Who knew, one hundred years ago, that the freedom-loving, speed-hungry, cutting-edge motorcycle fanatics who founded Harley-Davidson were making history along with bikes?  The Harley-Davidson Collection, showcasing a century of bikes that shaped motorcycle history, brings that history to gleaming life in page after page of motorcycles beyond compare.  On the eve of the opening of the historic Harley-Davidson Museum, this book gives motorcycle enthusiasts an opportunity to pore over the bikes in the collection, and to linger over every detail that made Harley-Davidson such an icon of American open-road power and performance.  With exquisite, detailed photographs and histories of the hundred motorcycles in Harley’s collection, from serial number one built in 1903 to the latest low-slung Softail, high-revving VRSC, and touring models, the book captures the excitement of the best-known motorcycles in the world.  All that’s missing is the patented roar, which readers are invited to supply.

BMW began its life in aero-engineering--as anyone who’s ever ridden one of its motorcycles might guess.  These are bikes as close to airborne as any get.  And what’s more, fifty percent of all the motorcycles BMW has manufactured are still flying down the world’s roads.  These are the best, and in this book, the best of the best get their due, with brilliant, full-color photographs of BMW’s classic models and detailed descriptions of their features, all located within the context of a concise history of this legendary marque.  From the first of BMW’s bikes, the R32, through the models that catapulted the company out of the ruins of World War II, to the latest bikes with the revamped opposed-twin-cylinder “boxer” engines that brought BMW its first fame--these are the bikes that made history, and, better yet, gave the most demanding riders a taste for flight.

The Harley-Davidson® Archives houses the most complete collection of Harley-Davidson® vehicles on earth. Randy Leffingwell photographed the rarest, most important and most coveted Harley-Davidson motorcycles to feature in this calendar.