Reactivate Keith Wandell And Mark-Hans Richer

Remember that outsider who kept Harley-Davidson on the road?

Keith E. Wandell (retired H-D CEO) grabbed the handlebars at the company in the heart of the economic crisis in 2009. Harley lost $55 million that year, as buying a motorcycle stopped being an option for many consumers.

Wandell made some big statements. “Don’t let Harley-Davidson become General Motors!” Look in a mirror, he told staff – Harley was already so far down that same path [as GM] “it wasn’t even funny.”

Wandell took bold action and made quick decisions to focused the company on doing what many say it does best: Making big, powerful, premium-priced cruisers.

Keith Wandell

Keep in mind, this was when the great recession and credit crisis sent shockwaves through Harley-Davidson. In less than one year, bike shipments dropped about 25 percent.

Wendell cut the workforce – at least 2,700 hourly workers and 840 administrative employees. The economy was in the tank, the motor company had a big union labor force and old manufacturing processes.  People were just churning and everything was upside down at the company.

Imagine…

I’m not talking about celebrities’ filming themselves singing John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’, from their multi-acre estates and whining about their COVID-19 pandemic isolation.  Never has disproportionate privilege been so apparent and I for one am really fed up with their self-serving need to be in the public spotlight with style-over-substance videos.

But, I digress…

Mark-Hans Richer

It is equally important to recall Wandell’s right-hand “stunt man” — you may remember him as that over-the-top marketing genius who had women screaming, grown men crying and Oprah jumping up and down, chanting: “Everybody gets a car!”

I’m talking about Mark-Hans Richer, who was Sr. VP, Chief Marketing Officer at Harley-Davidson, prior to his 2015 departure. Granted, Richer is currently employed at Fortune Brands, but with the mass exodus at Harley-Davidson and salary decreases across the executive staff it’s plausible to pull him back into the H-D team.

Richer, generated the most bankable kind of publicity: controversy.  He made the difference between a motorcycle brand being a rock star versus more employees working in the rental lot.

He’s the charismatic dude that dropped a Dyna Super Glide on Pope Francis at the Vatican.  Then turned around at a press briefing and said, I would be really upset if you felt our strategy was about “meeting the nicest people on a Harley” because I can tell you that ain’t the strategy.  Later he pontificated that a Harley costs less than “another tattoo, a parking ticket, a gas station burrito, and a lip ring” in an appeal to what makes millennials tick.  In 2002, he helped the company get named Company of the Year by Forbes magazine.

110th Anniversary Celebration

In a university commencement speech, he stated: “Everything I ever learned from business, I learned from Willie the Wildcat stuffed animal,” a business he started right out of college.  Richer secured the first major worldwide sports sponsorship for Harley-Davidson at UFC and was instrumental in X-Games marketing.

No, I don’t have a man crush.

Richer was a key contributor of the “Ride Home” anniversary events.  Do you remember when returning to the mecca of motorcycling in Milwaukee was truly an EVENT i.e. the 110th Anniversary festivities featured 60 bands, including Aerosmith, Kid Rock and ZZ Top.  Remember that 3 ½-hour set by Bruce Springsteen and E Street Band at the 105th Anniversary?   How about when Foo Fighters, Dave Grohl, committed a major sin on stage by cracking open a Coors in Miller Town?

100th Anniversary Celebration

There was the surprise headliner (Elton John) and outright disaster for the centennial anniversary. Musical highlights included Billy Idol, Kid Rock, Joan Jett, Poison, REO Speedwagon, the Doobie Brothers and Tim McGraw for the 100th anniversary so, people booing and walking out might have been overstated in the media.

Then came 2018 and time to celebrate 115 years of the open road.  Harley-Davidson CMO, Heather Malenshek tells the media the event is all about returning to its roots with a focus on the motorcycle, not the entertainment.  Huh?!  It was an unmitigated flop for entertainment.  She very quietly departs the company in October 2019.  Coincidence?

Indian is challenging Harley’s cash cow, the Road Glide.  BMW has market segment share in the ADV or “adventure motorcycle” sector and recently introduced the new R 18 touring, cruiser configuration to compete head-on with Harley-Davidson and Indian.  Rumors started circulating recently that Honda is introducing a new 1100 Rebel to compete directly with Harley-Davidson.

Pan American

Harley needs more than anything a fast start for a new model to become a breakout hit.  Is that the Pan American, ADV?

The ADV segment is crowded and entrenched with BMW, Honda, KTM, and newcomer Ducati, among others with decades, of dirt-tested refinement.  Harley doesn’t have the luxury of burning up stacks of cash on a another “vanity project.”

