Does it matter? You bet!Pendleton, Oregon and the “wild west” stands for — freedom, independence, self-expression and the rebel spirit.
That could be a marketing campaign for Harley-Davidson and likely why the motor company will grace Oregon’s Pendleton Bike Week (July 19 – 23rd).
This is major news, especially in biker circles. It’s a lot of work and a big deal in the consumer goods and services sector to obtain a title sponsor on any type of event, let alone when the backbone of American culture, the flagship of American brands elects to throw its considerable weight behind an event and partner with an up-and-coming independent motorcycle rally in the Northwest.
Big shout out and congrats to Eric Folkestad and the Pendleton team for securing the sponsorship!
You may recall that the Pendleton Bike Week (PBW) is not a local or national sponsored HOG event so, this is really the first-of-its-kind partnership with Harley-Davidson and will help legitimize this event for motorcycle enthusiasts. What makes this even more interesting is the fact that the Pacific Northwest HOG Rally (July 20 – 23rd) held in Meridian/Boise, ID will occur on the same set of dates as PBW. Pendleton and Meridian, ID are about 3 hours apart on I-84 and I would anticipate some riders are working on a plan to attend both.
PBW is in it’s third year and it’s estimated there will be upwards of 20,000 bikers over the four days visiting the area this year. I attended the first event in 2015 (read about HERE) where there was about 6,000 attendees and last year’s attendance spiked to about 16,000 across the four days.
Harley-Davidson will have factory reps on hand to chat with and two factory demo trucks onsite so riders can experience the performance of the company’s new line of motorcycles, including the new Milwaukee-Eight engine. Pendleton is at the base of the scenic Blue Mountains, which has become well-known as a hub for motorcycle touring eastern Oregon.
The city of Pendleton is an appealing venue and the rally is a nice ‘back to the basics’ ride in the “wild west.” See you there.
Photo courtesy of PBW
Northwest Harley Blog 
That is great news! With Harley on their side now, attendance will more than double. Congrats!