The new year brings new reasons to visit the Harley-Davidson Museum
Plus, VISIT Milwaukee’s Museum Days (Jan. 20-30) gives you the perfect excuse
to become a tourist in your own hometown.
MILWAUKEE, USA – Resolve to rev up your new year with a visit to the Harley-Davidson Museum. Whether you’re looking to brush up on Milwaukee’s punk rock history, hoping to score a leather and other great gear from The Shop or aiming to satisfy your hunger pangs with the new monthly specials from MOTOR® Bar & Restaurant, the H-D Museum™ campus has you covered in January – and beyond.
Plus, the H-D Museum is proud to partner with VISIT Milwaukee and 20+ other cultural institutions throughout southeastern Wisconsin for Museum Days in conjunction with VISIT’s Hotel Month. From Jan. 20-30, guests can enjoy discounted admission, special events and more.
And with the weekends filling up with football fun, be sure to check out MOTOR® Bar & Restaurant’s offerings to keep the whole team satisfied. BBQ and pigskin are a match made in hog heaven.
Please note the H-D Museum™ campus has rolled out seasonal hours for January and February. The H-D Museum will be open Thursday – Monday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m. The Shop will be open Thursday – Monday, 10:30 a.m.–5:30 p.m. And MOTOR® Bar & Restaurant will be open 11 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Thursdays, Sundays and Mondays, and 11 a.m. – 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays. Beginning March 1, 2022, the campus will resume seven days a week operation.
PROGRAMMING / EVENTS
Museum Days, Jan 20-24 & 27-30
Nourish your mind and soul by visiting Milwaukee’s amazing cultural institutions during Museum Days, Jan. 20 through Jan. 30. (Please note seasonal hours above for H-D Museum.) For this special event, many of the city’s most fantastic museums will offer admission at rates ranging from FREE to just $15.
Need somewhere to stay during your trip to visit Milwaukee’s museums, restaurants, and stores? More than 20 of Milwaukee’s best hotels are offering wonderful overnight packages at rates of just $75, $100, $125, and $150 throughout January as part of Milwaukee Hotel Month 2022.
Just mention “Milwaukee Museum Days” when you are purchasing your tickets in person January 20-24 & 27-30, 2022 or visit the H-D Museum tickets page to redeem the Museum Days admission offer – just $10 for a ticket to ride – from the H-D Museum. Visit H-D Museum.com to see complete ticket details for exclusions and other terms and conditions.
No other company is so closely associated with Milwaukee as Harley-Davidson, so be sure to check out exhibits like “Building a Milwaukee Icon: Harley-Davidson’s Juneau Avenue Factory” and experience some real Mil-town history.
Annual Pass
Looking for interesting things to do and ways to fully enjoy our programs and exhibits? The Harley-Davidson Museum’s new Annual Pass offers individual, family and VIP levels to fit your lifestyle. Just some of the perks of the new Annual Pass include: virtual access to the H-D Museum with various Harley history topics covered in our Virtual Gallery Talk series, admission discounts, free admission for children under age 18, merchandise discounts at The Shop, dining discounts at MOTOR® Bar & Restaurant and more. Visit H-D Museum.com for details and other terms and conditions.
Engineering Merit Badge (Saturdays at 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.)
All scouts are welcome to come earn their Engineering Merit Badge at the Harley-Davidson Museum! This experience will be partially facilitated as scouts explore the history of Harley-Davidson as well as the engineering of motorcycles as they complete the nine merit badge requirements. Advance registration is required. Program registration closes one week prior to the scheduled program date. Ticket includes: downloadable activity booklet used for the program, partially facilitated program, blue card signed by the facilitator (one blue card per scout registration) and an exclusive H-D Museum™ patch.
Scout Virtual Engineering Merit Badge (Saturdays at 8:30 a.m. and Tuesdays at 6:30 p.m.)