The Milwaukee motor company has a very narrow window to establish that hit. Gone are the days when a slow seller can be nurtured into a hit.  Here’s looking at you LiveWire and the “Field of Dreams” marketing of distressed or stigmatized merchandise!  I truly wonder if acting president and CEO Jochen Zeitz or Harley-Davidson management really understand why the LiveWire product is failing?

It’s logically time to recall Mr. Wandell and “CMO head-honcho,” Richer back from spending their days taking lunch at the Polo Lounge and crank up the H-D buzz machine.

What the media’s hourly drumbeat of “panic porn” on the COVID-19 trauma has shown us, cannot be unseen.  A motorcycle-less Los Angeles.  Coyotes wandering on the empty Golden Gate Bridge.  A quiet New York, where you can hear the birds chirp in the middle of Madison Avenue.

We’re in it. Stores are closed. Restaurants are empty. Streets and multi-lane freeways are barren.  Body bags in tractor trailers.  The Oregon beach is an eerie ghost town.  The economy has collapsed and a devastated 22+ million Americans have lost their jobs in four weeks.  It’s a dark feeling of rust, rot and ruin.

“Illegitimi non carborundum.” The Latin phrase loosely translates to, “Don’t let the [COVID] bastard get you down.”

Motorcycle enthusiasts are the ones who understand why dogs stick their heads out the window.  In the famous words of a previous H-D CEO, Jeffrey Bleustein, “We (Harley) have to pretend ten fiery demons are chasing us at all times,” and “make the right bikes, at the right time, and get them to the right place!”

Let’s all take a deep breath and get ready for a potential Harley-Davidson tsunami. What is about to be unleashed will be the greatest campaign ever created to get you to feel normal again.  Every brand will come to our rescue, dear consumer, to help take away that darkness and get life back to the way it was before the crisis.

The great American return to normal is coming and you won’t be able to ignore that deafening motorcycle exhaust noise.

Photos taken by author and courtesy of Harley-Davidson and Wikipedia.

All Rights Reserved (C) Northwest Harley Blog

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What Harley-Davidson Exec’s Want For Christmas

Santa wasn’t good to the motorcycle industry in 2009.  A weak economy, company layoffs, a housing melt-down, credit freeze, higher manufacturing costs and an ever discriminating consumer to boot.  As Harley-Davidson executives ponder over what happen this year, I can’t help but believe there are some major things on their wish lists to Santa.  So I’ve taken a scientific (parody alert!) guess of what some of H-D’s top executives want for Christmas:

Keith Wandell, CEO, Harley-Davidson: I got the head honcho job with the industry’s most iconic motorcycle manufacture in history, that has a cult-like following, with vendors tripping all over themselves to copy what we’ve done and I didn’t even have a motorcycle endorsement. I can’t think of anything more to ask for.  Oh wait, all those government stimulus funds – listen up Santa, I’ve been to the White House twice for dinner.  Have I not been nice enough?  Please let the spinner land on my project.

Mark-Hans Richer, Sr. VP & Chief Marketing Officer:  What the ho?  Please, Santa send us Tiger Woods!  As the leader of the world’s foremost authority on brand marketing, our team of cutting edge hoo-ha marketers developed a new strategy with Tiger as the spokesperson!  It’s set to appeal to the outlaw in every man.  We plan to dump that “ludicrous” campaign in favor of “Night of the Tiger”…complete with an exclusive Elin ghost flame paint scheme…

Bill Davidson, VP Core Customer Marketing: Please Santa let 2010 be the year for H-D in professional motorcycle racing.  Nothing but wins – in the dirt or drag or NHRA Pro – whatever it says on my t-shirt. Wait, can you also help people forget about that botched firing of Anne Paluso.  Really our plan is to go racing – go “team scream” or something like that.

John Olin, CFO: Motorcycle sales!  Santa it’s not my fault.  Please let me milk this “new in my job” for just a while longer.  What do they expect?  Miracles on Juneau Avenue!  Doesn’t it matter that I’ve been here less time than Keith?  I do have a motorcycle endorsement.  And, my calculator is newer than Lawrence’s!

Matthew Levatich, President & COO: Santa please get the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to approve and recognize my heroic role in getting the special license plate commemorating Harley-Davidson through the political red-tape as the state’s official motorcycle.   Yep, 2010 is shaping up to be a good performance review!  Memo to Enrico… get the bottle of Chianti ready!

Lawrence Hund, President & COO of H-D Finance: A new platinum edition HP 12C calculator.  The minus button on my last one quit working.

Gail Lione, EVP & General Counsel: Santa please tell us who is behind that NWHOG?!  Send us that macrant email address.  We have an important legal document gift we wish to serve send over to Northwest Harley Blog.

