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105th Roadside News: Day 7 - Fargo, ND to Duluth, MN - August 25, 2008
Maverick and Radio - Aug 25, 2008
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Maverick’s Notes…
Ten extraordinary truths about the Harley-Davidson Motor Company and its senior managers:
- Customers are the number one priority of Harley-Davidson and the motor company’s leadership.
- Harley-Davidson executives are gentle men and women. Sensitive but driven!
- Harley-Davidson executives ride their Harley-Davidsons,,,they ride them hard …and they expect them to perform!
- Many of these people ride Screamin’ Eagle model motorcycles.
- Harley-Davidson executives thrive on quality relationships with their dealer network and their customers.
- Senior level executives (directors and above), are required to participate in a minimum of two motorcycle events and rallies annually for the specific purpose of interacting with customers.
- Up to 25% of Harley-Davidson executives will spend significant quality time with customers during 2008.
- Harley-Davidson employs 8,500 people throughout the world.
- Harley-Davidson leaders, managers, engineers, and technical experts are passionate and intentional about building the very best Harley-Davidson motorcycle possible.
- As Senior Vice President of Product Development and trained in engineering, Ron Hutchinson’s vision for product development is simplicity: simplicity in design, simplicity in functionality, simplicity in development, simplicity in manufacturing, and simplicity in vehicle operation. He believes this is a strategic and dynamic process that will continue to produce the best motorcycling products.
The above truths are based on conversations with, riding with, and observation of Harley-Davidson executives during the 105th Ride Home – seven days, 2200 miles!
Radio’s Notes
Today we rode with John Nowicki, Regional Sales Manger for Harley-Davidson. We met John in the elevator last night at our hotel on the way to do laundry. (Yes, we have clean clothes again.) John was wearing a 105th Anniversary t-shirt and that is all it took to begin a conversation.
John had just arrived in Fargo after a day’s ride from Milwaukee. He was interested in getting off the interstate and taking a more scenic route along Hwy 200 to Duluth. That sounded good to us, too.
It was only a few miles east of Fargo that the scenery began to improve. The land in Minnesota is hilly and green with numerous trees and more sunflowers greeting us along the road. There are also a lot of lakes; big lakes, small lakes, and medium sized lakes. Lakes with lily pads covering their surface, lakes with tall grasses growing along their banks, and lakes so large you couldn’t see the other side. This must be why the state motto is ‘land o’ lakes,’ I thought to myself.
After thinking about that for a few miles, I realized ‘land o’ lakes’ is a brand of butter. DUH! Blond moment I guess. Minnesota’s state motto is 10,000 Lakes. I don’t know if anyone really took the time to count all 10,000 lakes in Minnesota or not, but I do know there are a lot of beautiful lakes here.
The 260 mile ride today was a pretty one that went by quickly. Before we knew it, we were at Harley-Davidson Sports Center in Duluth, which is a large, attractive dealership, to enjoy food, music, and friendship once again. A few items were auctioned off at the end of the day with the proceeds being donated to MDA.
Sign seen on the way to Duluth today: Eat here, get gas, and worms!
Personal observations: When riding scenic routes 2-up, someone should have their eyes on the road at all times. I prefer that to be the drivers. Traveling on long trips by motorcycle helps one see that the number of personal items one has and happiness are not related.
Click here to view the ride to Duluth photos.
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