Museum Blog

Flagstaff

I am in to Flagstaff and have totaled over 1800 miles and 8 states. I skipped the first 50 miles today as they were an awful climb. The bike was flawless again today. Some folks have rebuilt theirs over 3 times. Our German friends were both down today. They used our tools to work on their bikes. Deiters is down with broken front forks and Kaiterins was down with a cracked cylinder head and a bad exhaust valve. They have come from germany with nothing and are kicking all of our butts. it is the least we can do to help them out. They are real motorcycle folks and will stop at nothing. She is on a rigid 1907 JAP and has done 2500 miles. The vistas were amazing today.

I was on a road for over 40 minutes today and was never passed either way with lots of time to look at real cowboy scenery. I am getting real good at singing to myself. Tommorow, I will take the day off to take my family to the Grand Canyon, which none of us have ever seen. I have nothing to prove anymore and want to spend some time with my crew as they are getting tired of going from parking lot to parking lot. We went out to dinner in downtown Flagstaff tonight and it was great. Arizona dealer Buddy Stubbs was there too,  I had push started him at the last stop today so he could make it in. The other singles had a hard day. Dave Kafton was trailered in. Paul Ousey broke down, no Germans, and Vince Martinico broke his rear axle. The HD Museum rig ran flawless.

Route 66

Hi everyone. I thought I would put up a few words. It was rough out there today. The rain was real bad and not the kind of weather boardtrack bikes like. With no front fender and limited brakes, I threw in the towel at the halfway point. 102 miles. The ride on route 66 was great as I was alone for over 40 miles and never saw another car, just one freight train and the engineer gave me a honk. Then the rain came. I got sideways 3 times and after making it to the lunch stop, the officials pulled us together to let us know a portion of the course had washed out and they were going to re-route us. Dave Kafton and I decided this was not the day we wanted to die. It was real smart.

The weather took a turn for the worse and it got scary out there. One of the sidecar sweep riders was nearly rear-ended on I-40 and the car went into the ditch to avoid him. Dieter from Germany had catastophic failure of his front fork as both legs snapped and he skidded over 260 feet. Unbelievably, he sustained only minor road rash. I am picking my battles and we have some huge hills coming up and my bike is made for the flats. My body isn't made for any of this and I am pretty beat up. I have 1655 miles across 7 states to this point and if it were all to end tommorow, I would feel pretty good about what I accomplished. I think I could make Guiness for the most miles on a boardtrack single. Guys are still working on their bikes under the front awning of the hotel trying to dry out magnetos and carbs. My bike is ready and I am off to get some sleep.

California, here I come....

The Al Jolson song that sums up our next month! Today is Monday September 6th, and the Motorcycle Cannonball #33 crew just stopped for dinner in Youngstown, Ohio on the way to Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. It has now been over a year in the making for this adventure of a lifetime. I can't believe it is finally here. Friday morning we will set out on the first leg of the 17 day trip cross-country on our 1914 Harley-Davidson boardtrack racer ending Sept. 26th in Santa Monica California. At this point, over 55 other racers in 3 classes are scheduled to join us. What a trip it will be! Excitement, uncertainty, and even a little fear is the only way to describe the emotions our team 33 is experiencing. This weekend we were able to debut the bike to everyone who attended the Custom Bike Show at the Harley-Davidson Museum. We met hundreds of well wishers who will be following our journey across the counrty on the Harley-Davidson Museum FaceBook site. We can't wait to get started, so it is off to bed to head out early in the AM, tomorrow, Kitty Hawk! Wrench, Ride, Repeat! Harley-Davidson Museum Cannonball Team #33

Heat Exhaustion

Summer is flying by. I knew it would, I just didn’t know it would fly by so fast!  It’s been a busy one, a crazy one, a fun one.  And it ain’t over yet.  We were just bracing for all our May activities – the Armed Forces ride, Women’s Celebration, First Rumble over Memorial Day Weekend.  Now we’re heading face on into Labor Day weekend and the Custom Bike Show. 

The next few weeks are definitely adventure packed. Starting

August  23rd, the Wall that Heals will be at the Museum for Car Night and Bike Night.  I am so thrilled to be able to bring this to the Museum.  The Wall that Heals is  a ½ scale replica of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and traveling Museum.  It’s supposed to be a breathtaking memorial and seems so fitting with the strong relationship we have with our military and veterans.

The Wall heads out on the 27th and we start gearing up for Generation Evel taking place on the grounds August 28th and 29th.  Now this is going to be wild!  We have these amazing X-Games athletes – the medal winners – bringing their bmx show to our crossroads.  We’ve got 5 bands over two days including national recording artist Quietdrive on Saturday night at 8:00.  The event is free with Museum admission and it’s going to rock your socks off.  Guaranteed.

As soon as we finish putting away the ramps and stages from Generation Evel, we start set up for a week off madness!  Tuesday Night Car Night on the 31st will be pumped up.  We’re inviting all Harley-Davidson employees to come show off their 4-wheeled toys.  (Maybe we can get Willie to bring down one of his cherries!)  We’ll be handing out dash plaques to all car show participants in support of MDA, passing out backpacks to any kids who show up, and we’ve got live retro music to top it off.  We don’t stop there.

On Thursday, HOG Parade of Flags kicks off the Milwaukee Rally landing at the Museum at noon and we’re rocking at Bike Night with Cold Sweat and the Brew City Horns.  (Yep, Tim’s band is coming back to rock the crossroads! Welcome home Tim!)  We have the new 2011 demos, new product display trailer from Thursday until Sunday.  And then Sunday we crown the weekend with the best bike show in town.  The Custom Bike Show kicks off at 9:00 a.m.  If you have a hot bike, bring it down. We’ll have the hottest bikes in the country on display, live music, the Pinstripe legends, and of course, Evel.  This is the last chance to check out the Evel exhibit.  We’re packing it up September 7th.

Wow. The next few weeks are going to be crazy – exhausting. I’m whopped just writing about it.  One things for sure, you aren’t going to want to miss a single day down on 6th & Canal. After Labor Day, we inhale – or exhale – and start working on our fall season. So much to do, so little time!

One Giant Adventure

A Guest Post by Kelly Knievel

People often ask me, “What was it like growing up with Evel Knievel as your Dad?”

The answer is: One giant adventure! It was a cross between small-town America and Hollywood. We grew up in a tough mining town in Butte, Montana, but there was nothing small about my Dad’s life. One day we would be duck hunting and the next we might be on a plane to Florida to take my Dad’s boats for a ride up the intercoastal. He lived large in every way and us kids got to travel the country and learn a lot about life.

In the course of just a few years, with no education, no manager, and no professional marketing, my Dad, really out of his own imagination, hard work and sheer determination, transformed himself from Robert Craig Knievel from Butte, Montana, into “Evel Knievel, the World’s Greatest Daredevil.”

One of the first performances I remember was in Wilkes Barre, PA when my Dad had a cast on his wrist from a smash up and he cut it off and shot his arm full of Novocain and went out and made the jump. He would always say, “what am I going to do – give them their money back?”

We got to travel a lot with Dad, and my brother Robbie and I even performed with him but Robbie was always the better daredevil.  We met a lot of famous celebrities and they were fascinated with my Dad. Wherever we went, HE was the guy that all the celebrities wanted to meet! And my Dad would get them to come to Butte and take them out to the local bars and make them eat pork chop sandwiches.

I’m going to be at the H-D Museum to tell stories about my Dad on Saturday, July 17 for Untold Stories: An Evening with Kelly Knievel. My Dad was one interesting character and I know you will enjoy the time. Get your tickets at h-dmuseum.com and I’ll see you there!

