The Harley-Davidson Museum is celebrating October with more than just its one-of-a-kind collection of motorcycles and memorabilia, as Milwaukee’s own musicians and artists will be on-campus to provide extra entertainment.
De La Buena, Lex Allen and Trapper Schoepp will take the stage Oct. 11 as part of a Rock the Green event. Tickets cost $10 and benefit Jazz Gallery Center for the Arts, Danceworks and Schlitz Audubon Nature Center.
Artists are also invited to participate in “Drawing in the H-D Museum” as part of Gallery Night and Day. Philip Salamone will take participants through the creative process in the event which will take place Oct. 16.
New all-electric LiveWire motorcycles will be available for demo rides Oct. 17 and 18. In promotion of the new Apple TV+ series “Long Way Up,” everyone who rides one of the motorcycles will receive a limited-edition LiveWire poster.
While guests are welcomed back to the museum, the first priority is safety. To see how the Harley-Davidson Museum is protecting guests, you can click right here.
They also have a few must-see exhibits available for only a little while longer.
Taming the Road in Style shows Harley-Davidson from the beginning. At a time in which motorcycles were nothing more than chunks of dirt, stone and other debris, designers struggled to build a comfortable bike. Many improvements to suspension, seats and frames later, Harley-Davidsons looked nothing like they did at their inception. Taming the Road in Style traces the history of Harley-Davidson motorcycles all the way until the most modern models. This exhibit closes Nov. 8.
“Tex’s Motorcycle” is a painting by Stevan Dohanos, who frequently contributed to the “Saturday Evening Post.” On the streets of Georgetown, Conn. was “Tex” Keller’s personalized motorcycle. He used nickel spots to decorate his saddle bag and put fur on his saddle. While prints of the painting are available all over the country, the original can only be seen at the Harley-Davidson Museum.
“Building a Milwaukee Icon: Harley-Davidson’s Juneau Avenue Factory” is a collection of architectural drawings, including plans for the original facility on Juneau Avenue. Pencil drawings and archival photos show how Harley-Davidson grew from producing 1,000 motorcycles in 1909 to 27,000 in 1920. The Milwaukee factory continued to expand and is still the home of Harley-Davidson 100 years later.
“Building a Milwaukee Icon” shows Harley-Davidson in the middle of the period during which Milwaukee was known as the “Machine Shop to the World.” The Harley-Davidson Museum social channels will be providing behind-the-scenes looks at this exhibit.
They also offer tours. Engines 101 is a class taking visitors inside the engine. How does a powertrain work, and what’s so special about the 4-stroke engine? It’s all available to learn in a classroom setting. Ticket are available right here.
The H-D Museum Campus Walking Tour is the best way to absorb Harley-Davidson history and culture in the great outdoors. You can download a PDF of the campus map by clicking right here.
To learn more about the museum and to purchase tickets, you can click right here.
