IN
THE
WIND
P28
HARLEY-DAVIDSON CELEBRATES 115TH
BIRTHDAY
H
arley-Davidson Motor Com-
pany turned 115 years old
earlier this month and it celebrat-
ed with a big party in Milwaukee,
Wisconsin. The tourism website
Visit Milwaukee estimated that
the Harley-Davidson Anniversary
brought in 150,000 riders and
over 95 million dollars into the
region from the event.
The Harley-Davidson Ride
Home rides attracted participants
from all four corners of the U.S.,
and the first to arrive was a group
from San Diego, led by Bill and
Karen Davidson, the son and
daughter of Willie G. and Nancy
Davidson. The San Diego group
rode 2617 miles and visited 11
H-D dealerships along the way.
A lot was planned for the 115th
Anniversary, including The Race
of Gentlemen (TROG) at the H-D
Beach Brawl flat track race held
on the sand of Bradford Beach.
This was the first motorcycle race
held on the beach in over 100
years.
The Pilgrim Road Powertrain
Operations tour
showed how they
build the Milwaukee-
Eight and Sportster
engines, as well as
the CVO. This factory
sits on 63 acres and
was built in 1979 by
Briggs & Stratton. Harley-David-
son took over the factory in 1996
and build engines that will go to
the final assembly plants in York,
Pennsylvania, and Kansas City,
Missouri. This plant produces
well over 200,000 engines each
year.
Other events included a
hillclimb, Run What You Brung
Drag Race, and a tour of the
Harley-Davidson Museum. To
cap off the Harley-Davidson
115th Anniversary they had a
parade through Milwaukee to the
Museum with over 6500 Harley-
Davidson Motorcycles!
Mitch Friedman
(Above) This is the first group that
arrived for H-D Celebrating 115
Years of Freedom in Milwaukee. The
group, which included Bill and Karen
Davidson, the son and daughter
of Willie G. and Nancy Davidson,
rode in from San Diego. (Left) Willie
G. Davidson was on hand for the
festivities.
PHOTOGRAPHY
BY
MITCH
FRIEDMAN
A weekend highlight
was the Harley-Davidson
115th Anniversary parade
through downtown
Milwaukee.
