30 years of H.O.G.®

ONE LONG, HISTORIC RIDE

THE EARLY DAYS: 1983-1987Emerging from a dark cloud of corporatequicksand that stunted its growth in the1970s, Harley-Davidson Motor Companyregained its mojo following the landmarkpoint in its history when a group of 13executives bought the company back fromthe AMF Corporation in 1981. The buybackre-energised and refocused the fabledcompany on its strongest asset: the mostloyal customers in the world.

Following the deal closure, executives celebrated by riding from York,Pennsylvania, (where the deal was finalised)to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, meeting with andtalking to riders, retailers and Harley-Davidson® motorcycle enthusiasts alongthe way. More than just a celebration, theride was a declaration: the Harley® brand isback, and we know how to take care of ourriders. The seeds of the Harley OwnersGroup® were being sown.

But the H.O.G.® concept really got off the ground in 1978, the company’s 75thanniversary year, when Harley-Davidsonorganised a series of cross-country rideswith different members of the managementteam. “We saw it as a way to get out on theroad, reconnect with customers, and havesome fun,” wrote Willie G. Davidson – alsoa member of the buyback team – in his

2003 book, 100 Years of Harley-Davidson.Officially launched on January 1, 1983,

the Harley Owners Group® boasted morethan 30,000 members. The new club hit the ground running, with some of the now-familiar benefits of H.O.G. offered from thevery beginning: H.O.G. Fly & Ride launchedin 1983; Hog Tales® magazine made itsearly debut with the February/March 1983edition – a six-page, two-colour tabloid –and, of course, a variety of patches, pins,and other collectibles.

H.O.G. sponsored quite a number ofofficial events across the US and Canada in 1983. That first year, however, they werestaged in conjunction with establishedmotorcycle events, such as the SturgisRally, Daytona Bike Week, and variousmotorcycle races. The first ‘stand-alone’events took place in 1984, in Reno, Nevada,and Nashville, Tennessee. Together, theyare considered the first official H.O.G.rallies. The events included many familiaractivities – such as demo rides, a ride-inshow, a poker run, drill teams and self-guided tours, to name a few. But the scalewas much smaller than we have today;combined attendance was about 3,000. By the end of 1985, H.O.G. had reachedmore than 60,000 members (with 49official chapters). ››

HOG® magazine recounts 30 years of the Harley Owners Group®

1983 1984 1985

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On January 1, 1983,Harley-Davidsonlaunches HarleyOwners Group.

Hog Tales magazinedebuts along with theH.O.G.® Fly & Ride programme, featured in the April/May 1983 edition of Hog Tales.

From the beginning,pins and patches are a great way formembers to displaytheir H.O.G. pride.

H.O.G. stages two NorthAmerican national rallies (independent of any pre-existing motorcycleevent): one in Reno, Nevada and one inNashville, Tennessee.

Nearly 100 memberstake part in the inauguralH.O.G. ABCs of Touringcontest.

H.O.G. Racing SupportGroup gives membersan opportunity to personally support racers sponsored byHarley Owners Group.

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H.O.G.® goes global: 1988-1997As thousands of H.O.G. members pouredinto Asheville, North Carolina, for the 5thAnnual H.O.G. Rally in 1988, it would havebeen difficult to find someone who couldsay that they had predicted five yearspreviously that it would happen.

Among the objectives that then-managerBill Davidson set out to meet was theexpansion of the presence of H.O.G. inEurope. Until then the club’s activities hadbeen centred primarily in the US andCanada, but as the Motor Company pulledout of that early-1980s slump and began to thrive again, it made sense to put moreeffort into serving European customers.

The first official European H.O.G. Rally

took place in Cheltenham, England, in1991. It was a joint effort between H.O.G.and a few motivated members, includingNigel Villiers, who now works as Director,H.O.G. Europe, Middle East, and Africa. “Ihad recently bought a Harley [motorcycle],”Villiers recalls, “and was sitting in a pubtalking about how bad the local motorcycleevents were. And the more we drank, themore we started thinking, why don’t we doour own event?” But where? “I was workingat the local horse track at the time, so Iapproached the manager about having a rally there. He said yes, so we startedplanning it. About halfway into theplanning, H.O.G. got involved, and itbecame the first European H.O.G. Rally.”

More than 3,500 members and enthusiastsattended, including such Harley VIPs asWillie G. Davidson and Rich Teerlink, theCEO of Harley-Davidson® at the time. Itrained through much of the event, but insome ways that only added to the fun. “Itwas fantastic, a bit like Woodstock,” Villierssays. “We had some great music, and wepartied away the whole night in the rain.”

As H.O.G. continued to grow (worldwidemembership was nearly 200,000 by the end of 1992), some administrative changeswere taking place as well. What started outas a shoestring operation with only a handfulof staff was becoming more sophisticated.To better serve its growing membership,H.O.G. moved from enlisting member

volunteers as regional managers to hiringfull-time staff. Unfortunately, not everyonewas in a position to be able to changecareers and/or uproot their families andmove to Milwaukee.

