One passion that began in my early years and has continued into my adulthood is that of motorcycles. I have been so fascinated with them and have always desired to have one. Due to many reasons, I have never been able to actually own a motorcycle. In addition to my motorcycle passion is an interest in how things are made. So when Rachel was planning our trip to Kansas City, we saw that the Harley-Davidson Factory Tour was high on several lists of things to do. I had no idea there was a factory in the area but immediately upon seeing this information, I knew I wanted to go.
The Harley-Davidson factory in KC is called the Vehicle and Powertrain Operations Facility. This factory produces, from fabrication to finish, the Sporster, Dyna, Street, some Softail models and my personal favorite, the V-Rod. They also make some of the Revolution and Revolution X powertrains for the V-Rods and Street families.
The factory offers two different types of tours, a free one and a “Steel Toe” tour that cost $35 ($30 if you are a member). The free tour is a first come, first serve tour that goes from 9:00AM to 1:30PM Monday thru Friday. It is a general tour that has a limited view of the assembly line and certain fabrication areas. With this tour, you will walk the safe aisles of the production facility and seeing how parts of the bike are assembled or made, like the frames and fuel tanks. The tour lasts about an hour. These tours fill up pretty fast so by the time you arrive, you may have to wait for a while. When we went, we had to wait for about 30 minutes for the next available tour. But, since the tour starts in the gift shop, you have the chance to buy any gifts that you may want. Also, the gift shop shows a high level overview of the manufacturing process of the motorcycles being built. It gives the visitor a chance to look inside the engine and some other components that are generally not available. You can also sit on several current production bikes to get a feel and take some snazzy photos.
The “Steel Toe” tour is for the more hardcore Harley enthusiasts or those that enjoy the manufacturing process. This tour gives the visitor a chance to get up close and personal with the bikes and takes the visitor through the entire manufacturing process, including the “employee only” paint and polish area. This tour goes more in depth and to more areas than the free one. The factory will provide the necessary safety gear like a vest, glasses and the steel toe protection, so there is no need to wear your steel toe boots. There are only two sessions that occur daily Monday thru Thursday. They are not always available depending on the production time or model launch, so be sure to check the website. It is recommended to gets reservations to do this tour as they do sell out, but they can be reserved online.
Since I have been around the manufacturing line a lot in my work career and we were on a short time table, we did the free tour. Depending on your love for HD, it will depend on if the $35 pricetag is worth it. The free tour is still wonderful and allows the visitor to see a lot of the factory and how things are made. The tour guides are great and except for a few noisy spots, the information is easy to hear. Overall this was a great experience for us and highly suggest doing the tour. Please note, that children under 12 are not allowed on the factory tour so if you have kids, you may want to check with the factory before getting tickets or signing up.
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