This new 90-minute online program is open to scouts from all over the country. Our program facilitator will guide the troops and explore the role an engineer plays while creating a Harley-Davidson® Motorcycle. Nine requirements for the Engineering Merit Badge will be discussed during this virtual, interactive program. Advance registration is required. Program Fee: $20 per Scout, which includes an activity booklet used during the program and a special H-D® patch upon completion of the program.
MUST-SEE EXHIBITS AND INSTALLATIONS
Keith Brammer (Die Kreuzen) leather jacket (on display now)
Perhaps no other genre of music is so closely associated with the classic black leather jacket than punk rock. Keith Brammer, of Milwaukee’s hardcore punk band Die Kreuzen, has graciously lent his well-worn leather to the H-D Museum. The jacket was purchased in New York City in the 1980s and was a constant companion for Brammer throughout his touring days. Check out the Custom Culture gallery to view this piece of Milwaukee music history.
Inspiration and Recovery: Wounded Veteran Climbs the Seven Summits (on display now)
In September 2009, Specialist Benjamin Breckheimer, a Cavalry Scout with the U.S. Army 2nd Stryker Brigade, 2nd Infantry Division, was severely wounded during a tour in Afghanistan. His rehabilitation was difficult as he endured numerous surgeries. During this same time, the Harley-Davidson Museum regularly sent care packages – including H-D Museum™ flags dotted with well wishes – to active-duty military personnel. Breckheimer took to mountaineering during his recovery and over the summer carried the H-D Museum flag to the summit of Denali, the highest point in North America. With that peak reached, Breckheimer became the first and only Purple Heart recipient to reach all the Seven Summits, the highest peaks on each of the seven continents. He continues to climb, and he shares his inspiring story to encourage resiliency and support the mental health of veterans and current service members.
Revolution® Max Engine (on display now)
The brand-new Revolution® Max 1250cc engine powers a new generation of Harley-Davidson® motorcycles. See the liquid-cooled, 60-degree V-Twin that delivers for the Pan America™ adventure touring model and the performance cruiser Sportster® S motorcycle. On view in the Museum lobby.
Clubs & Competition (on display now)
In the early part of the 20th century, motorcycle culture was a homegrown phenomenon. It grew out of the passion of riders for their evolving sport. The camaraderie that developed around riding and attending competitive events led to the formation of motorcycle clubs that hosted destination rides, family picnics with motorcycle games and other riding competitions.
The newly reinstalled display case in the Clubs & Competition gallery highlights clothing from club members from primarily the 1930s and 1940s. The clothing selections on view include full dress uniforms, shirts, sweaters, jackets and caps, customized by the owners with their club’s name and logo, and pins or patches indicating membership in the American Motorcyclist Association. The H-D Archives collection includes Motorclothes® apparel sold in H-D® product catalogs but also non-H-D produced clothing items that have been proudly customized by riders.
Harley Fox (on display now)
Gail Anderson’s 1986 Softail® Custom motorcycle, “Harley Fox,” built by her partner Bob Burrows, took top prize at the first Ladies of Harley® (LOH) ride-in show during Daytona Beach Bike Week in 1987. With her custom bike and themed riding gear, Anderson presented a striking image that fit the growing visibility and exciting new options for women riders in the 1980s.
Alfonso Sotomayor’s 1957 Model FL (on display now)
The Harley-Davidson Museum is proud to announce its collection has recently grown with the addition of a 1957 Model FL that was ridden by famed Mexican stunt rider and racer Alfonso Sotomayor Canales.
Harley-Davidson’s history in Mexico dates back to at least 1913. In the 1920s, the brand was more frequently spotted throughout Mexico City as the motorcycles proved popular with the local traffic police who would also perform stunts with their Harley-Davidson® bikes. After racing from the 1930s into the 1960s, Sotomayor launched his own stunt riding career by performing the famed “Salto de la Muerte” or Jump of Death. Learn more about Sotomayor’s feats of derring-do and Harley-Davidson’s early entry into Mexico with this new display located in the Custom Culture area.