Paul James, Harley-Davidson Company Spokesperson: Please let me graduate the training class called “If the dream is big enough, the facts don’t matter” — a.k.a. the Mohammed Saeed al-Sahhaf school of bubbling optimism to distract the media and bloggers with superfluous BS so they ignore our fundamental problems.

James McCaslin, EVP Corporate Product Planning:  Santa can you get me a copy of Keith’s industry information?  I’ve never heard of “vendors tripping all over themselves to copy what we’ve done?”  I do remember a blogger at the 105th Anniversary trying to take a photo of a plant tour and we ran his butt right out the building before he was able to take pictures of the lunch room.

Karl Eberle, Sr. VP Manufacturing: Please make Indian go away. We are tired of being embarrassed in our own back yard when it comes to American cruisers and we don’t want that company bragging about their superior performance anymore.

Enrico D’Onofrio, Managing Director – MV Augusta: I already got what I wanted. Thanks for the early Christmas present H-D!  That sale notification surprised Wall Street… as you say in your home land… my golden shute is priceless. All this talk about motorcycles when the grape reigns supreme here in the zone of Tuscany… please pass the Chianti.

Jon R. Flickinger, President & COO of Buell: A job!  Also could you unload some of those dusty Buell’s in the warehouse?  My exit bonus is on the line.

Thanks for your readership during this past year. You may not have agreed with what I had to say at times, but it made for some lively discussions nevertheless. Merry Christmas, happy holidays and best wishes to you in 2010.

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

All Rights Reserved © Northwest Harley Blog

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Forgetting Sarah Palin

Schweitzer Summit

I hadn’t been hiking on Schweitzer since 1979.  Not much has changed.  That’s how it is with the physical world.  It outlasts all of us.  We’re just a blip in time.  Sure we think we’re forever, but despite all the hosannas, even Michael Jackson’s music will soon be forgotten.  It’s not human nature…we’re talking Mother Nature!

Last August in route to the Harley-Davidson 105th Anniversary celebration I posted about the posse travels and stop in Sandpoint, Idaho which is home to Schweitzer.   And again over this past July 4th holiday weekend I found myself disconnected from everything deemed important and traveling the “long-bridge” across Lake Pend Oreille (pronounced: ‘pond –oh– ray’)… the largest natural lake in Idaho.  The lake is 65 miles long and over 1100 feet deep in some areas which explains why the Navy continues to perform underwater acoustic testing at an old WWII base.

Schweitzer mountain is an amusement park of the mind.  Rather than going on rides, being turned upside down by some mechanical contraption, you look at the Selkirk Mountain landscape and your mind does somersaults.  How did this happen?  It’s hard to imagine a glacier which was part of the continental ice sheet forming a lake over 800 feet deep as far away as Missoula, Montana.   Now it’s only a “small” remnant of all that glacial action.

One evening relaxing from a mountain hike I happen onto HBO and watched the Nicholas Stoller movie, “Forgetting Sarah Marshall” starring Jason Segel and Kristen Bell.  It’s a comic look at one guy’s herculean task to deal with and get over a recent break-up.  Overall the movie was better than I first thought and afterward’s I caught the local news who were in an uproar over Sarah Palin’s resignation.  Palin was born in Sandpoint, and her father, Charles R. Heath, was a science teacher and track coach. I attended school where Charles taught after my father pulled orders for a tour in Vietnam and we relocated closer to relatives. Even though the Palin family moved to Alaska when she was an infant many in the area have a source of pride in her connection to the city.

Lake Pend Oreille

I couldn’t help but connect the dots between the movie and how the resignation were seemingly intertwined.  Palin was like the ex-girlfriend they’re SO over, never want to see again, have already forgotten about – really it’s OVER – but they can’t stop talking about her.  Whatever you think of Palin, her argument for resigning seemed logical and the only “incoherent rambling” was coming from the obsessively focused media who couldn’t stop talking about her resignation and her potential TV show…yep, they are SO over her!  I half expect to see Keith Obermann (MSNBC) crying because he has no one to help drive up his viewer numbers.

Instead most folks that I visited were asking: Have you seen all the Michael Jackson coverage on TV?  Or speaking of resignations, how’s work going?  And what’s going on with all the IED troop casualties in Afghanistan?  It was a hysteria filled July 4th news cycle, but I’m thinking everyone needs to take a moment of pause, get some wind in the face, hike a mountain summit and enjoy becoming placed in natural perspective.

Photos taken at Sandpoint and Schweitzer Summit.

