Harley-Davidson Leadership Exhibit
An archival exhibit site for a story of recovery, told in chapters.
The Harley-Davidson Leadership Exhibit at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington, Ohio, tells the story of Rich Teerlink's leadership through Harley-Davidson's near-collapse and recovery in the 1980s and 1990s.
RST built the exhibit's digital home: an archival, editorial microsite that carries the story from crisis to comeback across chapters, a timeline, and the values that guided the company.
The Story
The site opens on the brink: outdated products, poor quality, foreign competition, heavy debt. Thirteen executives bought Harley-Davidson back from AMF in 1981, and the site charts what happened next.
Key moments unfold on a vertical timeline: the 1981 buyback, the 1983 founding of the Harley Owners Group, the 1985 staying-afloat agreement, the 1988 production turnaround, and the rise from 81,696 bikes in 1993 to 177,187 in 1999.
The Build
We designed the exhibit site as an archive: near-black canvas, condensed all-caps display type, vintage factory photography, and Harley orange used sparingly for dates, rules, and calls to action.
The build went through a detailed wireframe and editorial pass with the client: chapter structure, photo sourcing and captions, the circle-organization graphics, and placement of quotes and archival notes across the Story and Press pages.
Ongoing Development
Content locked in August 2026 with the launch scheduled for late August. Production details, bike photography, and citation work continue to ship up to launch.
