The night before I stayed at the Iron Horse hotel which is just a stones throw away from the Harley-Davidson Museum. What a great hotel this is, especially as it caters for motorcyclists like no other hotel I know. The decor is exciting, the rooms are excellent, the food is good and the whole ambiance of the place is brilliant. I cannot recommend it enough!
The front of the hotel....
Covered bike parking!....
There is more on the hotel later in this (long) post and pictures from the bike night held in their car park!
Some time ago, when I was doing the preparation for this tour, I joined a bikers forum on www.motorcycleusa.com It was helpful that I was able to ask questions and get some ideas about my trip. Now that I am on my tour, riding everyday and writing my blog almost every night, I have not been able to find the time to go back to the forum, but one guy, who goes by the handle of Well Enuff and whose real name is Rich, has become an avid reader of my blog and has kept in contact with me. Rich decided to come to Milwaukee to meet me and arranged for another forum member, Dan, to come along to. Rich had to ride a couple of hours to get to Milwaukee, but Dan had a shorter journey of just 4 miles! We met at the hotel and after a chat and looking at maps of the tour, we set off on our planned visit to the Harley-Davidson Museum together....
I liked this sign! In the US, bikers call cars by the rather derogatory name of “cages”, so this is a very appropriate sign....
Here are Rich on the left on his Kawasaki, me in the middle and Dan on the right on his Honda, outside the museum....
I didn’t really know what to expect at the Harley-Davidson Museum, but it was one destination I really wanted to go and see on my tour. Overall, I thought it was excellent – a good blend of bikes of all ages, photos, posters, artwork, stories, films and memorabilia. It was all presented very well, although to create an modern environment, the designers had gone for low lighting levels which makes photography somewhat challenging! I did take a lot of pictures are I have included my favourites here. I deliberately haven’t accurately described every bike and every picture, as that would be boring, so with just a few words, here is some of what I saw....
The general layout of the bikes in the year they were made. You are very close to the bikes....
This very early bike has a leather belt drive from the engine and a chain drive from the pedals....
More very early bikes. This was in 1911, just 8 years into the companies life....
Some of the styling in this bike from 1925 is still used in some of the bobbers of today....
A World War 2 military bike....
A very early side car....
It doesn’t look like a racing bike....
A beautiful board track racer and a close up of a similar engine. I imagine this bike was very loud with those short pipes....
My favourite part of the museum, the display of tanks....
His of course is about engines, but some may think otherwise....
A stunning display of engine types....
Rich and Dan in the museum. Like me, they both liked it a lot (even though they ride other makes of bike)....
1957. What a great year this was!.....
A prototype for a V-4. It looks like a big Honda!....
Of course, what display would be complete without one of these....
For the 100th anniversary, they asked all employees to sign this bike. They shipped parts all around the world, people signed them and shipped them back before the bike was re-assembled into a completed signature bike....
Hmmmmn. Not sure about the colour, even with its matching side-car....
Perhaps the most famous bikes in the world..... the original Captain America bikes from the movie Easy Rider....
Bling, anyone?....
A pair of V-Twins fixed together from 1942. Being in a line, one can only try to imagine what this rode like....
This looks suspiciously like an MV Augusta to me....
This was bike number 2,000,000 to be made....
Dan on a racing Harley-Davidson....
Rich on a V-Rod drag bike....
Me on a side-car outfit with a foot clutch. It would take a long time to get used to that....
There was a Evel Knievel display....
Remember his failed rocket bike attempt....
Ouch. Some of his X-rays....
Me being very silly....
I enjoyed the museum. Is it worth going to? Yes, although I had thought it might be bigger. After the museum, we went for lunch which Rich very kindly paid for. With his local knowledge, Dan chose a great place to eat.
When I was in the H-D dealership in Chicago having my bike serviced, I was told about a bar in Milwaukee called the Safe House. It sounded fun, so we went off to find it. The bar has a James Bond, spy theme and is great fun. This is the sign on the entrance door – there is nothing else to indicate what it is....
To gain antry into the bar, you need to either know the password, or find your way in via a secret entrance in the lobby. It is not easy to find and the people already in the bar can watch you trying. Having found the secret entry, it is a hoot watching others try to find it! There are tv screens showing what people trying to find the entrance get up to and it is pretty funny. Apparently, some people don’t find the way in, give up and leave....
I bought Rich and Dan fake moustaches....
In keeping with my aim to take a photograph every time my tour trips over another 1000 miles, here is the 5000 mile photo, taken in central Milwaukee when riding back to the hotel. Rich and Dan were with me, so it is right they are in the picture....
Every Thursday at the Iron Horde Hotel is bike night. I felt very at home as this was British Bike Night!!!!....
A beautiful BSA side-car outfit. I can think of a couple of my Ural-owning readers that will like this....
A lovely Norton....
This is T.C. Christenson who raced a Norton powered drag bike in the seventies. I met him and a tv producer who was making a programme about the rider and his drag bikes....
A BSA in remarkably good condition....
A groovy looking tank on a Triumph....
Just so my scooter riding readers don’t feel left out....
This is Joe, an eccentric looking Triumph rider. He looks British, but is in fact American....
The tv producer I met said that when I get to Los Angeles, he would be able to get me access to something very special. I won’t say what it is in case in doesn’t happen, but I am very excited that it might!!!!! I will of course write about it on my blog if it does come to fruition!
Finally for today, I must thank Rich and Dan for firstly reading about my travels and taking the time to come to Milwaukee to meet me. It was greatly appreciated and you were both very good company!
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