Factory direct Harley-Davidson, other firms invite folks inside

It ain't Disneyland. There are no water slides nearby. White, sandy beaches are a couple time zones away. Security is tight and safety glasses are required.

No alcohol is served.

And yet, for those folks who treat their bike like a member of the family, there's no roadside attraction that's more of a vacation must-see than a factory where metal and motors go in one loading dock, and ready-to-ride Harley-Davidson motorcycles come out another.

"We had to come," said New Jersey resident Tom Mann, an owner -- you could tell by his leather vest and Harley Owner's Group patches -- of his visit to Harley-Davidson's Kansas City plant. "I had to see where the bikes were made.

"My bike came from this place."

Brand loyalty

Like most Harley-Davidson riders, so says the company that's among the latest to make Milwaukee famous, Mann is the ultimate brand loyalist. He even brought pictures of his heavily customized Super Glide Sport along, and his tour guide and other plant employees couldn't wait to see them.

Phil Swope, the Kansas City plant's security chief, helped developed the tour after the factory opened in 1998. He calls it a "cult" (He's a member, with a Road King on order.) That's probably a little strong -- passionate might be a better way to describe it.

"For some it's a companion on the road. For some it's family, even," said Lara Lee, director of Harley-Davidson Inc.'s museum and archives, who rides an Ultra Classic with sidecar. "So, to be able to see the birthplace of something with such great meaning to you is very compelling, very moving for a lot of people."

For people like Mann -- who have a passion for product -- the Harley plant is one of several spots in the state where factory doors are open to visitors. For everyone else, they're not a bad way to kill a lazy summer afternoon when family and friends come calling.

Hallmark Cards Inc. in Kansas City has its Crown Center mall and visitors center, and more than 200,000 people visit Nestle Purina PetCare Co.'s Purina Farms outside St. Louis each year. And for those who think every good tourist stop does, in fact, require a beer, Anheuser-Busch Cos. in St. Louis has got you covered.

For both Harley-Davidson and Anheuser-Busch, offering tours isn't the latest idea from the marketing department. It's not even an old idea -- it's historic. The first inside look at Budweiser's famed beechwood aging process came in 1865, not long after the company was founded in 1852, said Sue O'Leary, manager of the company's tours and gift shops.

The press and the laser booth are stops on the motorcycle plant tour, which begins with a short video about Harley-Davidson. The Kansas City facility, which Swope said receives between 25,000 and 30,000 visitors a year, is one of three the company opens to the public; the others are in York, Pa., and Milwaukee.

"We don't do anything special by way of activity -- it's people making motorcycles," Lee said. "I imagine that's what you would have seen in 1929 or 1937 or 1954: people making motorcycles."

At Anheuser-Busch, the brewery anchors the south end of St. Louis' historic Soulard neighborhood, and the streets around it are full of traffic on summer weekends as visitors pour through the welcome center, take the tour, and enjoy "the opportunity to sample various Anheuser-Busch products," O'Leary said. (That's the free beer.)

O'Leary said more than 500,000 people a year visit the five Anheuser-Busch breweries open for tours. In St. Louis, they get much more of a show than Harley-Davidson's walk through the plant. The grounds of the Anheuser-Busch's campus are beautifully landscaped, fitting in with the historic nature of the neighborhood. Visitors get a look inside the brewery and its bottling operations, but there is also a stop at the Clydesdale stable and, of course, there's a bartender waiting at the end.

"Other tours seem like they are all production. This had other things: the videos, the horses," said Jennifer Weinhandl, who was visiting the St. Louis brewery last week from Minnesota along with her husband and six children. "The two-year-old liked it with the horses, even. There was something for everyone."

But at Harley-Davidson, it's all about the bikes and their riders. Dozens stand watch like sentinels out front, and only after a closer look will a visitor see the sign admonishing "No touching." Those bikes all belong to proud employees like Swope, who came to the plant six years ago after a career as an assistant prison warden.

"I wish I had known about this place 35 years ago," Swope said.

------

On the Net:

Harley-Davidson Inc.: www.harley-davidson.com

Anheuser-Busch Cos.: www.anheuser-busch.com