Kelly Knievel

One Wild Weekend!

…is the only way to sum up what everyone had attending the museum last Friday and Saturday. The weekend was chock full of events that were fun for all. Actually we kicked things off Thursday with a rockin’ Bike Night at Motor as our special guests and attendees began to arrive. The music was hot and the suds were cold and everyone had a great time reuniting with old friends and meeting new ones, as over 600 motorcycles showed up to help jumpstart the weekend.

 

 

 

 

 

Then at 5:00pm on Friday, our museum members got a sneak peak at the highly anticipated opening of our new Temporary exhibit, True Evel: The Amazing story of Evel Knievel. Everyone was amazed, and the reception was buzzing with excitement. A large contingency of them headed up to Rumble to attend our Untold Stories series: The Wild One: The true story of the Hollister Riot. The museum’s Curatorial Director Jim Fricke moderated a panel of members of the Boozefighters Motorcycle Club in a discussion on the Clubs early beginnings and how the media fabricated what really happened at the Hollister motorcycle races in 1947. Jim was joined by Boozefighters and authors of the Wild Ones book, Jim “JQ” Quattlebaum and Bill “Press” Hayes. Rounding out the panel was current club historian Daniel “Donkey” Henderson, and original member Jack “Shark” Jordan. Shark had the crowd in stitches spinning yarns about days gone by, and telling great stories of old friends and club members that are no longer with us. Afterward we headed to the bar and the boys signed books late in to the night. I made the decision to head out as Saturday would be another full day.

 

 

Saturday morning brought another day of perfect weather for the 8th annual Knucklehead Reunion, and I headed off to the museum with good friend and one of the original Knucklehead Company founders Tim O’Day. We arrived early and helped set up and then walked over to Motor to indulge in Chef Travis’ all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast. As we finished up the bikes were beginning to roll in. All bike pre 1969 were invited to attend the bike show that benefited the Make-A-Wish foundation. We bested our total with 82 entries, with 47 Knuckleheads making up half of the field. It isn’t often that you can see 47 Knucks in one place. The highlight of the day was having National Top Fuel champion Pete Hill and his wife Jackie come from South Carolina and bring their Nitro Knucklehead Dragster. The afternoon brought motorcycle field games again put on by our local Badger Heritage Chapter of the Antique Motorcycle Club of America. What a blast! Even though I didn’t turn in my best performance the crowd really enjoyed the show. The whole weekend had a great feel of a real old fashioned motorcycle club picnic. I can hardly wait until next year!

Bill Rodencal

Top H.O.G. Grill Master Crowned

Om addition to the great cars that you will see at Car Night, we have recently added a Chef Grill Challenge to the entertainment. Last night the Top H.O.G Grill Master was crowned. We invited four local H.O.G. chapters to participate in this unique grill tournament. Each contestant was paired with Chef Travis from Motor and Chef Dave Hamm from the Bradley Center. The contestants received a mystery box of ingredients and had to grill an entrée dish for five judges. The judges then rated the prepared dishes based on flavor, use of ingredients, creativity and plate presentation. The winner from each challenge advanced to the next round of competition. The participants included Gary Sprong (Milwaukee Northwest H.O.G. Chapter), Susan Dechant (Suburban Milwaukee H.O.G. Chapter), Daniel Karch (Kettle Moraine H.O.G. Chapter), and John Malek (Milwaukee H.O.G. Chapter).

Throughout the challenge, the panel of judges included Joe Dowd, H.O.G. Event Manager, Wendy Dobrzynski from Visit Milwaukee, the Cupcake Queen, Museum members, and Car Night participants. Mystery ingredients for the challenges included pork tenderloin, flank steak, scallops, shrimp and bratwurst (it is Milwaukee after all!) Bill Davidson, Vice President of the Harley-Davidson Museum was on hand to oversee the competition.

 

 

Susan Dechant claimed the title of Top H.O.G. Grill Master. Susan was the runaway winner in all categories—scoring one of the highest scores to date. Susan went for a paella theme combining all of the protein products with peppers, onions, spices and a little white wine the delicious dish. Susan plated it up with grilled pineapple and a little pizzazz of sauce to create an awesome looking plate.

On the other side of the grill, Daniel Karch chapter took a slightly different approach preparing each protein in a different manner. Dan based his dishes on love—pulling from a meal he prepared when first starting to date his wife. He grilled up the brats, barbequed the shrimp, dunked the scallops in a rich chardonnay cream sauce and complemented the plate with an array of grilled veggie slices. With only seconds to go, we loved Dan’s son who cheered on his dad to finish his plating in the nick of time.

Once the plates were delivered to the judges, they dined, deliberated and decided on their scores. Meanwhile, the crowd got to taste for themselves the grilled delicacies. After a quick tally of the scores, Bill Davidson grabbed the microphone, crowned the winner and awarded the prizes. As the runner-up, Dan received a Harley-Davidson Museum membership. Susan walked away with the (very heavy) trophy, a $250.00 gift card for Motor and most importantly chapter bragging rights for the Top H.O.G Grill Master!

Fantasy Fulfilled (Part 2)

The week had gotten off to an amazing start and we were ready for more action.  On Wednesday afternoon, we got a peak into the Harley-Davidson archives where Kimberly Thomas and Bill Rodencal gave us a very special tour of some of the artifacts that are not on display in the Museum.  They also gave us a sneak peak of some of the artifacts that will be on display in the True Evel exhibit running July 10^th through September 6^th.  The archives tour is a way cool experience!  Feeling a little parched from all our touring, we headed over to our neighbor’s place, Lake Front Brewery, for a tour.  They were just putting the finishing touches on a special beer they were brewing for Motor called, True Evel, Daredevil Ale.  A tour, a pint and a schmeil-schmazel later, we were out the door headed for MillerPark.  Gathering up the campers, we headed to the Harley-Davidson Deck at MillerPark.  The deck is perched above the Brewer’s bullpen in left field and is a great place to view the game.  We loved watching the game ball be delivered on what else-a Harley-Davidson motorcycle!

We spent the week hoping that Thursday would be a gorgeous Milwaukee day—we were not be disappointed!  On tap for the day was a ride on some of Wisconsin’s most beautiful roads.  We met up with Joe Dowd and Peggy Utphall who would be our ride captains for the day.  After a brief rider meeting, we geared up and got ready to roll.  There to see us off was none other than Mark-Hans Richer, SVP and Chief Marketing Officer.  We snapped a few (more) pictures and sure enough—the campers talked Mark-Hans into joining us on the ride.  Man, these campers have pull!  We jumped on the freeway and left notions of city traffic behind, and welcomed the open roads and Wisconsin countryside.  I love breathing in all of that fresh air!  We pulled off at Tally Ho’s in Erin, Wisconsin for some amazing burgers.  Patrick and his son, PJ, put out a fine spread for us!  We spent the rest of the afternoon, winding around roads and cruising the straight aways until we found ourselves at the end of our ride.  Many campers reluctantly gave back their CVO rides!  After a quick shower, the campers met in the lobby to head out to Summerfest.  We arrived at the exclusive Harley-Davidson Roadhouse restricted access deck to take in dinner, a backstage tour, some great music and very special (as I like to call them) “Fantasy Camp” fireworks. 

