Harley parade to bypass most of Story Hill

June 25, 2008 -- The Harley-Davidson 105th anniversary motorcycle parade will bypass most of Story Hill when it is held Aug. 30, but neighborhood residents near the Bluemound and Story entrance to Miller Park still will have front-row seats.

The parade will travel from Miller Park to W. Bluemound Rd. via the big drive that climbs up the hill near Bluemound and N. Story Parkway. Then the parade will head east, Harley-Davidson representatives told residents at the Story HIll Neighborhood Association quarterly meeting.

When a similar parade was held for Harley's 100th anniversary in 2003, it traveled on Bluemound from the Zoo, giving many more Story Hillers an opportunity to enjoy or be irritated by it, depending on their dispositions.

The parade in August will include 7,500 riders, down from about 10,000 in 2003, Shields said.

Originally, this year's parade was going to travel from Miller Park to Bluemound via 44th Street, but pre-parade scouts who drove that route deemed the new route to be safer for participants and spectators, said Tony Shields, community relations manager for Harley-Davidson Motor Co.

The parade, while fun, has a serious mission.

"The parade is going to raise $1 million for MDA (Muscular Dystrophy Association)," Shields said.

While most neighborhood residents may be spared / deprived of thousands of motorcyclists driving by, they likely will be treated to a certain amount of noise from Miller Park on Thursday, Aug. 28, when activities are scheduled there from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.

The Harley’s Owners Group (HOG) will be celebrating their 25th Anniversary with an invitation only part for their members.

Originally, the band Aerosmith was scheduled to play a ticketed event that night inside the stadium, Shields said. The band had to cancel, however, and Harley-Davidson decided to have a Kid Rock concert that night instead.

"We made the decision to keep it outside," Shields said. It will be accessible to all HOG members, he said.

There will be other acts during the day, he said.

"We expect about 20,000 to 25,000 motorcyclists," Shields said.

Ald. Michael Murphy said he would sign a permit allowing Harley to be loud at the stadium until 11 p.m.

Shields and Laura Goranson, a consultant representing Harley, emphasized that there would be plenty of police on hand to control traffic and maintain order. Some routes into the neighborhood may have access restricted to residents only so motorcyclists don't roar through.

Shields said Harley-Davidson was reminding its riders frequently of courteous riding practices.

Miller Park events will be considered stadium events, so there will be no parking on neighborhood streets one hour before they begin to one hour after they end, Murphy said.

Goranson and Shields said they did not anticipate parking problems in Story Hill. Goranson said there was plenty of parking at the stadium and Shields said stadium parking for the motorcyclists will be free.

Because parking is free, Shields said, "we don't anticipate they will be parking on the hill and walking down."

Besides, he added, “Our riders don’t like to walk long distances to events.”

Harley plans to communicate neighborhood residents "as early and as often as possible." Written communications will go out to residents from Harley, he said.