There’s a proposal to designate the Harley as the state motorcycle.
Under legislation at the state capitol, the Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson would become the official state motorcycle. Assembly Democrat Leon Young of Milwaukee is cosponsoring a bill to move ahead on the idea.
“This legislation, as it goes through the process, I think we’ll find out more and more about the history of the company — Harley Davidson.”
The first Harley was built in 1903 by William Harley and Arthur Davidson in Milwaukee. Harleys proved to be valuable with the military, with about 20,000 motorcycles helping to dispatch messages during WWI before the advent of reliable radio communications. Later, the company produced 88,000 motorcycles for the war effort during the second world war.
That’s a great history, but do we really need an official state motorcycle?
“If that’s the case, we could say do we really need a state animal or a state dance?”
Young says the designation was requested by the family of Staff Sergeant Jeremy Vrooman, who died in Iraq last year. The Harley would join 26 other official state symbols, including a state song, flower, bird, tree, fish, fruit, animal, rock, insect, soil, beverage, grain, dance, and tartan.
Senate Democrat Spencer Coggs of Milwaukee is cosponsoring the legislation (SB-394).
Jackie Johnson (1:41)