All Rights Reserved © Northwest Harley Blog

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Harley-Davidson MDA Fundraisers

Luke Christe

I wanted to give a shout-out to the top northwest Harley dealers (and individuals) who helped raise significant funds for MDA. 

MDA is a voluntary health agency working to defeat muscular dystrophy and related diseases through programs of worldwide research, comprehensive patient and community services and public health education.  Harley-Davidson is a national sponsor and the top northwest dealers are:

$25,000 or more

Skagit Harley-Davidson Burlington, WA

$50,000 or more

Latus Motors Harley-Davidson Gladstone, OR

Downtown Harley-Davidson Tukwila, WA

Shumate Harley-Davidson Spokane, WA

At the 105^th Anniversary Celebration there were a number of activities which raised awareness and funds to support this cause.  The pledges really added up and with 77.4 percent of every dollar MDA spends going directly to research, services and education, the rest to fund raising and administration it’s putting the $$ to good work.  If you missed out and wanted to donate you can do so HERE.

Photo courtesy HD and Peter Reitzfeld

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Slow Down For Survey Zones

Harley-Davidson Survey

The first principle of creating a good survey is FOCUS.  By having specific objectives ahead of time you can expect to obtain usable information from a survey.  Those objectives drive the questions and every question will in fact tie back to the specific objective.

Disguised as a survey I was solicited by Harley-Davidson’s “research team” for feedback on the 105th Anniversary event.

Cool.  I figured they want to connect with their customers and engage in a dialogue to further connect the customer base with the motor company. 

Typical Survey Question

And so you know…in full disclosure here…I don’t have a master’s degree in applied mathematics or a Ph.D. in statistics, but after six questions into the survey I realized -HEY- their jacking me around and vetting my responses (the customer) into potential sales leads.  It’s NOT really about encouraging feedback on the 105th event (well a little) or how to improve Harley motorcycles. 

Here are a few examples of the survey questions for you to make up your own determination:

How likely is it that you will purchase a motorcycle for your own use in the next 12 months?

How long from now do you plan to purchase a motorcycle?

If you were purchasing a motorcycle today, which makes/brands would you seriously consider purchasing?

And, which make/brand would you most likely purchase?  (Multi-choice: BMW, Honda, Yamaha etc.)

Before taking this survey, were you aware that Harley-Davidson produces “anniversary edition” model motorcycles (e.g., 100th Anniversary, 105th Anniversary)?

How interested are you in purchasing “anniversary edition” motorcycles (e.g., 100th Anniversary, 105th Anniversary)?

How likely would you be to attend another Anniversary Celebration in the future?

Which of these 105th Anniversary events/activities did you attend or participate in?

Please rate each of these 105th Anniversary Celebration events or activities.

How much do you agree that the 105th Anniversary … a). Has sped up my plans to buy a new H-D motorcycle? b). Has helped me decide which H-D I’ll buy next? c). Made me feel closer than ever to Harley-Davidson?

What impact, if any, did attending the 105th Anniversary celebration have on your feelings about each of these co-sponsors? (Ford, Shell, etc.,)

What was the best event and why that did you attend?

What needs to be improved for next time?

Which previous Harley-Davidson anniversary events did you attend? (Choose 90; 95th; 100th)

How far did you travel from home to get to the 105th Anniversary in Milwaukee?

Which best describes your accommodations/lodging while attending the 105th Anniversary?

I counted 7 of 16 questions probing on my purchase intent!  I would think in today’s somewhat depressed economic and highly competitive climate, it’s more important than ever to understand your customer and their needs.  Clearly this survey is about parsing 105th attendees into potential buyers. They are splitting us into “buy now” vs. “buy later” camps. And the buy later group means spend NO more time or $$ to acquire this customer. It’s all about the sales ABC’s…

Survey photo’s courtesy of HD Research web site.

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Milwaukee is Harley’s Mecca

Miller Brewery

The main set of 105^th Celebration events are over – now what?  First off a shout-out to Harley.  They know how to throw a party and no one serves as a better host than the people of Milwaukee.  To put on an event of the 105^th  size, takes commitment, organization, time, resources and of course, a great product so thank you Harley-Davidson!

It’s Sunday, August 31st, our final day in Milwaukee and it left us thinking about what we neglected to do.  It seemed the only items we opted out of besides the parade was a cheese tour (I had cheese on the way out..) and donating to the Wisconsin Red Cross Blood Drive!  It’s unlikely they would want our blood.

Miller Operations

Instead we set the day in motion by heading over to the Miller Brewery.  We heard about free samples and knew it was going to hit the mid-80’s again.  To say the Milwaukee weather cooperated for the 105^th Anniversary celebration is an understatement.  It was down right awesome.  A bit warm and humid for those of us from the Northwest, but better than we could have hoped for.

