Milwaukee raises a toast to the Hog with its new Harley-Davidson Museum

St. Louis Post-Dispatch (MCT) - One of the first exhibits you see upon strolling into the new Harley-Davidson Museum is a bicycle-like frame, with white tires and an engine mounted low in the middle. The display explains that a hand lever was used to tighten the leather belt leading from the engine to the back rim, creating tension and propelling the cycle forward.

And, there you have it, the first motorcycle created by Bill Harley and Arthur Davidson in 1903 in a wood shed that stood not far from here. The oldest Harley in the world is known as "Serial Number One" because its metal parts bear that stamp.

In the museum's last exhibit, an Electra Glide, a candy-apple red touring Hog with saddle bags, is among the 10 models waiting for dreamers in a darkened auditorium with landscapes flashing above on a huge screen. Climb onto the white leather seat behind the windshield and you can almost smell the Kansas hayfields on your imaginary cross-country ride.

A lot of miles and motorcycles have passed between the two bikes, and that's the story told by the museum, which opened during the summer in time for Harley-Davidson's 105th anniversary. It's an American success story that should be an inspiration for the nation's auto industry.

Faced with cheaper, and better, foreign imports, 13 Harley executives bought back the company from American Machine and Foundry in 1981 and embarked on a quality control program that sparked a renewed interest and a new motorcycle from the ground up by 1984.

"We didn't feel like we had to apologize anymore for what we were making," one of the execs says in a film about the turnaround.

Today, the company's customers are fiercely loyal. Harley riders are family, and their personal stories are told in a wall of photos and videos in the museum. A burly biker inspecting the wall wore a T-shirt that said across the back, "I am the big dog."

Rebecca Bortner, who showed me around, stopped at a 1936 model EL, the first to have the low frame, valanced fenders, teardrop gas tank and "knucklehead" engine.

"This is the bike that solidified what people think of as the classic Harley look," she said.

The museum has an exhibit that explains how Harley-Davidson prospered during World War II, with soldiers driving motorcycles until a little-known company named Jeep won the contract to provide transportation for the later stages of the war. Those biker GIs returned home and bought Harleys, although some refused membership into the American Motorcycle Association.

"That's where the term outlaws came about," Bortner said.

A TV screen displays snippets of movies that bolstered that renegade image, including the 1953 classic, "The Wild One," starring Marlon Brando and Lee Marvin. An unruly motorcycle gang terrorizes a town in the film, and Bortner explained that the story was loosely based on an incident in Hollister, Calif., and reported in a magazine article.

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"The problem was the photo in the magazine with beer bottles around the motorcycles was staged, and the article was greatly exaggerated," Bortner said. "It didn't matter. People began to think that's what motorcycle riders did, and all these other movies followed."

Among the other bikes on display was a replica of the "Captain America" Harley ridden by Peter Fonda in "Easy Rider," and a 1956 KH, the predecessor to the popular Sportster, which had a famous owner.

"We have the paperwork that shows Elvis bought this bike just weeks before he had his first hit with 'Heartbreak Hotel,'" Bortner said. "He listed his occupation as 'vocalist, self-employed,' and paid $50.15 a month with a total price of $1,143.

"When he knew he was going to become famous, he didn't go to Disneyland. He bought a Harley."

There's more to Milwaukee than motorcycles. Beer, for instance.

The city was touted as the "beer capital of the world" for much of its history. Schlitz, of course, was the beer that made Milwaukee famous, but is no longer a major brand.

Miller, now owned by a conglomerate called MillerCoors, is based in Milwaukee and offers free, one-hour tours of its brewery. The city also is home to two smaller breweries, Lakefront and Sprecher, and has its share of brew pubs. Miller Park, home of the Brewers who play baseball, features the country's only fan-shaped convertible roof, which can open and close in less than 10 minutes.

I ventured to another historical footnote to pay homage to the Germans who created the beer industry here, the Capt. Frederick Pabst Mansion, which is hailed as "the finest Flemish Renaissance revival mansion in America."

The three-story brick building was completed in 1893 and now stands on the edge of the Marquette University campus. Dawn Hourigan, the museum's director, said the area once was Milwaukee's grandest.

"This was one of 70 mansions on Grand Avenue," Hourigan said. "The neighborhood was quite illustrious. But the huge structures went up, and were coming back down in 30 years because nobody could afford them. Of all the mansions, we're the only one fully intact."

The stained-glass windows, built-in hardwood cabinetry and painted ceilings are in excellent shape, thanks largely to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese, which owned the home for 60 years. "Five archbishops and a whole entourage of nuns lived here," Hourigan said. "They were the only ones who had the money to keep the place up."

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Hourigan added that the home would have been razed for a Holiday Inn, if preservationists hadn't stepped in to save it.

Like Chicago, its sister city some 100 miles to the south, Milwaukee is on Lake Michigan and makes good use of its waterfront. The strip along the lake is public parkland and home to several of the city's cultural institutions.

