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During the summer of 1915, Della Crewe of Waco, Texas, packed 125 pounds of baggage and her dog "Trouble" into the sidecar of her 1914 Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Crewe wanted to see America and felt that the other forms of transportation were uninteresting. When the duos trip was over, 5,378 miles had been logged and the motorcycle had given them no trouble whatsoever. They had canvassed nearly every state east of the Mississippi and Crewes desire was stronger than ever to keep going. Several days after the finish of her U.S. trip, Crewe headed for Jacksonville, Fla., with the intent of sailing her dog and sidecar rig to Cuba and South America for more touring.
It was South America where Jackson, Wyoming, native Charlie Peet entered himself and a modified 1985 Harley-Davidson FXRP motorcycle into the Trans Amazon Rally. The Rally went from Cartagena, Columbia, and finished at Buenos Aires, Argentina, covering 9,000 miles of some of the worlds most unforgiving terrain. Contestants could enter any vehicle. Only 12 contestants even finished the rally that year, and Peet and his Harley-Davidson motorcycle were among them. Peets motorcycle now resides in the Archives, dirt and all.
And Harley-Davidson motorcycle riders are by no means giving up. On Jan.29, 1999, Dennis Schaefer, now of Service Communications at Juneau Avenue, left for Mt. Rushmore in South Dakota riding a 1999 Ultra Classic Electra Glide motorcycle with sidecar. Schaefers goal was to break the record for the worlds longest non-stop winter motorcycle ride. Two days later, he returned to Milwaukee, Wis., presumably exhausted and cold, but with the new world record to his credit, and having proven one more time that Harley-Davidson motorcycles and their riders cannot be held back.
by Bill Jackson, Senior Archivist
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