Plank Road

We brought our love of beer and stopped at the Brewery tour! We watched the 10 minute video and walked up and down the 4 blocks of the tour.  By the time we hit the Brew Kettle’s I think the gal was just hoping we’d go directly to the R&R area.  It’s an interesting time in the brewery biz.  Anheuser-Busch recently merged with Belgian-Brazilian brewing company InBev for $46B…yes that’s BILLION.   And back in 2002 South Africa Breweries bought Miller Brewing Company and called it SABMiller.  Then in 2005 Coors merges with Molson and then this year SABMiller and Molson Coors entered into a joint venture to form MillerCoors. 

Miller Brewery Girls

A long way from the days of when Frederick J. Miller brought his passion for beer to the U.S. and settled in Milwaukee in 1855 where he bought the Plank Road Brewery.

Like all the people we met in Milwaukee it was no exception to find interesting and nice folks at the brewery too.  We sat for a good while and enjoyed our refreshments then said good-bye to the Miller High Life!

On a whim we decided to try a Harley-Davidson Museum drive by.  None of us received tickets to the museum as part of the lottery system, but we thought at least we could hang out on the grounds or if lucky score an open back door. 

HD Museum

The museum is located near downtown and is set on 20 acres of land which is surrounded on three sides of the Menomonee River.  It looks like a part of town that is getting ready for urban expansion and HD will be one of the major tenants of the renovation.

We parked the bikes and did a little fact-finding only to be rewarded with tickets to enter the museum.  Scored!

The museum truly should be on any Harley-Davidson motorcycle owners list of things to see and absorb.  The museum’s steel and glass exterior has an urban elegance and almost seems out of place in this area of town. 

HD Wall of Tanks

The exhibits are unique and the stories of those who lived the HD life are remarkable.  From the recreation of the 1920’s board track, to serial number one of the first HD built in 1903 to the “King of Rock”, Elvis Presley’s 1956 KH motorcycle to the extensive and rare collection of vintage advertising and riding gear to the replica of Easy Rider.  Something for everyone.  The “tank wall” is a photographers dream come true! 

All of this only a couple blocks away from the luxury boutique hotel aptly named the Iron Horse Hotel.

In my mind there are two kinds of people in this world:  Those who ride Harley-Davidsons and those who wish they did. That’s not a slam on other motorcycles just a viewpoint after meeting and talking to numerous people on our two-wheelin’ journey “home”.  

Jumped on a plane Monday morning, I take a moment to reflect.  The Ride Home and 2576 enjoyable miles later along with an awesome multi-day music celebration comes to a close…110th anyone?!

Interested to know more about our “Ride Home”?  Read the road blogs for: Day 1 HERE, Day 2 HERE, Day 3 HERE, Day 4 HERE and Day 5 HERE.

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Parade, Demo Rides, Springsteen – 105th Celebration Ends

HD 105th Parade

This is our 3^rd day in Milwaukee and it has me in a bit of a head spin and this isn’t my first biker event!

There’s so much to see and do that even the best laid plans get changed or thrown away. To top it off, there are so many people and the venues are so crowded that you’ve got to be willing to take a step back and make alternative plans. Picture (right) is Vietnam Vet Ray Jordan of Salem, OR who decked his 2003 Road King with 105 American Flags for the 105th Anniversary.

We gave some thought to either riding in the Harley parade or sitting on the sideline doing a bit of people watching, but after hearing stories that it was going to take about 5 hours to do the 4 mile route we thought better of that idea.  With over 40,000 hotel rooms booked and 150,000 people in the area the last thing we wanted to do was “melt” in the 90 degree heat while trying to keep our bikes running so we opted out.  I found this cool parade slide show put on by MKEimages.  It was estimated that more than 7500 bikes participated in the parade. 

State Fair Park

Instead we started the day in line at the State Fair Park waiting to ride the 2009 Harley demo motorcycles.  After looking at the SE “pumpkin orange” Glide the previous day I wanted to get some time in the seat to try it out.  I’m not a fairing guy, but have always been curious about that fixed fairing on the bike and I really wanted to feel the power of 110 cu in!