Friday was the day everyone on the camp was looking forward to the most.  We were heading out to Wauwatosa to visit the WillieG.ProductDevelopmentCenter or the PDC as we like to call it around here.  The PDC is the restricted access facility that houses all of the motorcycle styling and design teams.  Once we got everyone checked in through security, we were escorted through the facility to the conference room where motorcycle styling reviews are conducted.  John Herbrand, Managing Chief Engineer, kicked off the morning with a virtual tour of the PDC.  The room equipped with a floor to ceiling screen was where we met some of the engineers that design new motorcycles like the recently launched “48.”  Rich Christoph, Mark Gales, and Craig Russell talked us though the design of the 48, and the thought process that went into styling this particular motorcycle. It was fascinating to hear why certain decisions had been made and how those decisions affected the look and feel of the motorcycle.  The morning passed quickly and we joined the styling team for a final lunch.  Many campers were hoping to meet Willie G. at the PDC, but we knew he had a busy schedule and our time at the PDC was growing short.  As we finished our lunch, the campers surprised me with a special thank you gift and many kind words (thanks again, my friends!)  We headed up the stairs for one final group picture.  As we arrived at the top of the stairs, we were greeted by none other than Willie G!  In his ever gracious style, Willie chatted with the campers, shook hands and posed for pictures.  For most of the campers, meeting with Willie G. was the perfect end to a perfect week.

It was hard to believe that we had reached the end of our journey, but it was time to say goodbye to the new friends we had made as we traveled the road together for awhile.  With cool swag, new riding gear and did I mention a few new pictures (?), the campers dragged their overstuffed bags to the hotel lobby.  As phone numbers, email addresses, hugs and handshakes were exchanged we went back to our own journeys knowing that we each had 22 fellow riders out there that had shared this incredible experience together.  Our memories of this week would make us lifetime friends and we look forward to seeing each other out on the road.  I cannot say enough about the people I met during the camp—their passion for Harley-Davidson was truly inspiring and I know that I have been forever changed by the week that I spent with these amazing people.

Fantasy Fulfilled

You may have heard about a new program that we held at the Museum last week.  On June 21^st through the 25^th, the very first Harley-Davidson Fantasy Camp was held.  It was a week filled with exclusive access to some of the most fun Harley-Davidson experiences that have ever been put together. 

We kicked off the week at a Monday lunch, where my fellow tour hosts and I welcomed 22 new friends that we would be spending the next 5 days partaking in the experience of a lifetime.  We hosted 7 campers from Grupo BMC from Mexico City, 1 camper from Wisconsin and the rest of the campers were from all over the United States.  So how do you take an amazing weeklong experience and sum it up in a blog?  This one is going to be a tough one to write!

The opening lunch included a special welcome by Bill Davidson, Vice-President of the Museum.  Bill expressed his passion for motorcycling and his enthusiasm for having the chance to meet the campers.  After a few photographs (and when I say a few I mean a lot!) we headed out the door to visit Harley-DavidsonUniversity.  In the Twin Cam88 classroom our two awesome HDU instructors, Ed and Gary, schooled us on the ins and outs of a powertrain.  We literally dissected an engine, looking at each of the components that work together to make that unmistakable potato, potato, potato sound we all know and love!  As we were finishing up the class, Keith Wandell, CEO, popped in to say hello and took a few questions from the crowd.  A quick Screamin’ Eagle components lesson and a few(many) photos later, we were out the door headed back to the Museum for a cocktail reception and dinner at Motor with Jim Fricke, Director of Curatorial.  Chef Travis delivered his usual amazing food and there was not an empty stomach in the place!   Knowing we had a packed week, many turned in early to our suites at the HiltonCity Center to get a good night’s sleep.  That night campers were surprised with the first of many “rumble” gift bags left by the “Harley-Davidson fairies.”

Tuesday arrived as a beautiful, sunny Milwaukee day as we boarded our shuttle for a tour of the city of Milwaukee.  Hosted by Bill Jackson, Archives manager and Steve Daily, from the Milwaukee County Historical Society, the campers learned all about the Davidson family in the early 1900’s and some of the most famous landmarks in the city.  Included in the tour was a visit to the restored Pabst brewery, with a special behind the scenes tour given by Jim Haertel, owner of Best Place.  I am not supposed to tell you this, but Jim gave us a private tour of the unrestored areas of the brewery.  We had a great look at some of the amazing architecture of this rarely seen facility.  Some of the campers, living the “it’s 5:00 somewhere” lifestyle bellied up to the bar for a Pabst.  We ended our tour at the Pilgrim Road Facility where we met up with some engineers for a lunch and a talk about the factory operations.  Our super hostess, Diana H. divided us up into groups and steel-toe/safety glasses clad; we headed out to the factory tour for a private tour with the engineers.  After a brief stop in the employee store, where campers loaded up on Pilgrim Road gear, we headed back downtown for a tour of the Great Lakes Distillery, followed by a scrumptious dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, La Merenda.  After dinner we headed over to the VIP lounge at Potawatomi Bingo Casino.  Lady Luck was our friend as many campers came out with some extra cash in their pocket that night!

At the sun came up on Wednesday, we took off for the Museum for some super charged breakfast burritos.  They fueled us for our busy day at the Museum.  After breakfast, we met up with Tom Platz, restorer/conservator at the Museum.   Tom is a wealth of knowledge and took us on tour of the Museum galleries.  It is always interesting to hear insider stories about certain events or vehicles from someone who has lived through them.  As long as we were meeting so many executives from the Motor Company, our Wednesday lunch would be no different.  We headed to Juneau Avenue, corporate headquarters, for an official camp photograph and lunch with Matt Levatich, President of H-D, who shared his background and vision for the Motor Company.  Campers had the opportunity to ask some great questions about products, events and their enthusiasm for Harley-Davidson.  It was hard to believe that the week was half over; the time was going way too fast!  While the campers and I had enjoyed everything up to this point, we were still excited about all of the adventures yet to come!

Fourth of July Fun

Last weekend, I traveled back to Iowa to spend some time with my family over the Fourth of July holiday. It was a lot of fun with both of my brothers and their families coming in from out of town as well.  It’s always great to spendtime with family over a holiday—relaxing and catching up.  My mom and dad, however, had some different plans in mind…they thought it would be the perfect time to clean out the attic and go through our childhood mementos.  It was fun opening boxes and finding old report cards, seventh grade love notes, and of course beloved childhood toys.  While my brothers were quick to claim their “vintage” hot wheel cars and baseball cards, I set my sights on some of the cool Evel Knievel toys we played with growing up. Here are a couple of photos of the treasures from the attic.

Needless to say, a lot of us here at the Museum have had Evel on our minds. This week, we will be opening the “True Evel” exhibit, a fantastic collection of Evel memorabilia including some very cool Evel Knievel toys.  I remember my brothers playing with Evel toys when we were growing up. My older brother, Steve, even had an Evel lunchbox—unfortunately sold at a yard sale a long time ago.  He was the true Evel fan in our family.  I can still remember the Halloween when Steve dressed up in his Evel Knievel costume.  You remember the ones—with the plastic mask held on to your head by an elastic rubber band!  He was also the one who set up jumps of all types from the Evel energizer toy, to our skateboards to our bikes!  I wore quite a few band-aids on my knees from those days. 

It was great reminiscing with my brothers about good times growing up.  It also made me think about what  it must have been like growing up with the most well known daredevil in the world as your dad.  I am sure you would have a lot of interesting stories to tell as well as a good share of stock in bandages!  In case you didn’t know, Kelly Knievel will be here on July 17^th to share his stories of growing up with Evel Knievel.  Kelly has some great stories to tell about his childhood that you won’t want to miss.  Tickets are still available and can be purchased at www.h-dmuseum.com

Happy Landings

A Guest Post by Kelly Knievel

The doors to the exhibit True Evel will swing open this Saturday and my family and I couldn’t be more proud.

