For Harley-Davidson fans, it’s a warehouse from heaven: rows of classic, mint-condition motorcycles, dating back to the turn of the century.
Electra Glides. Fat Boys. Softails. A collection of Harleys, from the Spartan early models– resembling bicycles with engines–to the 1950s-style chrome-and-steel Hogs. They’re all stored at the Milwaukee headquarters of Harley-Davidson Inc.
“This is the most valuable motorcycle collection in the world,” said Martin Jack Rosenblum, company historian.
The motorcycles look like museum pieces. In a few years, they might be.
Harley’s collection of 300 vintage motorcycles, along with company memorabilia, might be showcased in a museum that would be open to the public. Company executives have been considering the museum’s development, and in 1998 will decide whether to make the dream of every Hog enthusiast a reality.
“We recognize this is some thing our riding community would love to see us do,” said Kal Demitros, Harley-Davidson vice president of communications.
However, company officials still need to gather information about the museum’s development and operating costs, and expected revenue, Demitros said. Among the questions that need to be answered is whether the museum would turn a profit or be a break-even venture, she said.
The study has accelerated in the last year, Demitros said, but the company is still proceeding cautiously.
“Fundamentally, we’re in the motorcycle business,” Demitros said. “This is something that’s pretty far afield from our core responsibilities.”
A Harley museum would give the public a chance to see a collection of motorcycles, photographs, catalogs and products such as vintage toys and leather clothing.
That collection, restricted to a small number of Harley employees, is valued in excess of $12 million, Rosenblum said.
The museum would be a tourist attraction. Demitros said it could be comparable to the Experimental Aircraft Association Air Adventure Museum in Oshkosh, which she said draws 250,000 visitors annually not counting those who attend the yearly EAA Fly-In Convention.
According to information gathered by Harley, popular company-sponsored museums include the Coca-Cola Museum in Atlanta, a for-profit operation that draws 1 million visitors annually, and the non-profit Corning Museum of Glass, in Corning, N.Y., which draws 404,000 visitors annually.
Demitros said the Harley museum would be developed at the corporate headquarters or at Schlitz Park, a business park just north of downtown.
Initially, company executives focused on the corporate grounds on the West Side of Milwaukee, which includes 77,000 square feet left largely empty when Harley developed a new distribution center this year.
“This is mecca to our riders,” Demitros said. “In terms of authenticity, this location can’t be beat.”
A museum on the West Side could be marketed jointly with brewery tours at nearby Miller Brewing Co., Demitros said. She said Harley and Miller executives have discussed informally the possibility of a joint promotion.
The site at the downtown Schlitz Park would have to be leased by Harley, which would add a major expense to the project.
However, there is a concern that the west side site lacks adequate parking for museum visitors, Demitros said. Also, company officials want enough space for Harley riders to gather, she said. One plan, however, would include an underground parking structure.
The Schlitz Park site has adequate parking and gathering space, Demitros said. And a Harley museum there would help Milwaukee’s efforts at improving downtown as a tourism draw, she said. “We’d like to do something for downtown if it’s a good business decision.”
Vintage motorcycles would be the museum’s centerpiece.
But the company also has a wealth of other material to display, said Rosenblum. “We have all of our marketing literature dating back to 1906,” he said.
The company’s archives include 48,000 photographs featuring Harley motorcycles, company employees and other aspects of Harley; vintage Harley clothing; pins collected by motorcycle enthusiasts; toy motorcycles; and 19th-Century research conducted on the development of motorcycles.
