Start Me Up – 29 August 2008

Yesterday was about HOG, today was about Harley Davidson, 105 years of Harley Davidson.

All of the 105th celebrations are stretched out along the lakefront (Lake Michigan) over nearly 2 miles, from Veterans Park on the north down to the “Summerfest Grounds” on the south.

Now imagine a few hundred thousand Harley riders all together in this 2 mile stretch, it is like an Australian National HOG Rally multiplied by 100.

There are sponsor displays, Harley displays and retail outlets and concert venues everywhere, I counted 6 different stages, each with a different group playing.

There was HOG Island, where you could sit with a bite to eat and a cold drink and simply chill out, if you could find a seat.

 It really is all about Harley Davidson these few days and they do it very well, after all, this is their home.

Apart from the party atmosphere along the lakefront and over at the Harley Museum, there were also 4 separate”Street Parties” around Milwaukee, also part of the celebrations, together with the various cafes that also had live acts playing.

Sometimes you simply need to find somewhere else to chill out and that’s where the police came into the act.

Motorcycle police from throughout the USA are competing in skills competitions at the extreme southern end of Summerfest Grounds during the weekend and that’s where I caught up with TJ and Rita from the Gold Coast HOG Chapter.

Harley supply Road Kings to the various police departments and state troopers, these guys know how to ride and I was so impressed with the way they can throw their bikes  around that I ended up watching for nearly 3 hours.

By the time the police skills competition was finished, it was 6.00 pm and time to find my bike amongst the hundreds of thousands of other bikes and get back to the hotel for dinner, a few red wines and to fall into (onto) bed.