“That was one of the most difficult thingsI’ve ever done in my career,” Bill Davidsonrecalls. “To go to all these volunteers, whohad put their hearts and souls into H.O.G.,and tell them we were dissolving thevolunteer regional manager programme to make them full-time positions.”

But in just 10 years, the Harley OwnersGroup had grown from an idea born in aboardroom to a major happening in themotorcycling world. You could see it on the faces of the 20,000-plus members

celebrating the H.O.G. anniversary at the10th Annual US H.O.G. Rally. It was theplace to be in June 1993. In fact, it can beargued that H.O.G. more or less inventedthe touring rally concept. No one had doneanything quite like it before – at least noton this scale.

Among other major developments in the Harley Owners Group between 1993and 1997 was the continued growth inmembership and the expansion of the clubaround the world. In 1993, H.O.G. establishedan official European office in Frankfurt,Germany. By mid-year, there wereapproximately 20,000 H.O.G. members and 70 chapters located throughoutEurope. Official H.O.G. rallies were taking

place in countries such as France, Norway,Germany, Australia, Canada, and NewZealand, to name only a few. Membersfrom all of these countries and more (evenChina!) were highlighted in the pages ofHog Tales magazine. And, in 1996, H.O.G.opened an office in Japan.

Worldwide, membership passed the200,000 mark in 1993 and surpassed250,000 a year later. Bill Davidson, H.O.G.Director from 1990 to 1993, recalls that the200,000-member milestone held a certainsignificance. “I always knew H.O.G. had asignificant impact in the motorcyclecommunity,” he says. “Our rapid growthreally reinforced H.O.G.’s impact on themotorcycle scene.” ››

1986 1987 1988The first H.O.G. chapters form in 1985.

Ladies of Harley™ is established. SpecialLOH™ meetings,events, and activitiesquickly become popular.

Harley Owners Groupsponsors H.O.G. EuropeTour ’86.

First US regional H.O.G.rallies are held in SanJuan Capistrano, California; Breckenridge,Colorado; and Nashville,Michigan.

Harley-Davidson approved for listing on New York Stock Exchange.

H.O.G. celebrates its 5th anniversary at theAnnual Rally in Asheville,North Carolina.

1990 1991Exclusive H.O.G. activitiesare a big part of theHarley-Davidson 85thAnniversary Ride to Milwaukee, the first of Harley’s five-year anniversary celebrations.

Harley-Davidson ‘reintroduces’ theSpringer® front end with the FXSTSSpringer® Softail®.

The Harley-DavidsonTraveling Museummakes its debut.

Mileage Merit Programmebegins (a precursor tothe Mileage Programme).

Harley-Davidson introduces the Fat Boy®

model, which goes on tobecome one of the mosticonic Harley models.

More than 3,500members from acrossEurope venture to Cheltenham, England,for the inauguralEuropean H.O.G. Rally.

New Fly & Ride locations: Sydney, Milwaukee and Atlanta.

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Along with membership, H.O.G. eventswere also growing in scope and scale.Rallies were held around the world,including a two-week touring Rally in South Africa, from Cape Town toJohannesburg, in 1997. More than 40 USstate H.O.G. rallies were held in 1997, asH.O.G. staged five major national events inthe US, including two touring rallies – theMade in America: Greatest Hits Tour andthe inaugural (drum roll, please) Posse Ride.

Billed as a 12-day, hard-ridingadventure, during which riders were‘sworn’ to ‘laugh at rain, shout back atthunder, eat bugs, sleep in the dirt, and notbathe for two weeks’, it was a hit before iteven began. The 250 available registrationssold out in less than an hour.

In the four short years since the first one,H.O.G. touring rallies had come a long way.They quickly became a mainstay in theH.O.G. events schedule, and a lifelongriding memory for those who took part.

Rapid growth: 1998-present“And what an exciting year it’s going to be!”Editor Christine Sperling (now Adamavich)wrote in the January/February 1998 editionof Hog Tales magazine. “1998 not onlymarks the 95th Anniversary of Harley-Davidson, it marks a decade and a half of the Harley Owners Group.”

In just 15 years, H.O.G. had grown from astart-up club (with 33,000 members by theend of the first year, many of whom becameautomatic members by purchasing a newHarley-Davidson motorcycle) to a worldwideorganisation with 380,000 members in 99countries. The scope, scale and frequencyof H.O.G. events were expanding aroundthe world, and H.O.G. was planning its“biggest ‘thank you’ party ever, the 15thAnnual Rally”. Held in conjunction onceagain with a Harley-Davidson anniversarycelebration in Milwaukee, the Rally was ahuge hit, featuring musical headliners theMarshall Tucker Band, Pam Tillis and theNitty Gritty Dirt Band.

A week later, H.O.G. members and otherHarley motorcycle riders across the Atlanticcontinued the anniversary celebrationswith a huge Rally in Faak am See, Austria. In all, more than 15,000 riders joined theparty there. Rally attendees includedMotor Company executives Jeff andBrenda Bleustein, Willie G. and NancyDavidson, and Peggy Lamb.

