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The 63-year-old Crown Point, Ind., man left home six weeks ago, pulling a teardrop-shaped homemade camper behind his Harley that he constructed of plywood and floor laminate.
"I've been on the road six weeks, 9,000 miles. I went all the way to L.A. and back," said Jones while lying on a mattress, typing on his laptop hooked up to a wireless connection. "I figure this is a good way to end my trip." His small camper weighs only 300 pounds empty and is 6 feet, 3 inches long, 3 1/2 feet tall and as wide as a single mattress. Inside, he carries his laptop, clothes, laundry soap, camera and a small welcome mat. "Everybody seems to like it. I should start selling them," Jones said of the camper that took him a week to build.
He's right about the camper's popularity. Several folks stopped to take his photo and gab in the parking area in front of the Harley-Davidson Museum.
One man said "Where's the A.C.?"
Jones replied, "I've got two windows and a door for my A.C. All I need is a housekeeper."
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The field surrounding the Washington County Fair Park was covered with thousands of motorcycles Wednesday evening, as if they had sprouted from the ground like corn. Harleys rumbled into the fairgrounds from all directions, heading to the Lynyrd Skynyrd concert.
Graeme Cohen, 57, of Newcastle, Australia, and a friend, plus their Harleys, flew to Los Angeles in April and have been riding all over the country since then.
"People have been so hospitable and so generous. As soon as we open our mouths and they hear the accent, they can't do enough for you," said Cohen, clad in a black leather vest and black bandanna with his long white hair in a ponytail.
Cohen plans on riding through Canada before heading home but will skip Hawaii. "It's too small -- nowhere to ride."
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If you've got a Harley, you've got a friend, said Ron Hindman of New York.
It's the reason Hindman, 49, has been a Harley owner for the last seven years.
"I like the brotherhood that comes with ownership," said Hindman, who made the 950-mile trip with his pal Joshua Jide. "There is no other motorcycle where you can be riding down the street and see someone else with one and get a wave and a smile."
Hindman's thoughts echoed the words of William "Willie G." Davidson, who addressed the crowd at a kickoff party at the company's headquarters.
"We're celebrating 105 years of business, and I strongly believe it's because of the relationships between ourselves and all of you that's gotten us here," he said.
Also on hand for the ceremony was Luke Christie, 15, the Harley-Davidson/MDA goodwill ambassador. Harley-Davidson and its riders hope to raise $6 million for MDA during the four-day celebration.
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For Ray Jordan of Salem, Ore., being at the 105th Harley-Davidson Anniversary Celebration is all about loving America.
He and his wife Jeanie rode to Milwaukee on his 2003 Road King Classic that's decorated with 105 American flags. The 64-year-old Vietnam vet said Harleys are iconic because they're American-made.
"Nobody's got Honda tattooed on their arm," Jeanie Jordan, 62, pointed out.
"Yeah, and I used to ride Hondas," said Ray Jordan. "And no woman ever asked me if they could ride on the back of one of those."
Ryan Haggerty of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.
To see more of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.jsonline.com. Copyright (c) 2008, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
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