Harley exhibits the 'weird, wild' bikes

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Posted: Mon 12:30 PM, Jun 27, 2011

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Harley exhibits the 'weird, wild' bikes

MILWAUKEE (AP) -- A new exhibit at the Harley-Davidson Museum is proof the Milwaukee motorcycle maker is about much more than its classic hogs.

The company dug deep into storage to pull out some of the stranger bikes seen only on special, behind-the-scenes tours. There's a prototype of a liquid-cooled motor-cross bike from 1978. And, there's an all-leather motorcycle -- a 3/4-scale replica that it took 20 craftspeople from a Japanese company specializing in leather products more than two years to complete.

Also on display is "Project K," an experimental, three-wheel vehicle from the mid-1980s that was a cross between a motorcycle and a car powered by a Harley engine. The exhibit is called "Collection X: Weird, Wild Wonders of the Harley-Davidson Museum" and runs through Aug. 21.

Harley-Davidson has 500 vehicles in its archive, as well as 150,000 photos and negatives, 7,000 pieces of clothing and accessories, and loads of marketing literature, manuals, business documents and personal mementos like journals and diaries. The archive dates back to when the company started in 1903.

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