On our walk into the fairgrounds there was a gal putting a sticker on her bike which caught our attention.  It’s unusual to see people putting stickers on their bike fenders and this gal was dressed like few others. After some discussion about our ride out from OR and her interest in relocating to Seattle along with her “unique” profession at the Mad Planet…she gave us her card which provided a link to her website.  Miss Nix turns out to run a fetish fashion show for the dominatrix crowd which features bed of nails torture and whip cracking.  At 10AM and only one cup of coffee under the belt it was a bit much to absorb, but we tried…

At any rate, we made our way to the Rider check-in and it was easy enough.  The $5 shell card and discount coupon at any Harley dealer was a nice bonus.  It was rather odd that Harley forced the no helmet, no ride rule in a state that doesn’t require it, but we complied.  After check-in we waited in the touring line which took another 45min to finally get onto the bikes.  During the entire wait I was thinking this is taking forever for little 10 minute demo ride around the State Fair park, but it turns out the demo rides were 20-25 minutes long and included a combination of city and Interstate driving giving everyone a chance to try out the handling and performance of the motorcycles. 

2009 SE RoadGlide

Love it or hate it, the frame-mounted fairing is the center of what makes this touring model a pleasure to ride mile after mile. Unlike the popular batwing fairing found on the Street or Electra Glide models, the Road Glide’s fairing is attached to the bike’s frame rather than the front fork, much like the design found on many sport and racing motorcycles. It provides greater stability and less rider fatigue at highway speeds, especially in crosswind situations.

Roadhouse at the Lakefront

The route took me out S 76^th Street then right on W. National Ave then after a couple miles I was routed onto I-894.  The demo ride team had the route well marked with orange arrows which was excellent since I’m not a Milwaukee native and the roads can be confusing.  After a couple of exits the tour route put me back onto city streets where I looped around to the Fair ground.  When entering the on ramp I throttled up in 2^nd and 3^rd gears and the bike quickly hit 80MPH in just a few seconds.  Fast!  There was little exhaust note from the stock pipes, but I could hear the intake groan for more air.  Very fast for a stock bike. 

I returned approx 25 minutes later to hear the Harley rep ask me if I had a problem with the bike.  I said no it’s a terrific bike, why?  He then went on a rant… “Dude, you’ve been gone over an hour…did you stop for gas?”  I had a stare down with the guy, but I was gone less than 25min and told him he wrote the departure time down incorrectly or something, but he was in error.  After a few tense moments he backed down especially after I told him the bike I left with came in at the same time in the standard time frame.  Other than the accusation it was an awesome demo ride and wanted to provide a shout-out to the Harley team for providing the motorcycles to ride.

Santiago, Eastwood, Mac

We all departed the demo rides with smiles on our faces and headed off to a local Mexican restaurant for lunch and re-cap our riding experiences.  By mid-afternoon we were looking for some relief from the heat and humidity.  It was in the mid-90 degrees and we headed to a Harley dealer to pick up some refreshments. 

Around 6PM we headed downtown to Veterans Park and the Roadhouse at the Lakefront venue for the Bruce Springsteen concert.  The lawn seating opened at 5pm so we thought a couple hours prior to the concert and we’d have a good view.  We thought wrong!  By the time we hit Lincoln Memorial drive we knew there was going to be issues.  Super long lines of bikes park on all sides of the road including many who navigated the middle divide curb to park on the street. After a long while and several heat related stalls on the Road King we finally found a few bike slots to park.  We made the long walk back to the entrance and were shocked at the crowds who were all ready posted up waiting. 

Bruce Springsteen

We made our way into the middle and moved forward, but it looked like we were still 2-3 city blocks away from the stage.  Springsteen was ending his World Tour, but you would have never known it was the end.  He played more than 30 songs which lasted over 3.5 hours.  Incredible concert!  About mid-way through we move much closer to the stage and got a lot better view of the concert.  He didn’t play “Born in the U.S.A.” or his “Devils to Dust” anti-war ballad about Iraq.  However, he did make several comments about things that are basically at the heart of being un-American.

It was after 12:30AM and we headed out of the city via the East Side which looked like and had a feel of just arriving in a “hood”.  Arriving back at the hotel in the early morning it was clear that the 105^th Anniversary celebration was an incredible success which was topped off by the Springsteen concert.

It was a breath of fresh air riding out to this event.  The celebration was awesome and was put on by a great company.  Most important was the great city and all the Milwaukeeans who welcomed us riders with open arms. 

Interested to know more about our “Ride Home”?  Read the road blogs for: Day 1 HERE, Day 2 HERE, Day 3 HERE, Day 4 HERE and Day 5 HERE.

Flags on motorcycle photo courtesy of MKEimages.com and the 105th Anniversary parade.  The motorcycle belongs to Vietnam Vet Ray Jordan of Salem, OR who decked his 2003 Road King with 105 American Flags for the 105th Anniversary. 

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Big Twin Secrets, Knucklefest – The 105th Continues

HD Big Twin Operations

On our 2^nd day in Milwaukee (Friday, Aug 29^th) and the F-U-N continues in this largely two-wheelin’ town.

