“We Did It Together: A Harley-Davidson Leadership Story” explores the shared leadership and teamwork behind the company’s turnaround and invites the Harley-Davidson community to help bring the story to life in new exhibit.
Photo Credit: Lauren Kropf
Images Used with Permission of Harley-Davidson Museum, LLC.
PICKERINGTON, Ohio (Oct. 19, 2026) — A new exhibit at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in Pickerington, Ohio, explores the people, culture, and shared leadership behind Harley-Davidson’s remarkable revival in the 1980s and 1990s.
“We Did It Together: A Harley-Davidson Leadership Story,” features the work and contributions of former Harley-Davidson CEO and AMA Motorcycle Hall of Famer Richard Teerlink and chronicles the company’s journey from near-bankruptcy in the 1980s to massive market success in the late 1990s and early 2000s. The exhibit examines how Harley-Davidson moved away from a traditional hierarchical management model and embraced trust, employee participation, shared responsibility and collective ownership. The company’s turnaround helped shape the global motorcycling industry, and its approach to leadership has offered lessons in the power of working together that extend beyond motorcycling, including in university business programs.
“We Did It Together: A Harley-Davidson Leadership Story,” opened with a ribbon cutting and public celebration on Oct. 17 during the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame’s Fall Bike Night.
The exhibit’s opening also launched the “We Did It Together” Mural Campaign, giving the Harley-Davidson community a chance to become part of the exhibit’s completed mural, which opens next year.
“We’re grateful to Ann Teerlink, Jeff Westphal and everyone who helped bring ‘We Did It Together’ to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame and excited to share this story with the Harley-Davidson community and motorcycle enthusiasts everywhere,” said AMA President and CEO Rob Dingman. “Harley-Davidson’s history is deeply connected to the people who built, rode and supported the brand, and this exhibit gives us an opportunity to celebrate those people while preserving an important part of motorcycle history.”
The exhibit features a timeline with historic photographs and key company milestones from 1980 through 2005, along with a one-of-a-kind collection of Teerlink’s four Anniversary Electra Glide motorcycles, presented to him for Harley-Davidson’s 85th, 90th, 95th and 100th anniversary celebrations.
“We Did It Together” was created by a group of family, friends and former Harley-Davidson executives who helped bring this leadership story to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame.
“Rich taught me that mutually beneficial relationships are what matters most,” said Jeff Westphal, a longtime friend and mentee of Teerlink who helped bring the exhibit to life. “I’m proud to help bring his story to the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame and excited to celebrate Rich, Harley-Davidson and the culture of meaning, trust and support he helped create.”
Become part of the “We Did It Together” exhibit
Members of the Harley-Davidson community are invited to become part of the permanent exhibit.
Community members can submit photographs of themselves, family members or loved ones whose lives were connected to the brand — from factory employees and H.O.G. riders to dealership team members, rally attendees, veterans and lifelong enthusiasts.
With a donation to the American Motorcycle Heritage Foundation (AMHF), selected photographs will become part of a permanent mural featured in the exhibit. Photos and donations can be submitted through the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame’s “We Did It Together” exhibit page.
Campaign photo submissions will be accepted through July 31, 2027. The completed mural is scheduled to be unveiled Oct. 12, 2027.
“We Did It Together: A Harley-Davidson Leadership Story” is on display at the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, 13515 Yarmouth Dr., Pickerington, Ohio.
For more information about the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame, visit motorcyclemuseum.org.
MEDIA CONTACTS:
Paul Leonetti: pleonetti@cplusc.com | 206-992-3624
Jack Emerson: jemerson@ama-cycle.org | 614-986-1996
Cassidy Monda: cmonda@cplusc.com | 503-320-3588