Harley-Davidson Museum

The Harley-Davidson Museum is one of Milwaukee's most popular attractions and genuinely earns its reputation — it is a well-designed, enthusiastically presented museum that works even if you have no particular interest in motorcycles. The collection spans over a century of Harley production: from the earliest handbuilt prototypes through the silent-grey decade of Prohibition to the post-war boom and the cultural explosion of the 1960s and beyond.

The star exhibits include the Serial Number One motorcycle (one of the first Harleys ever built), Elvis Presley's 1956 KH model, and a sequence of bikes that traces the evolution of the iconic engine from its earliest form. The Experience Gallery lets visitors sit on bikes and experience what different models feel like. The museum campus also has a good restaurant and a large shop.

The museum sits about 2 kilometres southwest of downtown, a comfortable walk or short bus ride from the city centre. Open daily; admission charged.

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A story
Harley-Davidson was founded in a small wooden shed in Milwaukee in 1903 by William Harley and the Davidson brothers. The first "factory" was a 10-by-15-foot structure in the Davidson family's backyard. Within a decade the company had grown to become the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer. The original shed no longer exists, but the museum on the south bank of the Menomonee River marks the approximate location of where it stood.