Discovery World has a small aquarium and a science center, where I walked inside The Hive, a 3D view of the Solar System, and then lay on a bed of nails. My weight was spread out over the 3,597 nails so the experience was tolerable, if not exactly restful.

The Milwaukee Art Museum has a nice collection of folk art and an excellent view of the lake from its new Santiago Calatrava addition, an entrance way with soaring "wings" that fold and unfold like a bird in flight. The interior of the sleek, white sculpture is naturally lit and decorated with shadows that move throughout the day, kind of like being on one of the billowing white sailboats out on the lake.

Another highlight of the lakefront is Bartolotta's Lake Park Bistro, a French country restaurant in a renovated pavilion on a scenic bluff overlooking the water. The restaurant is celebrating this year because chef Adam Siegel won the James Beard Award for best chef in the Midwest. Not bad for a guy who started his cooking career at Michael's Hot Dogs in Illinois when he was 14 years old.

I tried one of the chef's signature dishes _ garlic marinated bone-in ribeye with roasted potatoes, bacon, sauteed mushrooms and red wine sauce for $38. It went perfectly with the splendid view.

Another of the city's interesting neighborhoods is the Historic Third Ward, a turn-of-the-century warehouse district that now bustles with restaurants, boutiques, theater companies and the Milwaukee Public Market, where food vendors sell everything from organic produce to fresh bread.

I stopped at Paperboat Boutique and Gallery, which has hand-made works by craftsmen and designers from throughout the country, and Artasia Gallery & Museum, which was chock full of folk puppets, masks and sculptures from China, Tibet, Nepal and other exotic lands. Don't know who counted, but more than 1,000 Buddhas supposedly are on display.

The district also is home to the Hinterland Erie Street Gastropub, which had hand-crafted beers and a dinner special of Andouille crusted Alaskan halibut that was $34 and fabulous.

Another resident of the Third Ward is the Eisner American Museum of Advertising & Design in a storefront at 208 North Water Street. The Eisner says it is the world's only museum that covers the social, historical and aesthetic implications of advertising and design.

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The upper floor had an exhibit of the "10 ad campaigns that changed the world" with Coke and Absolut Vodka among them.

I had fun on the first floor with a giant vintage TV, where you could change the channel to see the best ads of the '50s, '60s, '70s and '80s.

I got stuck in the '50s, and sang right along with the jingle, "You'll wonder where the yellow went when you brush your teeth with Pepsodent."

And I was reminded of a youthful experiment that ended badly when the Mae West-like figure among the dancing Muriel cigars invited in her lusty voice: "Why don't you pick me up and smoke me some time?"

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IF YOU GO

ROAD WARNING: If driving to Milwaukee from the south, avoid Interstate 294 through Chicago. Construction has turned the 50-mile stretch into a traffic jam. Plus, you have the privilege of paying four tolls to drive through this mess. Instead, take Interstate 39 to Beloit, Wis., and then I-43 northeast into Milwaukee.

HARLEY-DAVIDSON MUSEUM: Admission is $16 for adults and $10 for children 5-17. The museum has a cafe, restaurant and shop where you can buy classic Harley T-shirts for $25, a studded black belt for $50 and a leather motorcycle jacket for $550. 400 West Canal Street, 1-877-436-8738 and www.harley-davidson.com

CAPTAIN FREDERICK PABST MANSION: Admission is $8 for adults, $4 for children. Open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday-Saturday, noon to 4 p.m. Sunday. 2000 West Wisconsin Avenue, 1-414-931-0808 and www.pabstmansion.com.

EISNER AMERICAN MUSEUM OF ADVERTISING & DESIGN: Admission is for $5 adults, $2 with student ID. 208 North Water Street, 1-414-847-3290, www.eisnermuseum.org.

WHERE TO STAY: The InterContinental Milwaukee is a sleek, four-star hotel in the heart of the entertainment district. 139 East Kilbourn Avenue and 1-414-276-8686. The Pfister Hotel, built in 1893 and for years known as the "Grand Hotel of the West," is at 424 East Wisconsin Avenue and 1-414-273-8222. Blu, on the hotel's 23rd floor, is a swanky martini lounge.

WHERE TO EAT: The Safe House, 779 North Front Street, serves American cuisine in an espionage-themed interior. You need to decipher the password to get in. Elsa's on the Park, 833 North Jefferson Street, has great burgers and martinis. Hinterland Erie Street Gastropub, 222 East Erie Street, has hand-crafted beers and fresh seafood. Lake Park Bistro, 3133 East Newberry Boulevard, has chef Adam Siegel, winner of the James Beard Award for best chef in the Midwest.

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INFORMATION: Visit Milwaukee is at 1-800-554-1448 and www.visitmilwaukee.org.

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Tom Uhlenbrock: tuhlenbrock@post-dispatch.com

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© 2008, St. Louis Post-Dispatch.