Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1990's

for us as we went by. I couldn't even begin to count how many of them there were . And then the group funneled through the gates of State Fair Park, and the rumbling of hundreds of engines fell silent. We had made it home. The re was happiness and laughing, and the re was a touch of sadness, too. We had all shared in a great adventure, one to be treasured , an d like all good things, it had to come to an end . Members of the fami!y took turns offering congratulations over a microphon e, but I was almost overcome wi th m y own emotion when Nancy David son, w ho rarely ever speaks in public, m irrored the emo tion of the crowd as she thanked them for sharing such a special event with her fam ily. It was a special time. There were more s p e ci a l times ah ea d , as Harley-Davidson and the grea t City of Milwaukee threw us one hell of a party all week long. I took part in the openi n g ce re mo n ies fo r t h e national HOG rally at State Fair Park, and I got to spend a lot of time with cou sin Kori Tiedemann, her sister, Shari Roberts, and Shari's husband, Jim - who owns a prett y sha rp 1980 FL - and their wonderful kid s. Kori even go t to rid e wi th me in the SO,OOO-mo torcycle parade to the Sum me rfes t grou nds for the finale blowout ba sh and birthday party. Oh, and get this: Wh en we showed up for the parade at 4:45 a.m., who should rid e up next to us ? Paul and Joanne Murn. Remember them ? They live right across the street from Grandma and Grandpa's o ld h ou se . Pa u l's s tilI w orking fo r Harl ey-Da vidson and ha s been for 35 years. Their daughter, Sandy, is married now. She and her husband rod e in the parade, too . , Throu gh all o f thi s, I'm not sure exactly when it hit me, Mom, bu t it did. It goes all the way back to what Buck Gu est said w ay b a ck on ' the road through Needles. Harley-Davidson isn' t just about motorcycles. Ha rley- Davidson is about people. Harley-Dav idson is abou t famil y. Harley-Davidson is about freedom . People can ri dicule t h os e notions, and often do, but can yo u tell . me of another m ech anical device on earth that cou ld pull people from as far away as Australia, mix them wi th peo ple from across town and bri ng them together like this did? More than 100,000 pea- (Above) After riding out of a huge birthday cake , Willie G. and Nancy address the overflow crowd that lined the front straightaway grandstands of the MilwaukeeMile. (Right) Parade day, Saturday, June 12. Some SO,OOO motorcyc les rode to the Summerfest grounds In downtown Milwaukee, arriving to stage for the parade as ea rty as 3 a.m. (Below) Pete r Frampton was one of doze ns of musical acts to play at the Summerfest grounds on Saturday night. (Bottom) The author catches a photo with motorcycling's first family (left to right): Kallyand BillDavidson , Rousseau, Willie G. and Nancy Davidson, Karen Davidson , Michae l Davidson. the y have to explain it to you, then you wouldn' t understand," I do. A long time ago, I tried to oversimplify it once by sa ying th a t Ha rley -Davidsons a re fun m ot orcycles. Tha t' s true, but there is mo re to it than tha t, a lot mor e. It's not just gasoli ne, bu t p assio n a nd emotion that d rives them, and makes people willing t o g et on them and go 2300 miles thr ou gh fou l weather, just to rid e home and be with their friends and family. It's that same passi on and emo tion that has them already making plans to a tt e nd th e 100th Ann iversa ry in 2003. I kn ow th a t passion a nd emo tion, because I'm a lready makin g those same pla ns . With love, your son Scott . pie, taking part in an ep ic celebration of an American ins titution. And why? I think that it was Willie G. David son who said it best. As he step ped up to the microphon e during the presentation of the officia l 95th Anniversary birthday cake, his voice trembled - not out of fear, but out of pride and, ma ybe, a littl e awe. And then he spoke. "You know," he said, "we make a pretty good piece of mechanical machinery, bu t there' s an ad ded d imension to that. ·And tha t's the passion and emo tio n ... And I t h i n k t h a t s h a r ing th e magic of the road, with the combination of a great motorcycle a nd the friendships that are developed, is what makes Ha rley-Davidson great, and it has been going on for 95 years. Thanks for creating the passion ." So when I hear people say that "if 31

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