Over the years, I have come to understand that when people think of my dad, they think: “Evel Knievel, the World’s Greatest Daredevil.” This exhibit will allow people to meet the man behind the legend; the guy who was my dad - the real person.

Evel truly was a larger-than-life super star who thrilled and mesmerized people with his courageous and death-defying stunts. At the same time, he was a fallible human being who sometimes failed, fell down, got hurt and nearly killed, but each time, got back up and went at it again.

His resilience and bravery was awe inspiring. At one performance in Pennsylvania Dad crashed and broke his back at the Pocono 500 Indy race. He climbed up the flagman’s ladder and thanked the crowd for coming. I’ll never forget he introduced us kids to Mario Andretti, AJ Foyt and Bobby Unser.

I’m excited for people to finally get a chance to learn about this very human side of Evel Knievel. I think people will be fascinated to see the things that inspired my dad as a boy, shaped his career, and most importantly a glimpse into his indomitable spirit.  

My hope is that exhibit visitors will learn about the strengths of his character. My dad would often sign autographs ‘Happy Landings, Evel Knievel’. While much of his life – professional and personal – was not made up of happy landings, my dad never stopped believing in himself or his ability to shape his own destiny. My hope is this exhibit inspires each of you to stay resilient and never give up…

Happy Landings, Kelly Knievel

The People In My Neighborhood

Remember the old song on Sesame Street – before Elmo was even a gleam in Grover’s eye. Is Elmo Grover’s kid? Anyhow, it was about the people in your neighborhood, the people that you meet when you’re walking down the street, the people that you meet each day. Well, I’ve been meeting some of the people in my Museum neighborhood lately. Let me introduce you to them.

Tugboat Tom – Skipper – drives the boat that pushes the coal barges up the river, past the Museum to the Electric Company. Tom’s a staple – part of our Museum – part of our neighborhood. I was lucky enough to talk him into a tug boat ride the other day. It was amazing. The city looks entirely different from the river. We pushed a huge barge filled with coal up past the Museum on a beautiful, sunny, warm day. It was great!

Right before I got the call from Tom, I was pulling off First Rumble. One of the best parts of this weekend-long event, was the bike blessing by Archbishop Listecki. I wasn’t sure what to expect other than a nice blessing from the stage, but the Archbishop blew us away when he left the stage and blessed the people at the service and then went up and down all the crossroads, blessing each and every bike and rider. He was cool enough to stop and pose for a picture with me. I showed it to my mom to get clearance for missing a few Masses here and there. I owe him big time!

My other cool neighbors are my from the 128th. They gave me a once-in-a-lifetime experience – taking me on a refueling mission. It was incredible. I laid in the boom at the back of a plane and looked the pilot of the jet fighter below us. I looked him square in the eye – he was just a few feet away – and I smiled and waived like a goof. It was so incredible though. I couldn’t help but be a goof. When he was done refueling, he tipped his wings, dropped down a few feet and then rolled away from the plane. He was gone in a flash. It was spectacular!

So these are some of the people in my neighborhood. Pretty cool place to be if you ask me.

The Motorcycle Girls

Last weekend was a busy one here at the Museum. There were over 1000 women riders celebrating Women Riders month with a street party, demo rides, live music and a whole lot of fun! I had the opportunity to meet and get to know one very special women rider, Cris Sommer Simmons. Cris has her own amazing history riding motorcycles, starting at age nine when she hopped on the back of her step-father’s motorcycle and never looked back. She bought her first Harley-Davidson motorcycle when she was 19 and many more followed. In 1985, Cris co-founded the world’s first motorcycle magazine for women called Harley Women. In addition, Cris has chronicled the tales of early women riders in her book, The American Motorcycle Girls 1900-1950. This amazing book features fantastic photographs of pioneering women riders. Their stories and fashionable riding gear are very interesting.

On Friday night, Cris shared her passion for motorcycling and early women riders in a program presented at the Harley-Davidson Museum. The evening was kicked off with a special reception for Museum members to meet and talk with Cris. Karen Davidson started the program with a special introduction in which she shared Cris’s many motorcycle accomplishments including being inducted into the National Motorcycle Hall of Fame, The American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation Motorcycle Hall of Fame and the Sturgis Motorcycle Hall of Fame—just to name a few! Curatorial Director, Jim Fricke and Karen then asked Cris about her experiences and about the research that went into her book. Cris commented, “People often say I was the first to really pave the way for women riders. I am not the first. These women [in the book] were the trailblazers. I wanted people to know their names and their faces.”

Cris finished the evening discussing her next big project—the Motorcycle Cannonball Endurance Run she will be participating in this September. The run is a coast to coast run of pre-1916 motorcycles. Cris will be the only American female rider in the race. She will start her 17 day adventure in the outer banks of North Carolina and 3300 miles later, she will land in Santa Monica, California. In her book, Cris writes about 20-year old Effie Hotchkiss and her mother Avis who rode cross country in 1915. Effie drove her 1915 Harley-Davidson from Brooklyn to San Francisco with her mom safely tucked into the side car. The two brave women faced bad roads, cold, extreme heat, torrential rains, mud and floods. Hopefully, Cris will not experience quite the same conditions on her endurance run. The irony that she will be on the same type of coast to coast adventure is not lost on Cris. “I am living my book!” she says with a big grin on her face.

Hit the Road Jack!

In preparation for the whirlwind of events that are coming my way, I took a few days off to decompress and spend some time with my husband. (We won’t have a lot of time in the weeks ahead with everything on the Museum schedule.) Like a lot of people though, we didn’t want to spend a lot of money but wanted to have a great getaway. And boy did we! I highly recommend staycations. Find out what’s going on close to home (150-250 mile radius and go! (You could also do an amazing staycation at the H-D Museum with Car Night, Bike Night, and a slew of weekend activities – not to mention the Museum itself, it would make an awesome getaway. I don’t want to shamelessly plug this, but it would be cool.)

Anyhow, hubby and I hit the road – unfortunately, early May weather dictated 4 wheels vs. 2 wheels – and had a great time. We did House on the Rock in Spring Green. Really out there! If you haven’t seen it, it’s one of those things you have to see to believe. From there, we took Bill Rodencal’s advice and headed to Savannah, Illinois and the Iron Horse Social Club. A good time was had by all! You have to stop in and check out the amazing motorcycle and memorabilia Jerry has put together in his bar. Unbelievable! He’s also working on reviving motorcycle hill climbs in the area. Definitely worth the drive.

My friend Bridget from the Product Development Center sent us a list of travel tips that were spot-on! Who would have guessed that someone from FINANCE could provide such great travel tips. She has dialed in some of the best roads, bridges, haunted hotels, and cheese factories that South West Wisconsin has to offer. I’m doing a complete cut-and-paste from her email to share some of these great spots. Check out her email below and hit the road this summer. (The road should always begin or end at that Harley-Davidson Museum!)

1. Cheese – Cedar Grove Cheese factory in Plain, WI just north of Spring Green it’s just a little east of town on Hwy B. I think the main hwy north is Hwy 23, but check a map.
   
2. Breitbach’s – oldest bar in Iowa in Balltown Hwy C9Y to Cty Hwy C63 it’s a very scenic drive to get there (follow the Great River Road signs) We go there from Pike’s Peak (go south).
   