We headed out first thing to visit the Pilgrim Road Powertrain operations which is home of the “Big Twin“.  They produce the Touring, Softail and Dyna engines and transmissions for the final assembly plant in York, Pennsylvania and Kansas City, MO.  The plant sits on 63 acres and has 849,000 square feet.

At the entrance of the building they reminded all of us about the rules to make it a safe experience then over emphasized the NO CAMERA rule including cell phones.  I took that to mean it was a “guideline” and managed to wiggle through the line before a Harley security guard could perform a body search. 

Pilgrim Operations

We started the tour in reverse order of how the parts are cast and made.  The first area we walked through had a lot of new robotics and assembly area yet to be brought on line.  I repeatedly ask Harley employees during the plant tour about the status of water-cooled powertrains and when they are set to come off the line.  I was greeted with lots of smiles and laughs…but, one tactic which seemed to get a little more information was playing one employee off another…I told a employee, let’s call him Bob, that another employee, let’s call him Stu who we chatted with earlier in the tour,  requested that we ask Bob about the water cooled status. 

Clearly they had all been briefed about giving away company plans, but we did learn that water cooled powertrains is definitely in their thinking (with-in two years!) and that the engine heads were “most likely” to be the first part of the engine to get the water treatment.  Not so much because of heat, but because of EPA noise emission issues and meeting more stringent standards.  Overall the employees we chatted with were very friendly, seem to enjoy mixing it up with the public and they clearly had a sense of pride in what they were making.  I was most impressed with the employees and want to provide a shout out to the USW Local 2-209 and IAM Lodge 78.

After the factory tour we rode down to Summerfest on the Lakefront.  Billed as the “world’s largest music festival” it delivers an incredible live music experience.  There was talent on 11 different stages along with a broad range of food and interactive exhibits.  On the exhibit front I recall a lady presenting something about the need to stay physically fit for best motorcycle riding experience and shared techniques on how to keep your body more fit before, during and after riding.  Interesting bit about the “during” your ride and stretching. 

Knucklefest Bull Riding

We stopped by the Harley tent and looked over the new ’09 rides.  The “Pumpkin” colored SE RoadGlide had a bunch of CVO brochures in the saddlebag so I scored one as the dealers rarely have or give these out.  After seeing the new bikes we decided it would be good to stop in at the demo area at the State Park/Fair before leaving Milwaukee.  By this time the temperature was in the high 80’s and we seemed to always be looking for a shaded location to enjoy some refreshments. 

We heard from some other riders talking about an event called Knucklefest and decided to take in some more local culture.  Located on the Kettle Moraine Ranch, the ranch lies in the heart of the Kettle Moraine National Forest and features some unique landscape. We rode scenic back roads that intertwine though charming small towns. 

Hals HD

If you head out on this ride you might consider stopping at the Knucklehead Pub & Grub which is located in Eagle on the corner of Hwy 59 and 67. 

We arrived at the site of Knucklefest and realize that it is one of the area’s best kept secrets.  We hung around for the mechanical bull and wet t-shirt contests then headed back toward Milwaukee.

We stopped at Hal’s HD to watch the “Burn Out” fun and then we called it a day after 10+ hours in the heat.
 

Interested to know more about our “Ride Home”?  Read the road blogs for: Day 1 HERE, Day 2 HERE, Day 3 HERE, Day 4 HERE and Day 5 HERE.

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Milwaukee Celebration Begins

Miller Park

The Club H.O.G. 25^th celebration started Thursday, August 28^th at Miller Park Stadium (home of the Milwaukee Brewers).  Free for H.O.G. members the day-long celebration was prior to the start of the 105^th Anniversary event.

We departed about 9:30am to get a jump on the day and drove the twenty minutes which came to an abrupt stop on the Interstate near the stadium exit.  Surprise, there’s a huge traffic jam! 

H.O.G. Director

Not knowing exactly what or where we were headed…the delay due to poor traffic control wasn’t obvious until after we got parked in the stadium lot.  Once parked, we waited in a long line that took approx 35 minutes to get into the refreshments and concert area.  Within an hour it became obvious that it was going to be a “sardine packed” day and the heat/humidity was increasing.  The State Police lined I-94 and started controlling access to the exit having people go around the stadium and come in from an alternative direction.  I’ve never seen so many motorcycles let alone so many Harley’s.  Incredible!

DB Bryant Band

While we were in line we made some new friends and shared stories of the open road.   The camaraderie of standing in line meant we all got to chat with H.O.G. members from around the world.   Many seemed surprised we rode out from the Northwest rather than trailer.

