You've all heard the old joke that goes like this: "Half of all Harley-Davidsons ever made are still on the road – the other half made it home safely!" (Rim shot.) Well, thanks to the new Harley-Davidson Museum, at least one bike from every one of the 105 years that Harley has been making motorcycles has a safe and secure place to come home to. And the millions of other Harleys that are in service can also come home to this newest Milwaukee attraction and feel like they’re part of the family.
It's been about five years since The Motor Company began floating ideas about building a museum to house and showcase their huge collection of motorcycles and memorabilia, which at the time begged the question, "What the heck took you so long?" After all, sometime in the mid-1980s Harley-Davidson was becoming known as the Milwaukee Mint, as sales of motorcycles and their licensed clothing and products began to build double-digit sales increases every year, and they were making money hand over fist
In any case, 20 acres of land was purchased in early 2005, along the Menomonee River east of downtown Milwaukee, a mere 3 miles from the site of the original garage behind the home of the Davidson brothers where the first motorcycles were built. Construction was begun about 2 years ago, culminating in the $75 million Museum’s Grand Opening on July 12. Last week, Harley-Davidson invited a large group of journalists to take a pre-opening tour of the Museum grounds and exhibits, and it was an excellent experience for all.
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Harley-Davidson Museum Grand Opening on Motorcycle.com