The big celebrations, of course, were justthe beginning of another new era in H.O.G.history. There was plenty more to getexcited about in the months and years that followed. Hog Tales marked the biganniversary events with the Sept/Oct 199815th Anniversary Commemorative Issue.Among other special features, it included

a list of all 1,049 active H.O.G. Chaptersaround the world.

In a way, this special expanded editionstarted a tradition. It was a precursor to the 2003 H-D 100th Anniversary Edition,which evolved into the annual ‘Roadbook’,proven to be one of the most populareditions of Hog Tales each year.

The year 1998 was also at the dawn of what would become known as the‘information age’ – and H.O.G. wasted no time merging on to the informationsuperhighway. Harley Owners Grouplaunched its own website, www.hog.com,in 1999, along with a special site formembers only (now members.hog.com).

With such a rapidly growing membership

(doubling in just about six years) comegrowing challenges. But the H.O.G. staffwere up to the task, as volunteer staffingand training capabilities advanced alongwith the membership. This training wasput to good use as new rallies continued tobe launched around the world. Inauguralrallies included the Southeast Asia Rally(1998), Argentina National Rally (1999),South America Regional Rally (2000), andEastern European Rally (2000), to namejust a few.

While H.O.G. continued to grow in size,it also expanded in scope. New retail stores– and, along with them, new H.O.G.Chapters – opened in different parts of theworld. In 2005, the first authorised Harley-

Davidson retail store opened in Russia,followed in 2006 by a retail store in Beijing,China. In other event news, AustralianH.O.G. members made history when theycircled world-famous Ayers Rock, a sacredsite known to the native Aborigines as‘Uluru’. The ride took place as part of the15th Australia National H.O.G. Rally andearned the group a spot in the GuinnessWorld Records book.

Across the Atlantic, members celebrated15 years of the Annual European H.O.G. Rallywith a visit to Killarney, Ireland, in 2006.

But perhaps the most significant eventof 2006 was reaching the million-membermilestone. To commemorate, rather thansingling out a particular member as the

1,000,000th, H.O.G. honoured all H.O.G.members with a special cover on theMay/June 2006 edition of Hog Tales. Thecover image was a mosaic, formed fromsome 1,500 smaller images of H.O.G.members riding, enjoying events, or justhanging out. Together, the tiny photosformed an image of the H.O.G. logo. Inside,the magazine featured a special million-member timeline, as well as a special‘Exhaust’ column by Tim Hoelter, VicePresident of Government Affairs for theMotor Company. Tim, one of the 13 H-Dexecutives who repurchased the companyfrom AMF in 1981, reflected on theimportant role Harley Owners Groupplayed in helping get the company back on its feet during those lean early years ofcorporate independence. “Back then,” hewrote, “we were optimistic about the futureof H.O.G., but none of us in our wildestimagination thought that it would becomeso successful … H.O.G. helped keep the truespirit of [the] Harley-Davidson [brand] alivewhile we took care of some challengingbusiness.” Even as everyone was tighteningtheir belts – and in some respects, becausethey were – H.O.G. continued to expandthe member benefit package in otherareas. Million Mile Monday, for example,which debuted in 2008, grew to become avery popular annual tradition, with moreinteractivity at members.hog.com.

Other time-tested programs – such asRoadside Assistance, the H.O.G. MileageProgramme, and the ABCs of Touringcontest, to name just a few – remained as popular as ever.

The futureWho knows what the future holds? Change, of course. That’s what we know forsure – along with this: no matter what theroad ahead has in store for H.O.G. andHarley-Davidson Motor Company, ridersaround the world will continue to lovetheir Harley motorcycles like no otherbrand in history. ■

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1993 1994 1996 1997 1999 2000The Motor Companycelebrates 10 years of H.O.G. More than20,000 members markthe occasion at the 10thAnnual H.O.G. Rally inMilwaukee.

H.O.G. enrols its250,000th member, as commemorated in the September/October 1994 edition of Hog Tales.

H.O.G. gets epic withthe original Route 66touring rally along America’s Mother Road.

250 adventurous H.O.G.members take part inthe inaugural PosseRide, a 12-day coast-to-coast riding odysseyfrom Portland, Oregonto Portland, Maine.

H.O.G. Assistance programme is launched.

H.O.G. reaches its500,000-member milestone.

Iguazu Falls, Brazil is the backdrop for the 1st South AmericaRegional Rally.

2003 2005 2008 2009 2010 2011Harley-Davidson turns100. Hundreds of thousands ride to Milwaukee to celebrate.

Hong Kong and Singapore each stagetheir first nationalH.O.G. rally.

Million Mile Mondaymakes a strong debut,with 3,000,960 miles.

The Harley-DavidsonMuseum™ opens in Milwaukee.

H.O.G. members rockout at the 1st MainlandChina Rally.

In Svolvær, the H.O.G.Arctic Chapter hosts theNorwegian NationalRally, the northernmostH.O.G. rally ever.

The H.O.G. Fly & Rideprogramme merges withH-D Authorized Rentals.