3. Pike’s Peak State Park – McGregor, IA just across the river from Prairie du Chien on Hwy 18/60 go across the bridge and turn left at the bottom of the bridge. Follow that road through the town of McGregor (reminds me of Deadwood, SD) when you get to the T in the road, turn left and the park is at the top of the hill. It’s free. We walk down to the overlook and you can usually see bald eagles flying over the river. It’s about a 1000 feet above the river. You can walk about a mile to waterfall if you want, but I didn’t think it was worth the trip.
   
4. McGregor, IA - There’s a little motel right in the middle of town on the south side of the road that has a Mexican restaurant on the main floor. You can rent rooms there for about $60 (the last time we stayed there) and supposedly it’s haunted. You can have some fun with that! Good bar across the street.
   
5. I removed Bridget’s tip 5. Crazy wreck of a motel.
   
6. Cool roads – HWY 171 from Richland Center to the river – take Hwy 14 when it splits off from Hwy 60 and go through Richland Center. A few miles west of the town is Hwy 171 to the left in the town of Boaz.
   
7. Another cool road – Hwy 131 north from Hwy 60 to Hwy 33. It runs through the Kickapoo River valley. Good place to eat is in Rockton, on Hwy 131 just south of Ontario (there’s only one place – I think it’s called the Rockton Bar). Go east on Hwy 33 and run through Wildcat Mountain State Park. Road is really twisty.
   
8. Scary bridge – Savannah IL over to some town in IA we usually cross from IA back to IL. There’s nothing interesting in either town but we go across the bridge anyway. North of Savannah is Galena, IL which is a historic town with antique shops. The Great River Road on the IL side isn’t that great though.
   
9. Potosi Brewery in Potosi, WI – Haven’t been there since they reopened, but it’s supposed to have a little museum type atmosphere about the Mississippi and the Great River Road. I heard the food was a little pricey. It’s way in the southwest corner of the state, near Dubuque.
   
10. Another cool road – County Road C in Grant County – follows the south side of the WI River. You pick it up off of hwy 133 south of Boscobel. You end up by Wyalusing State Park and just south of Prairie du Chien.
    
11. Hwy 35 is the Great River Road in WI. It’s best from Prairie du Chien to La Crosse, then it doesn’t really follow the river much. If you go north, cross the river at LaCrosse and ride the MN side (Hwy 14/61) to Winona.

All of this is off of memory, so look at a map first! Have a great time.

Bridget P.

Summer’s Coming

I did a Thirsty Thursday last week and had a great time at Motor. The Acoustix were playing – they are awesome – and are booked to return throughout the summer. Carrie Ann and John were on top of their bartending game. They had the place humming. While the sun was out, it was cold! But a few hardy riders toughed it out and rode their bikes to Motor. Just wait though. In just a few weeks we will be kicking off our Thursday bike nights and the plaza will be packed with motorcycles. The brats will be grilling, the beer flowing, the music filling the air, with the constant roar of v-twins playing in the background. I can’t wait! Our summer is about to explode. Bike Night starts May 13th. We have a cool Armed Forces event May 15th, Car Night starts May 18th, Women’s Ride May 22nd and First Rumble roars in on Memorial Day weekend. Seriously. We have a jam packed summer planned and I can’t wait to get things rolling.

Chef Throw Down at Motor Bar & Restaurant

Last Sunday, we had a “chef throw down” at Motor, but it probably wasn’t what you’re picturing in your mind. The chefs, in this case, were pint-sized and they were throwing down pizza dough. The second class in our Cooking with Chef Travis series was geared towards teaching kids how to cook with Mom and Dad. Chef Travis even enlisted the help of his own personal sous chefs his two daughters, Gabrielle (age 3) and Samantha (age 6) to help teach the class. The kids had a ball making fruit “spokes” and taking them for a “drive” though some delicious honey-flavored yogurt.

 

Next, came a little lesson on how to stretch out pizza dough, followed by “painting” on some pizza sauce, or some daring kids went straight for the BBQ sauce instead. Chef Travis encouraged kids to top their pizzas with yummy vegetables cut exactly the right way to make funny faces on their “zaaahs!” While Chef Travis and Ryan popped the pizzas in the oven, the kids learned how to make homemade marshmallows and graham crackers for ooey-gooey s’mores.

   

The grins were big when the waiters hand delivered each pizza. The kids all agreed that they were pretty darn tasty. When it was time to leave, Chef Travis sent each “mini-chef” home with a fancy cookie cutter to make their own grahams, and a s’mores kit including a chocolate bar, freshly made marshmallows and still-warm graham crackers. Moms and Dads got copies of all the recipes. When I asked 7-year old participant, Erin K. what she thought of the class-her one word answer? YUM-EEE!

Check out our next Cooking with Chef Travis class: Spicing Up Spring

The ABC’s and 123’s at the Harley-Davidson Museum

This month, a letter from a group kids here in Milwaukee made its way across my desk. It was an invitation from HOPE Christian: Prima School inviting me to a special presentation of a clay tile the students had made of the Museum. The class was studying the ABC’s of Architecture-that’s Architecture, Art and Arithmetic Bonding Community! Teacher Marina Lee led the charge of this community of young learners.The students were sent out, cameras in hand to capture some of the beautiful buildings around Milwaukee. The students learned how to enlarge a picture, transfer their picture to a clay tile, add details and glaze them. The result of their work was amazing and I was delighted to meet some of the artists in person and accept this cool tile of the Museum. I really enjoyed spending some time with these motivated students. The tile will be on display at the Museum in the archives processing area…come check it out.

   

Not to be out done by some other local schools, Karen Buschman and I headed out for a “Hog Rodeo” last week. We stopped at elementary, middle and high schools in the area to collect four-foot long fiberglass pigs that had been decked out to look like real Harley Hogs. Last October, ten teachers were randomly selected to receive a field trip to the Museum and one of our Harley hogs. The class used their trip to the Museum to inspire the design of their Hog. Last week the Hogs came home in an (orange) blaze of glory. We’ve got a Hand-Some Harley as well as Uncle “Ham” just to name a few. The hogs will be on display in our pig pen from now until April 11th. Visitors are invited to vote for their favorite Hog. The winning school design will win $1000 from the Harley-Davidson Foundation.

 

Some of the students, who participated in the contest, sent some great letters telling me about how much fun they had at the Museum and all that they learned while visiting. Who says learning can’t be fun! Be sure to come down to the Museum before April 11th and vote for your favorite.

Girls, Girls, Girls

Girls are amazing - Especially the girls from St. Joseph’s Girl Scout 2nd and 5th grade troops. Last weekend these girl scouts set up camp in the Museum lobby and came loaded with cookies. What makes this so special? The cookies were being sold for our troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Our visitors were incredible, buying up 178 boxes of these tasty morsels. The Museum staff packed up the cookies and shipped them off to our adopted units overseas. Bon appétit! Thanks Girls.

And thank you to all the men and women who courageously serve our country. Our thoughts and prayers are with you always!

Wild Ones Weekend

I have just had it with Winter! Everything is gray and cold and ugly. When it's not gray, it's white... ughh... more snow. The other evening I went to leave work and we got slammed with a rush hour white out. It took me over an hour to get home and I was good and crabby when I did get there. (Sorry Honey!) The next day the white quickly faded back to that ugly gray again. But I saw a light at the end of the tunnel. And the light was the headlight of an old Knucklehead Motorcycle!

After that last snow fall, a few of my friends from the Knucklehead motorcycle club came into town from the great north woods of Wisconsin to start planning our July event. (If you think winters in Milwaukee are tough, head north for the season. I swear their snow doesn't melt until the 4th of July!) We hunkered down in Motor with Bill Rodencal and started talking about old bikes and field games and music and beer. I could almost feel the warm July sun beating down on us.

