2002-09-27

Harley Davidson factory and Kenosha military museum

We toured the Harley factory near Milwaukee where they manufacture engines. Most of the machines are controlled by computers but they keep a small section of the factory set up with decades old manual equipment to make spares for the older Harleys. It was fascinating to see how the metal goes from rough casts to refined parts to a complete functioning engine.

One of things I learned was that gears which are required to carry a load, such as the splines in the transmission, are not cut or ground. They are cold pressed under tremendous pressure. The part is then heated and straightened. The result is significantly stronger teeth that are less prone to wear or breaking.

I was disappointed that they didn't allow cameras on the factory floor. We even had to go through a security screen with a metal detector and I.D. check. Keeping a straight face, I offered the young security guard my Chinese drivers license. He glanced at it, then me, then the card, then me and, to my complete surprise, he accepted it. John got a good laugh watching this. So at least I had some compensation for not getting any photos inside the factory.

That afternoon we visited the Kenosha Military Museum. They have an impressive collection of old tanks, jeeps and helicopters in various stages of running, sort of running, not running and clumps of unidentifiable rusty parts.

You've probably seen some of their vehicles in the movies. Kenosha supplied the tanks for Courage Under Fire starring Denzel Washington and Meg Ryan. Kenosha didn't have the same tanks as those that were used in Desert Storm so they took some British tanks, welded metal plates on them to change their appearance and gave them a paint job.

We even got to ride in a Vietnam-era armored personal carrier! Here is John in the commander's perch. With a top speed in the mid 40s it could really zip! We had to hang on tight to keep from being tossed around like pebbles in a jar. We ran over something that looked like a few car parts. The driver pointed to it and shouted over the engine noise, "See that! That was a complete Toyota. I've been running over it all summer!"

The APC is named the "Sat Cong."

A little friendly instruction painted on Sat Cong's chassis. In case you didn't know, FNG means Freaking New Guy, or something like that.