History, with all The Dust Blown Off

Before the Museum’s artifacts make their much-anticipated public debut, they are researched and catalogued in the Collections Processing Room

The Restoration Shop allows visitors the unique privilege of viewing how bikes are conserved

Museum visitors are invited to take the North elevator up to Level 3 for a peek into the Motorcycle Storage Viewing area

The Museum’s Archives building is home to more than 300 vehicles and countless artifacts. This building also features a Temporary Exhibit space and a Restoration Shop.

Harley-Davidson Archives

Harley-Davidson has been preserving its history for over 100 years. Before moving to the Museum in 2008, the Archives was housed at the company’s Juneau Avenue headquarters in Milwaukee behind closed doors. Now on display to the public in museum exhibits, the collection is also used for research by various departments of the Motor Company, providing background or inspiration for many tasks ranging from marketing to new product development.

Only a small portion of the Archives collection is on view in the museum at a given time. Several hundred vehicles are stored on the third floor of the Archives building, and the second floor houses thousands of objects such as collectibles and toys, parts and accessories, clothing and riding gear, art, documents, and photographs.

From The Archives

• Vehicle profile: 1960 XLH Sportster®
  “Mrs. Sup Jr.”

  Women have been riding Harley-Davidson motorcycles since the earliest days of the sport. Seeking independence and driven by the desire to do something new and exciting, female riders took to the roads and haven‘t looked back. As we celebrate 110 years of Harley-Davidson, we also honor this legacy and the miles to come. Join us as we observe Women‘s Riding Month, culminating in a special Ladies Bike Night at the Museum on May 30th.

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  1960 XLH Sportster®

• Vehicle profile: 1915 Stripped Stock
  Model 11-K

  At the end of 1914 Harley-Davidson management found they could no longer ignore the growing popularity of motorcycle racing. As dangerous as they found it, company officials were also businessmen and knew success on the track would pay off in dealers‘ showrooms. A supplement to the 1914 literature outlined a made to order race bike built to customer‘s specifications. In 1915, the Motor Company would offer the first factory race bikes available to the
  general public.

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  Factory race team members Leslie “Red” Parkhurst (L) and Joe Wolters (R) pose on their motorcycles. Parkhurst is on a Model 11-KT. Wolters is on a model 11-KR.

• Did you know? Tracing The Ever-Evolving Harley-Davidson

  Headlights. Speedometers. Shock absorbers. Which would you have found on the first Harley-Davidson bikes? None of the above.

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  Headlight advertising, 1930

• Artifact Spotlight: Club Uniforms

  This uniform, worn by member Hank of the Bath City Riders of Mt. Clemens is one example of a club outfit that is part of the Harley-Davidson Archives. We collect them because they are a first-hand record of club activity and can help us construct a rider‘s story. There is no more personal of an artifact that a piece of apparel with the rider‘s name embroidered into it. Hank was also a member of the American Motorcyclist Association, as his patch and pin indicate. Some of our collection uniforms are currently displayed together in a case in the Clubs & Competitions gallery in the Museum along with photos, patches, pins, caps and other materials relating to group riding in the 1920s-1940s.

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  Club Uniforms