The Knuckleheads were at the Museum last summer for their annual reunion and bike show. We knew right away we wanted them back. The site was filled with these awesome old motorcycles and the amazing characters that ride them. And they didn't just show the bikes, they rode them. And they didn't just ride these glorious pieces of iron, they performed on them. In addition to the bike show, we had motorcycle field games. Our own Bill Rodencal took part in these games on his 1939 WLDD bike. From slow races, to bag tosses, to riding the plank, they made these machines dance. (Check out the latest addition of Iron Works magazine to see a great pic of Bill performing at the Museum Field Games. Ol' Centerfold Bill!)

We're bringing the Knucks back this summer for a "Wild Ones Weekend." And I can't wait. I can't wait for the snow to melt, for the gray to transform into the colors of summer. Speaking of colors – plan on seeing a lot of green when we bring the original Wild Ones along for the ride. In addition to the Knucklehead activities, we've invited the Booze Fighters to join us for the weekend. We will kick off the weekend with an Untold Stories program featuring Bill Hayes and some of the last original Hollister Wild Ones. It's going to be a great weekend – a blast from the past. Old bikes, old friends.

I look out the window as I am writing this and see some white coming down to blanket the gray. I don't mind so much because I know summer is just around the corner. And coming around that corner are my friends on their Knucklehead motorcycles.

Motorcycle Movie Magic

I love to watch movies, and currently I am working my way though all of the Oscar nominations. When I see special effects in movies, I often find myself asking, how did they do that? It’s not often that you get to learn about how stunts and special effects are done to create the movies. In conjunction with our Harleys and Hollywood special exhibit, we are hosting an evening with two industry insiders who will share some of the secrets of making the movie magic.

Recently I have had the opportunity to talk with Justin Kell and Tim Woods. These guys work out in L.A. and coordinate many of the special effects used in movie motorcycling stunts. Justin is a bike builder who works with the artistic director of a movie to create the look and feel of the motorcycle based on the time and setting of the movie. He also has to make sure the motorcycles can withstand the rigorous stunts they are asked to do. Justin worked on a number of the bikes that are in the Harleys and Hollywood exhibit.

One of my favorites on display is a Buell XB9 that was used in the movie Star Trek. Justin added four body pieces to the motorcycle to give it a “futuristic retro” feel as desired by the artistic director. The body pieces were designed to be easily replaced in the event they were damaged during filming. Chris Pine, playing a young Captain Kirk, rode the motorcycle in the movie. The brief footage in the movie highlights one of the cool effects that people like Tim Woods help to create. Tim is a Picture Car coordinator on movie sets. He helps plan vehicle stunts and makes sure the motorcycles are in the right place at the right time. In the movie, Star Trek, the motorcycle was filmed in front of a green screen. This enabled some movie magic to literally make the spokes on the wheels disappear! This made the bike look like it was suspended above the frame giving it the appearance that is was floating on air. How cool did that look?

Both Justin and Tim will be sharing their motorcycle stories in a special program on February 26th at 7:00 p.m. Hosted by curatorial director, Jim Fricke, the guys will talk about some of the projects that they have worked on and how they make movie magic happen. They will share the inside stories of how stunts are produced, how they teach celebrities to ride and what it takes to modify motorcycles for the movies. As someone who is interested in learning more about how movies are made, I can’t wait to get the inside scoop from Tim and Justin.

Tickets for the event can be purchased at h-dmuseum.com

Gear Heads United

This morning I am sitting in our very first Shop Class here at the Museum. The focus of this class is Powertrain operations and we are learning about Big Twin engines. I am watching Harley-Davidson University instructors, Ed Ramberger and Gary Valine, masterfully explain all of the components of twin cam engines. The gear heads gathered here are literally dissecting engines part by part and learning the role of each piece and how all the components work together to provide the power and torque we all love in our motorcycles.

Scattered around the room are cut-away engine models. These models allow us to literally see inside the engine as Ed describes what is going on when an engine is running. The tables are scattered with parts that you can pick-up, take a part, and peek inside. Ed says, “Don’t worry if you can’t put it back together!” While many of the people in the class wouldn’t be concerned about that, it immediately puts my mind at ease. Ed points out the parts and their functions in his presentation and directs us to our Shop Class manual which contains exploded views of all engine components. The class is not all serious; we are having some fun, too. Sprinkled throughout Ed and Gary’s presentation are bonus questions like, what is the advantage of chain driven components over gear driven? “Quieter,” Ron, one of the participants responds and is rewarded with the coveted HDU key chain. Ed says he prefers the chain driven because he’s getting older and wants to hear the radio—the class gives a chuckle.

As we move onto exploring more about Screamin’ Eagle components, we can pick up and compare them to stock parts. I can easily see the modifications on these parts—everything from how the parts are machined to the weight of the materials used. Ed explains how these modifications affect the performance of the engine. It’s pretty clear why we’ll all be adding these to our Parts & Accessories wish lists.

As Ed and Gary are finishing up the class, I am amazed at how much I have learned in this class. The gear head factor ranged from novices, like me, to people who have rebuilt engines many times. I think it is pretty safe to say, we all upped our gear head factor today!

Arthur H. Davidson Visits the Museum

Shortly before the Museum opened in the summer of 2008, I received a call from Arthur H. Davidson (the H stands for Harley). I recognized his name as the sole surviving son of one of the original founders of Harley-Davidson, Arthur Davidson. He said he had some “junk” to donate to the Museum. I drove out to his house on a beautiful summer day and met him and his wife Gertrude. The “junk” turned out to be the original passports his father used in the 1910s and 20s to travel overseas and build the foreign dealer network. Had he not recruited so many dealers around the world, Harley-Davidson is not the company it is today... if it’s here at all.

Since then, he and I kept in contact about getting him here to the Museum. Just over a week ago, it finally happened. Arthur is now 95 years old and an absolute joy to talk to. During his visit, he shared knowledge of company history and items on exhibit that weren’t recorded anywhere. For example, the company disbursed its first stock in 1907, and William S. Harley received fewer shares than the Davidson brothers by a noticeable amount. But this was only because Bill Harley needed cash to fund his remaining time as an engineering student at the University of Wisconsin.

Members of Arthur’s extended family were along for the Museum tour, including Willie G. and his wife Nancy Davidson as well as their son Michael and many others. We were also fortunate enough to get a 90 minute video interview with Arthur. His eloquence and humor are gifts that are best captured on film... sometimes paper records only get you so far.

He shared other first hand knowledge, such as accounts of the deep respect that those early dealers had for his father. The elder Arthur and the co-founders of the Motor Company were also men of incredibly good humor and literacy. Sometimes, written history tends to reduce men like Bill Harley and the Davidson brothers to two-dimensional businessmen who were merely smart and hardworking people. But in fact, they truly come to life when you have the good fortune of talking to someone who knew them well. I have always believed that no one’s history is complete without knowing more about their full humanity.

The visit was a privilege and treat for us. And if I may, it was not merely because of Mr. Davidson’s name and genealogy. It was getting to show the Museum to a funny, engaging and kind gentleman... and someone who lived the first chapters of a larger story that we’re all a part of.

-Bill Jackson
Archives Manager

Photos courtesy of Michael Davidson.

Time Machine

My time machine seems to be stuck on fast forward. I vaguely remember fall, the holidays, we were doing 2010 planning. Suddenly 2010 planning is 2010 doing. We’ve got a lot of cool things happening this year. We’ve already kicked off our Tuesday Trivia, Wednesday Open Mic Night, and Thirsty Thursday Acoustic jams in Motor. Our Elvis spotlight is just about over so if you haven’t seen the special Elvis exhibit or enjoyed a peanut butter and nanner (banana) sandwich you better come on down quick. We are just a few weeks away from the Chili Bowl on January 31st where we will pull the winner of the Sportster we donated to Hunger Task Force. Come on down and sample some of the best chili in the Milwaukee area.

