A 100 years is a long period of time for anything, but for the Harley-Davidson Motor Company, it's a lifetime. From their humble beginnings in a 10'x12' wooden shed, located just a block from the massive, current headquarters, a story of epic proportions has been written chapter by chapter by many scribes in many journals these many years, and by the customers who have purchased the machines that rolled forth from these doors.
As we stood on the front steps of the enormous brick structure at 3700 West Juneau Avenue in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, we tried to wrap our brains around how many other enthusiasts have stood proud on these every steps before us, to be forever immortalized on film and in their own minds for they have visited the birth place of their beloved machines. As we stepped down from our perch, we were immediately replaced by riders like us who had come from all points on the globe, to be part of motorcycle history in the making. It seemed that everyone who made the trip to the upper Midwest wanted to be remembered at the site where knuckles, pans and shovels first breathed life.
A replica of the original first factory shed stood up the street on the corner of Highland and 38th Street, where it was closer to its true footprint of ground, now under asphalt and part of the Miller Brewing Company's parking lot – just across four lanes of traffic. Over the years, increased production lead to the need for more floor space and the current hallowed ground was purchased and the red brick walls started their ascent skyward.
During the early years, additional footage in the form of another floor was added almost with every changing of the calendar, until not even one city block could contain the needed floor space to take care of business. Motorcycle assembly took place on the top floors of the building with the four founders offices located on the first floor along the Juneau Ave. Adjacent to the main building is a smaller brick structure that became known as the P&A building, because of the operations that were conducted there, the building is now used as a training and conference center.
The P&A building is easily identified by the white water tank on the roof with the companies name in big bold letters. On the sidewalk, alongside of the P&A building was erected a small stage below a digital clock that has counted down the days, hours and minutes to the designated time to start the celebration for the last year, which, by the way, was 9:00 a.m., Thursday, August 28th.
At that appointed hour, fireworks and confetti filled the sky above the thousands of riders and family members who had gathered for that moment. We did not count, but we suspect there were over two hundred extended members from the Harley and Davidson clan who went on to their own family reunion of sorts.
Celebration was not limited to only the factory headquarters; in fact the entire city of Milwaukee and the surrounding areas were in a festive mood. The countdown and photo opportunities were the only activities happening at Juneau Avenue, while at the other Harley-Davidson facilities (like those at Capitol Drive, Pilgrim Road and the Franklin Distribution Center riders lined up for a tour of the plant. The Willie G. design center was off limits to all, some employees had to work. All the local dealers had something going on at their locations for the entire week. Hal's Harley-Davidson out on Moreland Road really went all out with live bands, vendors all over the place and a traffic jam clear back to the interstate of bikes waiting to see vendors like S&S, Drag Specialties and Orange County Choppers who by the way had most of their “theme” bikes on display including their newest Snap-On Tools, inspired creation.
The infield of the Famous Milwaukee Mile racetrack was another site for vendors such as Legend Air, Radiantz lights and Custom Chrome along with a huge Jack Daniels tent and Rhett Rottens Wall of Death. Each night bands took to the stage with free concerts and with infield parking; it was the place to be. If the trip west on the interstate was too tiresome, there was always Water Street at night, in downtown Milwaukee where bars and restaurants opened their doors to the thousands of riders looking for a little nightlife with cool beverages. Another source of music and fun was the daily events at Club HOG XX held at the Washington County fairgrounds some fifty miles northwest of the city, with names like B.B. King and Jeff Beck performing. At the huge lakefront Summerfest grounds was yet another location worth visiting both night and day. Music at night with the likes of the Doobie Brothers and motorcycle displays and stunt shows during the day made even better with every kind of food that you could imagine.
Saturday was the date for the big parade of motorcycles, starting at the Milwaukee Zoo rolling seven miles along city streets ending up at the Summerfest grounds. Unlike the parade for the 95th, this year’s parade was limited to ten thousand bikes, which still required over three hours to pass by our vantage spot on Milwaukee street. The parade line-up was Harley-Davidson executives up front followed by MDA supporters then one member from each HOG chapter carrying their respective flags with ticket buyers chosen at random filling out the ten thousand riders.
The official ending of the week's festivities was centered around the huge stage erected at Veteran's Park on the shores of Lake Michigan, just north of the Summerfest grounds, where reports say 150 thousand people migrated to hear the surprise mystery musical guest. The buzz around town the whole week was who was going to close out the biggest party Milwaukee has ever seen, guess's included the Stones, Springsteen (Bruce), Aerosmith, U2, and Eric Clapton.
The Doobie Brothers took the stage first for ninety minutes followed by Tim McGraw who in the middle of his set introduced Kid Rock who lit up the audience with a few numbers then turned the stage back over to McGraw who finished up his set. With the final act still a few minutes away, Dan Akyroid who was acting master of ceremonies entertained the crowd with witticism and introduced the CEO of Harley-Davidson Jeff Bleustein and some of the big wheels from the MDA who must have been extremely happy as Harley-Davidson unveiled a check to be presented to the MDA on behalf of all Harley riders for more than seven million bucks.
For the headliner act (drum roll please) Elton John took to the stage, after a couple of numbers, better than 20 percent of the audience took to the exits. As Elton wound up the musical portion of the show the sky above the lake became the scene of the most awesome display of fireworks in memory. A full 25 minutes of continuous flashes of light interspersed with whistles, booms and cackles overhead, awed the crowd in the stage area as well as the thousands of people who lined the surrounding sidewalks, porches and hills. The fireworks were a fitting grand finale to a week of events and the city and citizens of Milwaukee who laid out the biggest welcome mat to all who attended.
Keep Going if you wanna view some great pics of H-D’s 100th Anniversary. Hey, if you were there, maybe you’ll see yourself!
