Harley Davidson 100th Anniversary Celebration, 2003

As a prelude to the 100th, Harley hosted The Open Road Tour at 10 key spots around the world in 2002. The following year Harley owners the world over converged on Brew Town for The Homecoming in late August. Riders journeyed from various points of America, others came from afar, shipping their bikes to ports of entry for the final ride to Milwaukee. The Motor Company termed those Milwaukee-bound rides “The Homecoming,” and collectively the mass pilgrimage morphed into “The Party.”

“The Party,” wrote John Reger for the Orange County (California) Register newspaper, “by all accounts an unmitigated blast, was the destination, but not the goal. The journey was the goal — that one-sided contract with the open road where riders willingly make all the concessions. It was a trip that had to be taken because, as Miguel de Cervantes wrote: ‘The road is better than the inn.'”

As editor for IronWorks magazine in 2003, I was in Milwaukee for The Homecoming. I mingled and met with  countless Harley owners, gathering notes and quotes from interviews with people in attendance. Recently my curiosity led me back to those notes, and much of what they shared with me 20 years ago is as classic today as when we talked on the streets of Milwaukee during Harley’s 100th. With exception of minor editing for brevity and clarity, here are highlights of the original notes that I gathered in August 2003 at The Homecoming:

Harley-Davidson 100th anniversary homecoming parade

Each bike had its own distinct exhaust note — its DNA if you will — that echoed off the building walls that formed vertical-face canyons through Milwaukee’s downtown. People were whooping and hollering as the bikes passed by. It would have made nine-time AMA Grand National Champion Scotty Parker, known for similar behavior in Victory Circle, proud.

During the bombardment of exhaust noise, an interesting term coined by Lou Netz (Willie G’s right-hand man in the styling department) came to mind. He once defined the rowdy burble of a carbureted Harley engine as “Power Tremor.”

On-the-street interviews

Riders from around the world shipped their bikes to various North American ports of entry for their personal ride to Milwaukee. One group of Aussies shipped to Vancouver, Canada. Another group from Down Under chose San Francisco before heading across the Rockies and Great Plains to Wisconsin. The route home will take them, according to one member, “up and around Yellowstone, then down (to San Francisco) somehow. Don’t ask me exactly where we’ll go, I’m just following the herd.”

Some 250 Japanese enthusiasts chartered a Boeing 747 from Japan, then boarded three busses to shuttle into Milwaukee. As one gentleman described their journey: “Ichiban (Number one)!”

Michael “Mike O” Owczarscak and his brother John rode from Buffalo, New York. Said Mike, who personifies H-D owners known for modifying their bikes, “You can’t ride normal.”

Michael Loomis and his riding partner Sonine rode from Northern California to Milwaukee via, of all places, Florida, covering 6,500 miles to do so. Her license plate bracket’s LED read-out beamed its electronic message to tailing motorists, stating, “It doesn’t get any better than this, heading to H-D’s 100th Anniversary Celebration in Milwaukee.”

Holger Phieler, who works for a transportation company in Germany, shipped a small squadron of Harleys to Los Angeles and Chicago. He and his wife opted for L.A., and rode from there.

Steve Piehl, a long-time Harley employee, made it clear: “This isn’t a homecoming for Harley-Davidson. It’s a homecoming for our customers.”

A replica of the original “factory” shed, situated in the Junaeu parking lot, helped raise money for the Muscular Dystrophy Association (The Motor Company’s favored charity). $10 donations let riders take their picture next to it. While riders muscled their bikes into position, bystanders scurried to the building for a quick portrait. It was all fun.

The Juneau parking lot, like most of the city this week, was filled with Evos and TC88s, but you also saw old iron. Among my favorites were two KRs parked together, a few feet from a guy with a ’61 Topper. Turns out his family has owned the Topper scooter since day one.

Brady Street: Both ends of the street from Van Buren to the canal permitted bikes only. Throughout the day Hogs poked through, their engines revving mercilessly in between small burn-outs. Some riders did donuts in the street; occasionally you might see a wheelie. The street maintained its carnival-like atmosphere, people mingling, enjoying a beer, and eating bratwurst sandwiches. People especially gathered in front of the Hit Hat and Jo-Cat’s Pub on opposite corners to party. There’s even a tattoo parlor along the drag. As Todd Canavah opined: “It looks like Sturgis in 1983.”

An interview on CNN television featured Dickey Betts, lead guitar for the Allman Brothers band. Dickey recounted that as a youngster he had owned a Hummer, then later a XLCH and ’77 FL, and had ridden Harleys ever since: “It’s (all about) the way a Harley sounds and the way they look.”

Sunday night concert — The Party

Jeff Bleustein (CEO) spoke to the crowd, reminiscing about the 1981 buy-out. It “permitted the Eagle to soar alone.” JB, about the buy-out’s impact: “Vaughn Beales [who led the buy-out], above any other person, was responsible for the survival of Harley-Davidson.” (Cue crowd cheering and clapping wildly.)

