Harley Davidson 2011 Annual Report Download - page 19

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17
Starting from the ground up, he built a department
whose work fills volumes on motorcycle design. But
more important, he says, is the way those motorcycles
have changed the lives of their owners.
His constant evangelism of the emotional rewards
a Harley-Davidson motorcycle must deliver, from the
moment a customer lays eyes on it through thousands of
miles of riding, has permeated our culture down to the
steel beams that run through our buildings.
Willie G., 78, will forever be reflected in the depth
of our paint, the V-Twin engine mounted like a jewel
in the frame, the perfect curve of a fuel tank, the look
that instantly announces to the world: “Hey, this is
aHarley-Davidson.”
But the motorcycles are only half the story.
Willie G. has long served as the ambassador of
Harley-Davidson at rallies around the world—meeting
riders, talking to customers, lending his famous
signature to jackets and setting an example of staying
close to the customer that has become one of the
pillars of the Motor Company.
Willie says it would take a Manhattan phone
book to list all the people who have helped make his work
possible. But he is especially thankful for the support
of his family: his wife, Nancy, who has been his constant
companion at events all over the world, his daughter,
Karen, and son, Bill, who work at the Motor Company,
and his son, Michael, who is an avid rider.
Willie G. will continue to serve as ambassador of
Harley-Davidson. He will also continue to be involved
in special design projects—going full circle to that first
tank emblem he created all those years ago.
His is a legacy built over half a century. It will
continue to roll on: In the look, sound and feel of the new
motorcycles. In the people he has chosen to carry
our designs forward in the future. In the unwavering
principles that forever make a Harley-Davidson
motorcycle a Harley-Davidson.
There are very few men walking the earth who can truly
be called a legend, but among those who love motorcycles,
Willie G. Davidson is inarguably one of them.