I always struggle with the doldrums of winter but this year, winter doesn’t seem to be happening. We’re planning for summer and what a summer we have planned! I’ve been working with the Armed Forces Committee on an event saluting the men and women who proudly serve our Country. We recently received some photos back from a couple of the units we have adopted that are serving overseas. During our Veteran’s Day celebration, we asked all of our Museum visitors to sign H-D flags with messages of support, there were also postcards that folks could write their messages on. We sent these, along with a ton of goodies the Museum team collected to my brother-in-law, Brian serving in Iraq and the Museum’s Program Manager (my buddy Chris Kutsch) cousin, Eric. We - we being Harley-Davidson - have a long, proud history with the military and I am really excited about continuing our support on Armed Forces Day.

In May, we’re welcoming Women Riders to the Museum as part of a month-long focus on the women of Harley. We will have 2010 demos, New Product Trailer, a bike blessing, and much more happening at the Museum that weekend. (By the way, men are welcome too!) After that it’s First Rumble, bike nights, car nights, knuckleheads, custom bike show, and on and on and on. There may even be cupcakes involved in this mix. What a killer job I have! It’s going to be a great summer. Problem is, I have a feeling that it won’t be long before I’m writing about our winter holidays again!

If you have any ideas of suggestions you want to pass on for our Museum events, I’m all ears. Let’s make this year one to remember.

Vocalist - Self Employed

...Is how Elvis Presley defined his occupation when he applied for a loan to buy his 1956 Harley-Davidson KH. Yes, he actually made payments. Sam Phillips had just sold his contract to RCA, and his first single “Heartbreak Hotel” would be released in less than 2 weeks. Little did he know then it would be his first number one hit.

Nearly every day the Archives are contacted by a well meaning individual from somewhere in the world relating a remarkable story they were told by a friend of a friend, who happens to know where this bike is! Funny thing is the bike has been right here in Milwaukee for the last 15 years. The story of this bike and the old wives tales that surround it have become so legendary that Snopes, the urban legends reference page, has even debunked the myth.

In 2005 I was lucky enough to accompany the bike to Memphis when it was loaned to the Art of the Motorcycle exhibit. It was amazing to see the excitement the bike created as it returned to its hometown nearly 50 years later. That excitement is not lost here at the museum, as one of the first questions our visitor staff gets is, “Where is Elvis’ bike?” People of all ages, from all over the world line up to be photographed by it everyday. It is truly amazing to see the endless devotion to the man who changed music.

On January 8th the King of Rock and Roll would have celebrated his 75th birthday. We here at the museum decided it would be appropriate to throw a party. All month long the Museum will pay homage to the king. Stop down and see the special photo exhibit on loan from the Graceland archives documenting the production of Elvis’ legendary ’68 Comeback Special. Wear your best Elvis sideburns and sunglasses and you will be admitted for only $12.00! Our own Chef Travis will even be whipping up fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches in Motor. This Thursday we will kick it off with Liam Ford playing a special tribute show during our Thirsty Thursday happy hour at Motor. So, stop by, drop off a birthday card and see the Harley-Davidson that was fit for a King!

For more on the Elvis motorcycle myth visit http://www.snopes.com/autos/dream/elvis.asp

It Looks a Lot Like Christmas

I have spent the last four weeks on the road—a little fun, a little work, a lot of family and even a little riding. It was great to come home to the Museum and see all of the holiday decorations in place. (Actually, it was a little like stepping back in time to the 60’s.) Out on the fourth corner, there is a huge 25 foot tree sparkling with lights and ornaments to welcome you to the grounds. The Founder’s Terrace is lit up with a forest of twinkling trees set off by the city lights in the background. The lobby is filled with red and silver tinsel trees surrounding a newly acquired ‘65 Sprint motorcycle and a ‘62 Model AH Topper motorcycle with a sidecar. The sidecar is overflowing with packages and the jolly old elf himself is driving the Topper. The halls are decked and looking great for the holiday season.

Last Friday night, we welcomed about 1000 members for our second annual member holiday party. There was a lot of good cheer going on here at the Museum! As members entered the lobby, Santa was standing by taking requests and posing for photographs. I heard a lot of Parts and Accessories wishes being whispered into Santa’s ear. In the Museum, the archives staff rolled out a couple vehicles from the 60’s and pulled some great artifacts from the collection. Bill and Bill were there swapping stories with guests. In the Garage, Cold Sweat was jamming and the dance floor was filled with people grooving to the music. I think Santa was singing back-up on a couple of songs. The tables were filled with games like “Gnip Gnop” and Lincoln logs. There was even a cool wind up Evel Knievel motorcycle toy that I shot through the “circle of fire” a couple of times.

Over in Rumble, Jim was spinning the vinyl albums getting folks in the holiday spirit. I was hanging out with the Pinstripe Legends who were pinstriping Christmas ornaments. They were really awesome and it wasn’t long before the line was out the door. They always do such amazing work. The real fun of the evening was the raffle drawings. I know a lot of people left with some great prizes: t-shirts, hats, leather jackets, gift certificates—all kinds of good stuff! Did I mention shopping? A lot of people left with armfuls of gifts, knowing that our retail team had wrapped them with extra special care. It seems like everyone had a big smile on their face.

What I love most about this holiday party is that the Museum team gets the opportunity to meet our members and personally thank them for supporting the Museum and Hunger Task Force. Our members travel from far and wide to attend the celebration and we could not be more proud of the commitment you have to Harley-Davidson. Thank you to all and have a wonderful holiday season.

Join me for our Biker Claus Wish List Party & happy hour in Motor on December 10th & 17th. Tim and I will be on hand to have some fun and probably give a prize or two away! See you then!

Motorcycles and Music

If you weren’t at the Harley-Davidson Museum last Friday night, you missed out on one of the best parties of the season. This was our second annual Members Holiday Party and I gotta tell you our Members know how to party! One of the highlights of the night -and there were a lot of highlights - was definitely the band. Cold Sweat and the Brew City Horns had the house rocking. Even Santa took to the stage with them for a slick version of Jingle Bells. Cold Sweat is a nine-piece group with a super tight horn section and a sweet rhythm section. They definitely got the party in gear.

One of the cool things I get to do here at the Museum is book music for events like the Members Holiday Party. I have discovered we have some really great local talent in the Milwaukee area. Cold Sweat is just the tip of the iceberg. While I do love the sound of a good band, I have to confess it is acoustic music that really trips my trigger. So I am really excited that we will be bringing acoustic music to Motor every Thursday night in 2010.

We’re kicking off our weekly acoustic spotlights with The Liam Ford Band on January 7th. This rockabilly band is a Museum favorite. They played at our First Rumble rally last summer and performed at several Car Nights as well. The Liam Ford Band has won best WAMI awards the last few years for Best Americana Band. They are awesome. But Liam solo… now that is a rare treat. Liam brings an eclectic selection of music. He will also include a special tribute to Elvis as we celebrate the King’s birthday here at the Museum throughout the month of January.

We are bringing two new performers to Motor in January. Jackie Brown and The Boys are slated for January 14th. Jackie’s got a soulful voice that will give you chills. Overserved Trio will give their Motor debut performance on January 28th. I caught them this past summer at a party and new I wanted to bring them to the Motor to play as soon as I heard them.

