, to meet in Milwaukee on a Saturday in June for what was billed as “The Homecoming.” And to lead the faithful to Mecca, Harley-Davidson officials fanned out to the corners of the country (and to Canada) to lead a total of 10 organized rides back to Milwaukee. As Harley-Davidson President Rich Teerlink put it, “We could think of no better way to celebrate 85 years of great motorcycling than by riding.” Teerlink. 51, and his wife Anne headed up the group that departed from San Francisco.
There was another aspect of the celebration, as well: The homecoming was subtitled, “The Milwaukee Ride for MDA,” referring to the Muscular Dystrophy Association, a group that seeks treatments and cures for neuromuscular diseases. The MDA has been a favorite charity of Harley-Davidson and its riders for years, with $3.4 million being donated since 1980. To attend the homecoming’s final celebration, which took place in Milwaukee’s Summerfeat grounds on the shores of Lake Michigan, people were asked to donate at least $ 10.
Approximately 35,000 of them did just that, and were entertained by displays and various entertainers, including the Charlie Daniels Band and Waylon Jennings. Additional money was raised at an auction, highlighted by Harley-Davidson Chairman Vaughn Beals putting his 85th Anniversary Edition Electra Glide up for bid. In all, something like a half-million dollars was raised for the charity. With this total added to the amount gathered at other fund-raisers throughout the year, Harley-Davidson hoped to be able to hand over $1.5 million to “Jerry's Kids” on the MDA's annual Labor Day telethon.
Giving to charity was just one of the rewards of attending the homecoming. Many of the hard-core bikers were genuinely touched by the warm reception given them by the citizens of Milwaukee, thousands of whom lined the overpasses and shoulders of Interstate 94 to get a look at the 20,000 motorcycles that were rumbling into their city. As one rider, who had stopped to watch bike after bike stream by, explained to an Associated Press reporter. “It's one of America's birthdays. Look at these people: You have bums, losers, the filthy rich, girls, guys, whites, blacks, Mexicans, everybody. We're all together here. This is one of the things that makes America great. We're celebrating us.”
Someone once said, “Years wrinkle the skin, but lack of enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.” Harley-Davidson may have picked up a few' lines and creases over the past 85 years, but its soul remains unblemished. E3
