Photo: Harley-Davidson
Harley-Davidson wants to secure its future and plans to encourage 2 million people over the next decade to ride motorcycles. The Milwaukee bike manufacturing company really means business and has already started to take measures by trying to teach a whole town how to ride.
Yes, H-D is rolling in the North Dakota town of Ryder (maybe pun intended) wanting to preach the people there the way of living on two wheels. The small farming community counts only 84 residents, with about 50 of them being eligible for the program.
“By ‘eligible’ we mean they have an active driver’s license and can ride a bicycle,” explained US Marketing and Market Development Director Anoop Prakash.
The local Magic City Harley-Davidson, of Minot, North Dakota, dealership will roll into town to bring the bikes along with instructors, barbecue grills, and other attractions. For the whole summer, the town is also going to change a letter in its name so that it will be spelled ”Riders”.
Apart from the obvious name connection, the company also chose this location due to the fact it has a cool water tower that looks almost identical to the one at the H-D headquarters in Milwaukee. Harley-Davidson’s name also got painted on it to point that out even more.
The introduction to the world of riding starts like a standard Motorcycle Safety Foundation beginner course. This implies a two-day experience that sees future riders learning the basic skills of operating a bike in a closed environment like a large, empty parking lot.
There won’t be any public road riding, and you’ll also have to bring your own safety gear. Don’t have that? No worries, H-D will gladly sell you what you need.
The company will also provide a batch of new Street 500 models as training vehicles. The model was introduced to the range a couple of years ago as a beginner/urban bike, offering a more relaxed position, better handling and just enough power from a water-cooled 500cc V-twin engine.
“By ‘eligible’ we mean they have an active driver’s license and can ride a bicycle,” explained US Marketing and Market Development Director Anoop Prakash.
The local Magic City Harley-Davidson, of Minot, North Dakota, dealership will roll into town to bring the bikes along with instructors, barbecue grills, and other attractions. For the whole summer, the town is also going to change a letter in its name so that it will be spelled ”Riders”.
Apart from the obvious name connection, the company also chose this location due to the fact it has a cool water tower that looks almost identical to the one at the H-D headquarters in Milwaukee. Harley-Davidson’s name also got painted on it to point that out even more.
The introduction to the world of riding starts like a standard Motorcycle Safety Foundation beginner course. This implies a two-day experience that sees future riders learning the basic skills of operating a bike in a closed environment like a large, empty parking lot.
There won’t be any public road riding, and you’ll also have to bring your own safety gear. Don’t have that? No worries, H-D will gladly sell you what you need.
The company will also provide a batch of new Street 500 models as training vehicles. The model was introduced to the range a couple of years ago as a beginner/urban bike, offering a more relaxed position, better handling and just enough power from a water-cooled 500cc V-twin engine.
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