JB continued: “Where else other than at Harley-Davison could I find a friend on every road, in every town, in every country?” Then he pointed out that “when we ride our bikes, we’re reminded of our freedom to ride the open road.” He also shared that, prior to heading back to Milwaukee for the 100th, H-D reps placed a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier in Washington, D.C., underscoring forever H-D’s patriotism and respect for America.

All week people speculated about the main act; would it be the Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen, Tom Petty, John Mellencamp, or possibly the Eagles? It turned out to be Elton John, and suddenly The Motor Company had egg on its collective face. The next day one woman said in dismay, “We expected Satisfaction, and we got Tiny Dancer.”

There’s always next year (or for now 2023). MC

Harley-Davidson 100th Anniversary Open Road Tour

Harley-Davidson officially launched the 100th Anniversary Celebration with 10 preview events known as The Open Road Tour, held worldwide through late 2002. To help get the word out, members of the international motorcycle media were invited for a 3-day group ride from Milwaukee to the ORT’s premier in Atlanta, Georgia, during the summer of 2002. During the ride we sampled the new 2003 models, most sporting the unique Sterling Silver/Black paint. During one photo op I selected the Heritage Softail Springer, a model that reached far back into Harley’s deep history.

But for the most part we editors swapped bikes, sometimes breaking away from the pack, only to gather for the designated stop at the end of the day. I rode alongside Terry Roorda (Thunder Press) and Scott Rousseau (Cycle News); we adopted the collective road name, The Three Amigos.

The Open Road Tour was essentially a teaser of what to expect at The Party the coming year. Previews of 100th Anniversary exhibits, historical displays, event-targeted apparel, and gobs of related trinkets and trash were like shiny objects meant to command the attention of attendees. All in the hopes of luring them to the 100th in Milwaukee the following August 30-31, 2003.

It worked, because the 100th Anniversary was a smash hit. Hopefully the 120th will be even better. Who knows, maybe the Faithful will get Satisfaction after all.

Get Your Motor Running

With the grand finale concert scheduled for Sunday evening, the final day remained quiet. Few events were listed, so I decided to spend the day riding the 2003 Sportster Sport that Harley had issued me for the occasion.

The first bike I ever road tested for a magazine (Hot Bike) was a Harley Davidson 1972 XLCH, so it seemed appropriate that I ride a Sportster at The Party. Moreover, the 2004 Sportster would usher in a rubber-mounted engine; the 2003 model was the last of an era.

Taking Bluestein’s words to heart — to follow the road — I headed out of town. Milwaukee’s streets were essentially deserted, but I stopped for the red light anyway. Immediately another Harley rumbled to a stop next to me. Reflexively, I glanced towards the bike, then without flinching I recognized its rider — Mike Shattuck, owner of Sacramento H-D. We had known each other for years, dating back to 1972 when I served as AFM (American Federation of Motorcyclists) president and he was our club’s flagman during race weekends. What were the odds we’d run in to each other like this? We chatted until the light turned green, saluted each other, and took off, going our separate ways.

The XL and I melded into the countryside, eventually motoring from one backroad to the next, never knowing quite where each would take me. I criss-crossed county roads identified with letters rather than numbers. I’d leave County Road R to follow, say, County Road T, only to later cross R again, and so on. What didn’t change was the engine’s V-twin cadence, a resonating, yet melancholy beat.

The sky was entirely gray overcast, so I really couldn’t navigate by the sun. I only knew that I had to go in a south by east direction to return to Milwaukee. I assumed that if I encountered Lake Michigan, I’d turn right (south) toward Milwaukee. Finally I met a pack of riders at a gas station. They had maps, and helped me locate Highway 175 that would take me back to town in time for The Party.

Later, talking with David Edwards, editor for Cycle World, about my impromptu ride on the XL, he agreed with me that Wisconsin has some of the best back roads in the country. As he paraphrased, “Until you’ve ridden a Harley in Wisconsin’s back roads, you really can’t get a full understanding about why Harleys are so different than any other bike.” Agreed.

Eventually, too, I realized that, like the hundreds of thousands of riders in Milwaukee that weekend, this was a special day for me. Ever since becoming a moto-scribe, much of my seat time had been spent testing bikes, racing bikes, being a photo model on a bike, or riding quickly as I could from Point A to B on a bike. But getting lost on Wisconsin’s cross-hatch of county roads, without a care or a deadline to dictate my schedule, felt good. The informality of it all reminded me what it was like during my adventurous days of discovery as a neophyte biking enthusiast. That Sunday in Wisconsin I was one of thousands who had returned home.

Originally published as “Harley’s 100th Anniversary, 2003” in the July/August 2023 issue of Motorcycle Classics magazine.