Capitol HD Plant

As the day progressed all you could hear was the low drone of exhaust and see a constant stream of motorcycles snaking their way into Miller Park. Wow, the place was packed! I’d be remiss not saying there was excitement building. Space presented some challenges, but people were laughing, hugging, joking, and having an overall good time. We let the DB Bryant Band rock us for a while with their cool sounds.

Milwaukee HD

Our group wanted to experience some more of the culture that Milwaukee had to offer, so we left for awhile to enjoy some authentic Harley dealer activity in one of the historic neighborhoods and we dropped in on Hal’s (New Berlin).  We did a drive by of manufacturing plant on Capitol Drive (Wauwatosa) where the powertrain operations are located.

I was told that H.O.G. distributed 250,000 pins and ran out in under four hours.  Wow!

H.O.G. Wall of Ink

We headed back to the stadium as it was getting time for Kid Rock.  First off we had to sit through introductions of Jim Ziemer (CEO), H.O.G. executives, MDA spoke person (Luke Christie) and Willie G along with his family.  I’m not sure where they all were prior to the speech, but 3 of the 5 people from Harley-Davidson who spoke were nearly DRUNK…their words slurred and barely understandable.  Willie G went off on some motorcycle story about Harley HYPHEN Davidson…reminding everyone that he had the last name in the motor company’s name….odd, very odd rant.  His son (Michael) did a nice job of interrupting the word slur rant of Willie G. and tried to make some sense of the family business and his passion for making the best motorcycles in the world.

Kid Rock

Back to Kid Rock and man did he rock the crowd.  People lined the entrances excited to see this dude perform. The songs from his new CD (not on iTunes!) are dam good.  “All Summer Long” is terrific, but the live version of “Half Your Age” is one of my favorites.  The crowd was the biggest sea of people I’ve ever experienced at a concert standing at stage level.  The folks at H.O.G. thought ahead to have the jumbo-tron viewing screens under the beer garden tent and in the food vendor areas. It definitely allowed more people to enjoy the headline act.  Word is that Kid Rock is getting set to roll out his own beer and cigar brand.

All told, I thought it was one great day packed with a whole lot of fun and it was a really cool place to be. Great job H.O.G.!

Interested to know more about our “Ride Home”?  Read the road blogs for: Day 1 HERE, Day 2 HERE, Day 3 HERE, Day 4 HERE and Day 5 HERE.

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The Ride Home – Day 5

It was a bit of a slow morning today after dinner and drinks at the Mermaid pub near the AmericInn in Mounds View, MN.  What with the Splash Bay adventure (indoor 100′ waterslide) an all…

We woke up to find the roads all wet from a series of thunder showers that blew through the region overnight.  Fortunately we were heading in the opposite direction and the main freeway was dry.

By design our “Welcome Home” day was set up to be a shorter ride with a little over 300 miles to cover.  We were staying at the Holiday Inn Express in Delafield which is about 30 minutes west of Milwaukee.  As a tight knit group that’s been riding together for years we spent some time over breakfast debating freeway vs. alternative back roads, but decided that the incentive of seeing the world’s largest ball of twine paled in comparison to just getting “home”.

WisDOT Oil-Mix Repave

There was a change in the air…we started seeing more motorcycles.  After two hours into the ride it was clear we were on to something big as there were now a lot of motorcycles on the road. 

And speaking of roads the Wisconsin DOT has it hands full.  I’ve never ridden an Interstate that had so many cracks, ruts, seeping oil and holes as I-94.  We came upon several “repaving” sections where WisDOTs oil-mix covered with light sand had me thinking of dirt track days in my youth!  In addition there were a number of areas where they were milling off the top of the two concrete slabs where they mate up. 

Wisconsin Fun

I’m not sure what they were trying to accomplish, but it was like an orange peel…open and rough, rather than an apple peel, smooth and tight.  Don’t like my fruit analogy?  Then choose your own…bottom line it was over a hundred miles of brittle, bumpy riding.  It wasn’t any better the closer we got to Milwaukee and later on we found that the urban roads in and around Milwaukee also had deteriorated or were worse than the Interstate.  They have a major issue as described in this report.

Santiago and Eastwood

We arrived mid-afternoon and to commemorate our achievement we rinsed the 2,176 miles of bugs off the bikes.  The Holiday Inn had set up a great bike wash area and we took some time over refreshments to reflect on The Ride Home and chat with all the riders who descended on the hotel and made the pilgrimage too.

Next up are the accounts of the action on the ground from the HOG 25^th and 105^th event celebrations…

Interested to know more about our “Ride Home”?  Read the road blogs for: Day 1 HERE, Day 2 HERE, Day 3 HERE, Day 4 HERE and Day 5 HERE. 

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