THE BIRTH OF H.O.G.

In 1982, Steve Piehl was just a young man working at Harley-Davidson Motor Company in Milwaukee, US, when he got a tap on his shoulder from his boss asking him to start up a new project – the Harley Owners Group^®. In his own words, he tells us how it all started

In September 1982, my boss handed me a three-inch-thick ring binder and a copy of a speech he had just given at the Dealer Meeting, outlining what H.O.G.^® was going to be. He basically told me, “Here is a binder filled with background research and some proposed logos; here’s what I’ve told everyone the club is going to be; I think this project will work really well for you, so get on with it. We need it up and running by January 1 – you’ve got three months!”

I had just joined Harley-Davidson straight out of college, working in the marketing department on events and promotions. The early 1980s was a tough time for Harley-Davidson; there was a recession, and the Motor Company was fighting its way through it, along with all the other motorcycle manufacturers. There had been talk for years within the company that we had a tremendously loyal customer base and that we should do something with that – harnessing the energy and somehow connecting them more strongly with Harley-Davidson.

The membership pack at that time was very 1980s, with a pin and patch, a membership card (I still have my original H.O.G. number, number 12!) and the crowning glory – the Touring Handbook. At that time there was no available listing of all the Harley-Davidson dealers, so this provided a way for H.O.G. members to plan their travels and connect with Harley-Davidson dealers along the way. It was a boon for dealers also, to have their contact details provided to thousands of riders every year – we all have friends with huge collections of t-shirts or collectables from dealer visits, right?

We never realised that there would be a demand for local memberships back in 1982 – the concept was that H.O.G. would be a service organisation like the AAA. The social aspect of the Harley Owners Group^® was something that wasn’t really considered at the time, yet it was one of the things that went on to make H.O.G. so successful.

Similarly, the chapter concept wasn’t built in initially either, but dealers soon came to us and said, ‘We want to start up a local group based at our dealership under the H.O.G. banner’. We said, ‘Yeah, seems like a good idea!’, and by late 1983 we were able to roll that out to make H.O.G. local and personal.

Starting H.O.G. changed Harley-Davidson. The company knew it had a loyal customer base, but before H.O.G. there was no real way of connecting with them. H.O.G. was effectively the start of the ‘close to the customer’ approach that has defined Harley-Davidson ever since. That was the start of Harley staff members being heavily involved in events, and company executives interacting with customers. H.O.G. completely transformed the way we interacted with our riders and has been watched and adopted by so many other companies who interact with their customers.

We live in a world that is personalised, not one size fits all, so the successful organisations are based on variations of things, offering a multitude of ways to experience the ride. We have seen that people buy a Harley^® because initially, they want to ride to certain areas and see local sights, then the rider experiences a mental change when they take an overnight trip on their motorcycle – they realise they can go anywhere! I’ve always encouraged people to go on overnight trips because that can really open up the adventure for people who ride and love Harleys, so I would say to H.O.G. members – when the opportunity arises, just get on your bike and go!

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