We’ll also bring back Daniel T. this month and hope to make him a regular. His voice is absolutely phenomenal. I’m hoping to get Bill Rodencal, the Museum’s restoration tech, back to perform with him as well. The two of them got together at Motor in November for a great night of music.

Like I said, there is a lot of great local talent and I’m excited to be showcasing some of them on Thursday nights. I also have a great opportunity to discover new talent when we launch our Wednesday Night Open Mic sessions at Motor. If you strum, pick or sing a little, here’s your chance to come play for an audience. Everyone starts somewhere - what better place to start than Motor!

When people think about the Harley-Davidson Museum, they think motorcycles of course. With the great acts we’re booking here at Motor, we’re going to be known for more then our motorcycles!

Rockin' Tree Lighting & One-day Food Drive

Once again, in the blink of an eye, the holidays are upon us. I swear it was just the other day we were planning for our Custom Bike Show hoping for good weather and a great event. We got both. I’m still hoping for good weather. This time now that hope isn’t for sunny and 80, it's just a plea to hold off on snow, ice, and sleet so we can fill up Milwaukee’s largest Bar & Shield - you know, the H-D logo - with canned food for Hunger Task Force. On Friday, November 27th, the Museum has planned an awesome event to Rev' up the Holidays. We are asking everyone to bring a can of food to fill in Milwaukee’s largest Bar & Shield - together we can shield against hunger in our community. We will also be lighting our 25-foot Christmas tree. Christmas-baby AnnieB will be belting out some rockin’ Christmas carols, we’ll have a monster bonfire, Mrs. Claus will be hanging out at Motor, the big man himself will make a roaring entrance at 1:00, and oh yea, there will be skateboarding elves.

This is what I do. Events at the Museum. I round up Santa and the Mrs., get us a gargantuan Bar & Shield, pray for decent weather and find me some skateboarding elves. Event Planning. Before my Museum days, I worked in our Powertrain Facility doing material planning. I was in charge of manufactured purchased parts for the powertrains. Forgings, flywheels, conrods, rocker arms, gears. If the powertrain is the heart and soul of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle, parts are the guts.

People ask me how I went from one extreme to the other - Material Planning to Event Planning. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of difference. I bring in the parts, whether flywheels or skateboarding elves…the end-result (and my goal) is the same…to provide our customers with an experience that they will never get anywhere else. Whether it’s the new bike they ride away on from their local dealer or the cool day they have at our Museum kicking off the holiday season, the satisfaction of our customers is my ultimate goal. And, by the way, both jobs required that I pray for good weather - so our flywheels and our elves arrive on time. It's all in a day's work.

I'm Karen Buschman, Event Planner at the Harley-Davidson Museum and this is my introduction to blogging. I’ll try to keep up on sharing some of the crazy experiences I have…I do have some crazy ones! Right now, I have to get a hold of Harley-Davidson University and see if they offer any classes in sleigh repair and reindeer care. Ho-Ho-Ho-H-D! Happy Holidays!

Saosin... Say It’s So

A couple Fridays ago, I left my office and headed out to the Museum building to give a tour to some Museum guests. As I came across the archives bridge into the galleries, I was greeted with the most amazing sounds coming out of the experience gallery. The music was totally unexpected and sounded fantastic bouncing off the walls of the exhibits. As those of you have been in the experience gallery know, typically that gallery is filled with the roar of engines and sounds from the road. Not so, on this night.

Early in the week, I had been asked to give a tour to a special group of people and their guests. Our museum folks worked with FM 102 to bring the band Saosin and some of their listeners for a visit. The lucky guests were treated to a tour of the Museum and a private acoustic show by Saosin in the galleries. As the band was finishing up their sound check, I met some of the winners and we headed into the galleries for a quick tour. Saosin probably does not attract your typical Harley crowd, so I had a great mix of teens and riders in my tour group. It was my pleasure to share the Museum with some Harley “newbies” as well as some devoted Harley fans. I loved telling the stories of this iconic company. My group was fun and asked some great questions, but I knew they were more excited to see Saosin. From what I had heard earlier, I was pretty excited, too. We finished our tour and arrived to the experience gallery just as the band was tuning up.

To be honest, I didn’t really know much about the band Saosin before Friday. My friends Todd and Michelle had googled them the night before and we listened to some of their music (admittedly it was on Todd’s iPhone during bike night.) A country girl at heart, I wasn’t sure that it was the genre of music I would be drawn to. However, from the moment I walked across the bridge until the last note was played, I was blown away. These guys are awesome and their acoustic sound was very cool. During their show, Saosin totally surprised me with a couple of covers... Garth Brooks and Chris Isaac. It was awesome! The best part was looking around the gallery and seeing a very different mix of people sitting around the gallery enjoying some fantastic music. For me, it was the first time I have ever listened to a concert sitting on a motorcycle - I highly recommend it!

After the concert, the guys signed some autographs for their fans. Then we headed over to Motor and I got to spend some time with the guys. We played Jenga and had a few laughs as (band member) Chris consistently knocked over the tower. Beau and Justin filled me in on life on the road and their crazy schedule. Their awesome music and great personalities have definitely have made me a big Saosin fan! As the evening came to a close, I was reminded once again of why I love this place so much - I never know what to expect when I enter the Museum. It is always different and fun!

Helmets: “Love them or loathe them – you can’t ignore ‘em!”

Some of you know that before I came to the Harley-Davidson Museum, I was a teacher. I spent 15 years teaching mathematics at the middle school and college level. I loved my time working with students and enjoyed the opportunity to teach. In fact, one of my former students, Aneel, is an intern at the Museum! While I love my new career at H-D, there are times when I miss the opportunity to work with enthusiastic students and shape their understanding of the world. When I was asked to be a part of the Helmet project, I could not wait to jump on board.

If you have been following Jim Fricke’s blog you probably know that the Harley-Davidson Museum has partnered with the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design to co-create a temporary exhibit at the Museum. We have been working with a number of different departments at MIAD to engage students in the design and execution of the Helmet Project exhibit. Combining experts in the field, budding young designers and artists, incredible artifacts and equally interesting artistic pieces, a fantastic exhibit build out and a crazy timeline—well, we have created our own personal reality TV show to say the least! In a nutshell, we are working with exhibit design students to change our “Garage” to an exhibit gallery. The Industrial design and fine art students are creating helmet “art.” The communications students are producing the exhibit graphics design. And guiding the entire project is our amazing archives staff and exhibit team making sure that everything is getting done. When I say it takes a whole village... I’m not kidding!

For the past three weeks, I have been back in school—sitting in MIAD classrooms, listening to our Harley-Davidson team providing feedback and direction to the students. The students have been presenting their ideas, as presentations, drawings and models. Our jury consisting of Curatorial Director, Jim Fricke, Michael Davidson, artist, and Jim Donnelly, multi-disciplinary designer, are masters of their craft! They are enthusiastic teachers and have been providing amazing encouragement for the students. The MIAD students in turn are energetic, open and are creating some really incredible work.

It is exactly how education should be – real students working on real project receiving real feedback. The teacher in me cannot help but smile.

As we enter into the final weeks of the project, it is exciting to see the ideas of the students, their instructors, and the teams here at the Museum really come together. We know we will be facing some challenges in the next couple of weeks and the concept of an “all-nighter” might be a new reality for us, but seeing the magnificent sketches and sculptures definitely make it worth all of the hard work. As the communications students say about helmets, “Love them or loathe them – you can’t ignore ‘em!” Come check out the exhibit opening on October 23rd and running through November 8th.