Gearing up for the Harley 100th Shane Mundigler of Green Bay tries out a 100th anniversary commemorative 1450 cc Heritage Soft Tail Harley at McCoy's Harley-Davidson, 727 Memorial Drive (photo by Tina Gohr). Harley-Davidson prepares for celebration of a 100 years of business By Bradley D. Spychalski News-Chronicle Harley-Davidson's 100th birthday is a little more than a month away, and local dealerships are gearing up for the celebration which ends in the heart of Harley Country: Milwaukee. "It will be like Summerfest for bikers," said Kip McCoy, of McCoy's Harley-Davidson. "Harley-Davidson went through some tough times in the '20s, '30s, '40s, '50s, '60s and '70s, but they made it." Local dealerships such as McCoy's Harley-Davidson of Howard and Doc's Harley-Davidson in Bonduel have been preparing for the celebration by selling 100th anniversary merchandise, keeping a countdown clock and spreading the word about Harley's centennial. "We're geared up for getting people's bikes ready and all the merchandise ready," said Kersten Hopkins, of Doc's Harley-Davidson. "After the 100th anniversary, sales will be kicked up more than during the celebration. Every year we have an open house and ours will be after the celebration sometime in October." Hopkins explained that Doc's Harley-Davidson isn't doing too many 100th anniversary celebration events because there will be so much going on in Milwaukee. "Some people don't take to this very nicely, but we want anyone who is into motorcycling to get down there," McCoy says. "People may feel intimidated to come down, or not feel welcome, but Harley doesn't want people to feel this way. If you've always like Harleys and wanted to see a lot of them, come and see them even if you don't own one." The anniversary technically began a year ago with the Open Road Tour, which traveled to nine cities around the world and is now in Hamburg, Germany. Following the Open Road Tour, which ends on Sunday, Harley-Davidson will begin the Ride Home where riders travel to Milwaukee along four unguided routes across the United States. "Anything that has ground available will have bikes on it in Milwaukee," McCoy said. "This will include the Summerfest grounds, Miller Park, museums, dealerships and other parks in the Milwaukee area." The celebration will take place from Aug. 28-31 at the Henry Maier Festival Park Summerfest Grounds. Because of capacity constraints on the Summerfest grounds, ticket packages for the celebration have already sold out, but single-day passes for the Summerfest grounds are available for Aug. 28 and 29. Single day admission tickets cost $10 to $12.50 and can be purchased at the gate. This three-day bash will include musical performances from Montgomery Gentry, Peter Frampton, Steppenwolf and Kansas, among others. The Summerfest grounds will also host stunt and drill team performances, food from 35 different restaurants and the Harley Experience that has a variety of activities including the 2004 motorcycle exhibits, a childrens' area, Muscular Dystrophy Association and Ford Motor Company displays and the Miller Roadside Cafe. Also planned is a Harley-Davidson exhibit at the Milwaukee Art Museum and Harley-Davidson plant tours with demo rides. A parade of 10,000 motorcycles will make their way through Milwaukee on Aug. 30. "For the 95th anniversary, Harley-Davidson opened up the parade to anyone who wanted to ride in it, but now the Parade of Heroes will just be for corporate employees, dealership representatives, a H.O.G. Chapter parade of flags and randomly selected riders who purchased 100th Anniversary Celebration tickets before May 1," said Hopkins. The birthday party Aug. 31 will be held at Veteran's Park in Milwaukee. Tickets are needed for entry for anyone who didn't purchase the 100th anniversary weekend pass. Lodging has been booked up for hotels, motels, campgrounds and residential homes and apartments located up to an hour away from Milwaukee. The Harley-Davidson 100th anniversary events will help raise $5 million for the Muscular Dystrophy Association towards finding a cure for neuromuscular diseases. "For attendance we are using the numbers we had for the 95th anniversary to determine how many people will come, but attendance has been estimated at about 100,000 to 400,000 people," said Maggie McCarthy, office manager and event coordinator for Milwaukee Harley-Davidson. "There were 150,000 tickets available and now it will be a test to see how many people the city of Milwaukee can hold."