It’s been described as Barry White saying “Potato, potato, potato …” The idling rumble of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle. One can find Harley fans around the world, from Harley Owner’s Group (H.O.G.) chapters across the United States to riding clubs gathering at a bar in Berlin or Bangkok. The iconic ride is much more than the sum of its parts and has found its way into pop culture, representing the freedom of the open road. And in that sense the museum, located in its birthplace, goes far beyond just a collection of bikes.
In 1903, William Harley and Arthur Davidson built the first prototype in a small backyard shed behind Davidson’s family home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Out in front of the modern museum is a replica of that structure, and within the first exhibit—where an early cycle is mounted in a glass cabinet—the dimensions of that tiny space are marked in lines on the floor. Soon after, Arthur’s brothers Walter and William joined the business venture….