“Off-Road Harley-Davidson” (on display now)
In the decades before America paved its highways, early riders had to be prepared for all sorts of terrain: sand, clay or dirt – and wandering those makeshift byways were Harley-Davidson® motorcycles. Today, it’s called off-road or adventure touring; back then it was just called riding. Since 1903, Harley-Davidson motorcycles proved their toughness by riding over wooded hills, through stone-choked creek beds and up mountain sides. “Off-Road Harley-Davidson” tells the history of motorcycles designed for rough roads, the people who rode them and the adventures they shared.
“Building a Milwaukee Icon: Harley-Davidson’s Juneau Avenue Factory” (on display now)
A recently recovered cache of architectural drawings includes plans for the original Juneau Avenue facility. The pencil drawings, along with archival photographs, demonstrate the whirlwind pace of the company’s early growth. While building an international business—going from producing just over 1,000 motorcycles in 1909 to manufacturing 27,000 motorcycles in 1920—the company’s Milwaukee factory experienced near-constant expansion. Construction through this relatively brief period created the buildings that today, a century later, are still the proud home of Harley-Davidson.
“Building a Milwaukee Icon” provides a snapshot of Harley-Davidson’s formative years and illustrates a chapter of Milwaukee history when the city was known as the “Machine Shop to the World.”
THE SHOP
Didn’t get the gift you were hoping for over the holidays? Don’t worry! With new items arriving at The Shop, you can find just what you’re looking for to keep your primed for riding. Check out the new spring apparel items for the whole family along with drinkware and headwear. Need something for that someone special, but don’t know their size? Gift cards are the perfect way to show you care and come in the perfect size!
MOTOR® BAR & RESTAURANT
Fight off the winter chill with monthly specials, BBQ packages and more from MOTOR® Bar and Restaurant. This month, the Grilled Pork Chop (8-oz., bone-in, thick-cut pork chop grilled and seasoned with house-made pork dry rub and served with crispy rosemary potatoes and roasted seasonal vegetables, $23.95), Brisket Tacos (three corn tortillas filled with slow-smoked, juicy brisket, queso fresca, pickled red onions and jalapenos. Served with cilantro-lime rice, crispy tortillas and salsa verde, $16.95) and Cherry Pie (fresh locally sourced cherries, fluted in buttery puff pastry, sprinkled with sugar and topped with vanilla ice cream, $7.95) will have you drooling, but leave you satisfied.
And with the football playoff push kicking off, be sure to call in the team at MOTOR® Bar and Restaurant to help you win gameday. With delivery, dine-in and carryout options – including the Family BBQ Package – MOTOR® Bar and Restaurant has you covered!
Finally, on Wednesday, Jan. 19, MOTOR® Bar and Restaurant is teaming up with 2A Wine Merchants for an exploration of wines to pair with football fare. Score your tickets today to get ready for the big game.
1903 EVENTS
Did someone put a ring on it over the holidays? Let “Happily ever after” begin with the team at 1903 Events. The memories from your big day will last a lifetime when you leave the planning and details to 1903 Events. Book your wedding prior to March 31, 2022 and receive a complimentary sixth hour of hosted bar with the wedding package. Be sure to check out Milwaukee Magazine’s Weddings issue to learn more.
About the Harley-Davidson Museum
Discover culture and history through stories and interactive exhibits that celebrate expression, camaraderie, and love for the sport at the Harley-Davidson Museum. A visit to the H-D Museum is an experience that will stay with you for a lifetime. With an unrivaled collection of Harley-Davidson® motorcycles and memorabilia, a 20-acre, park-like campus, and a calendar full of activities, the H-D Museum is one of Milwaukee’s top tourist destinations for visitors from around the globe. Make your plans to visit the Harley-Davidson Museum at H-DMuseum.com.
