Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128245
Harley-Davidson 1DOth Anniversary Ride single -fil e line by the crowds , and I was afra id that someone might get hurt. Thankfully, we finished the route without incident. It was great to see all of the people turn out to join in t he ce le bration , and t hey see med gen uinel y g la d th at we were th er e. Hom e l Harl e y-Dav idson h ea dquarters, Ju ne au Ave n ue · Milwaukee, WISCons in SR: I have to say t hat for once I wasn' t worried about us having any incidents , beca use after going almost 3000 miles , I had watched Dad become a very c o m p et e n t rider again . AR : We spent Saturday ev en ing an d Sun day morning visiti ng fa mily up no rt h and t hen returned to Milwa u· k ee for th e b ig co nce rt at Vete rans Pa rk . T h e c rowd was h u g e , an d it appea red to be sta nding roo m only. Sc ott a nd Shawn a st a y ed until t he en d, b ut K a t h y an d I we re t ired of sta ndi ng about ha lfw ay th r o ugh , so we we nt bac k to the hotel. SR: No , Sha wna a nd I stayed th er e rig ht up unt il "surp rise musical g ues t " Elt on J ohn t oo k t he stage. Th en w e and a b o ut 10 0 ,0 0 0 ot he r peo p le walk ed out. A s I look back on it now, I' m not su re w ha t wa s m or e ri dic ulo us , t h a t H arl e y -D a v id s o n . chose Elt on J ohn as the big fi na le or tha t , in thei r zeal to hid e hi s ident ity , th ey spent nea rly a m in ut e showing his jewel-encrusted hands bang ing away o n a Yamaha piano! He re's to ho ping th at this is the type of corporate faux pas that Harley only brings aro und o nce in a century . AR: Th e trip fro m Ka nsas City to Sprin gfield , Il li nois, wa s a sho rt one , b ut th e di ffe ren t t e rrain p lus the increased green ery in t he fi el ds and woods was a welcome change. This was our last st op befo re heading into Milwaukee. It was then that I suddenly reali zed that this ride was coming to an end awfully fast. It seemed like somehow we had to have skipped seve ral of the segments . I thought back on the different days' rides, and I had to admit that each day had its own defining m o m en t s and memo ries . T im e sure flies when yo u're having fun . The m orn in g of August 27th was hu m id a nd o vercast , and we were read y to go at 7 a.m. We j o ined up wi th W ill ie G. and Nancy D av id so n and t heir g roup fo r the final leg of The Ride Hom e . This was the only ti me duri ng th e trip (w ith the excepti on of that m o unt ain storm) that we had any rain, and it was j ust enough t o make the r o a d wet. T h e group bec ame spl in t er ed w hen we c rossed p ath s wi th a la rge gro up of m ot or c y cl es going to M ad ison , W isc on sin , t o form up a nd ri d e en ma sse into M il w a u k ee. W e finis he d th e t r i p o n our ow n, checke d into o ur hotel , and cras he d for 16 hou rs of " I don 't ha ve to be any place tomorrow" sleep. ha d bett er be a 105th , even if it isn't as extravaga nt as the 1DOth was - I'm not eve n sure th at we'll foll ow the ride rou te. I' d rath er j ust rid e m y own way and in m y ow n time. AR : A ft er tou rin g t he Juneau an d C ap it al Dri v e pl ants on F r id ay , we also to u red t he La ke Fro nt exhibits , one o f wh ich was 100 best tank de signs selected by W ill ie G . and his staff. It was interesting to see the evolution of the design schemes as well as the paint colors used . Oth er ex h i b it s I enjo y ed seeing were the new Sportster models and th e historic models and other nostalgia items. SR : We shouldn't have even both ered. Not that I don't respect the Davidson family very much, but this was a clear case of being careful what you wish for. I'd had so mu ch fun w ith them on the 95th -anniver sary rid e t h at I thought that mag i c co uld be recreated for the 1DOth. But as m uch as Harleys are about cam raderie, they' re also about individu ality, and I can t ell you that when w e ride home for the 105th - and there 50 J AN U ARY 7 ,2004' cue I S R : On e of Dad's dream bikes is a 1957 Harl ey -Davidson Sportster. If anyone has o ne they 'd like to sell at a f ai r pric e, I'm sure he'd like to he ar from y ou! e n e vv s AR : Saturday was Parade D ay . We arr ived at t he Milwaukee Co unty Zoo par ki ng lot two hours befo re parade tim e and found that we were nearl y the last to arrive. We took o ur place in th e fo rm at io n al o ng w ith 10 ,0 0 0 othe r bikes and wai te d for o ur turn to stage . It took about 45 m in ut es for us to s ta rt mo v in g afte r t he p ar ad e b eg an , a nd afte r we got o u t onto Bluem oun d Road , it was easy to see why . There were people standing five and six deep on both sides of the street. At the beginning they were standing along the curbs, and the rid ers were able to ride two ab reast. The farthe r we we nt , the narrowe r the route became beca use t he people were moving into the street. It was a lot of stop-a nd-go drivi ng , an d all of the people wanted to h igh- five the r iders . Wh en we n eared the downtown ar ea, we were forced down to a AR : A nd so, our g reat ri de w as over. We had a lot of fu n , m et some t errific peop le, and co llected m em o ries, th e kind t hat are hard to relate to those unfa miliar with such a ride. Th e so und of t he eng ine t hat never misses a beat. .. th e feel of t he wi nd bl owing warm or cool. .. the un obstruct ed view of eve ryt hing aro und yo u... t he total co mfo rt o f a g re at m otorcycl e tha t m akes you fee l li ke y o u coul d ride f o reve r .. . the fri endsh i p and c am arade rie of those wh o travel w ith yo u... each of t hese, exp ande d by a million t ho ug hts, create fo nd m emories th at will last a lifetime. SR : En o ugh said . Somewhere in W isc onson eN