May 06, 2008 05:00 AM Eastern Time 

Harley-Davidson Museum Announces Grand Opening Date

MILWAUKEE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nearly 105 years in the making, the Harley-Davidson Museum, located near downtown Milwaukee, will open its doors to the public on Saturday, July 12. Grand Opening festivities will kick off with a Harley-Davidson-style ceremony at 10 a.m. and will continue throughout the weekend.

The 130,000-square-foot Museum will add a whole new dimension to the Harley-Davidson experience. Visitors will get a feel for the freedom, camaraderie and pride that Harley-Davidson riders experience every time they fire up their motorcycles.

Museum visitors will:

• Walk through a variety of exhibits that tell the stories of the extraordinary people, products, history and culture of Harley-Davidson. In addition to the fantastic motorcycle collection, stories are told through a variety of media - including photographs, videos, apparel, rare documents and other fascinating artifacts.
• Peek into a portion of the Archives, never before open to the public, and home base to more than 450 motorcycles, and hundreds of thousands of artifacts that the Archives team can pull from for Museum exhibits
• Read the various personalized messages created by individuals worldwide on the Living the Legend rivets, found on the Living the Legend walls and plazas
• Grab a bold American meal or snack from the on-site Restaurant and Cafe
• Stroll around the 20 acre Museum site, enjoy the riverwalk or just sit back along the waterfront taking in the Milwaukee skyline
• Check out the unique Museum-inspired items at the Retail Store
• Examine the industrial architecture and attention to detail found both inside and outside of the Museum’s three buildings

The Harley-Davidson Museum, located at the intersection of Sixth and Canal Streets in Milwaukee’s Menomonee Valley, will be open 364 days a year.

General admission tickets to tour the Museum are $16 for adults, $12 for students and seniors, $10 for children (ages 5-17 years), and children under 5 years of age will be admitted free with an accompanying adult. Visit www.h-dmuseum.com for additional updates on group sales and tour information. Access to the Harley-Davidson Museum grounds will be available to the public, free of charge, 24 hours a day.

Museum tickets for Grand Opening weekend and other dates will go on sale online at www.h-dmuseum.com/tickets on Tuesday, May 20. The majority of tickets for Grand Opening weekend will be sold in advance online and the balance will be available for on-site sales during Grand Opening weekend. Visitors to the Museum site during Grand Opening weekend will be able to enjoy watching a bike-build and a tattoo artist at work and listen to live music on the 20-acre park-like grounds.

Museum tickets are no longer available during the Harley-Davidson 105^th Anniversary Celebration August 28-31, 2008. To ensure an excellent Museum experience during the 105^th Anniversary Celebration, tickets to the Museum have been distributed via a lottery system to those who purchased their 105^th Anniversary Celebration ticket packages before November 30, 2007. Those who are planning to come to Milwaukee during the 105^th Anniversary who don’t have a Museum ticket will be able to enjoy the Museum grounds. In addition, those who would like to visit the Museum exhibits and didn’t receive a ticket through the lottery can secure opportunities to visit the Museum before and after the Labor Day weekend.

Harley-Davidson Motor Company, the only major U.S.-based motorcycle manufacturer, produces heavyweight motorcycles and a complete line of motorcycle parts, accessories and general merchandise. For more information, visit Harley-Davidson's web site at www.harley-davidson.com.