CRUISIN’ THE NET WITH MIKE ‘TEX’ HESSCybercycle
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The “Black World” of Harley-
Davidson secrets is behind
the walls of the 370,000
square-foot Willie G Davidson
Product Development Center
in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Ten
years ago, a youngster right out
of design school began work
with the Motor Company just
like another kid did in 1963.
And we know how well that
turned out.
Back in 2010, a young man
named Ben McGinley was an
industrial design student at
the Milwaukee Institute of
Art and Design. There he was
recognised for his graduation
project, the “Mosquito .45”
urban commuter motorcycle.
From his Linkedin profile
it says he was an Industrial
Designer in the greater
Milwaukee area. So now let’s
recount his surprising design
journey from joining Harley-
Davidson and culminating this
year in August at the Model
Year 2020 Dealer Meeting in
Milwaukee.
In 2012, the “Streetfighter
Concept” story is posted
online with Ben’s two drawings
penned in 2010 and a clay
model from a later year. You can
even see the gestations of the
2014 Project LiveWire and the
2019 FXDR 114’s rear fender,
swing arm and style along with
the legal number plate holders.
Also interesting and
on the web post is in the
Streetfighter’s drawing, we see
the first rendition of the Harley
Modular 975 engine while the
later clay model has a V-Rod
engine.
Obviously back in 2012,
Harley was toying with a newstreetfighter frame for the
V-Rod but ended up going with
the Modular 975/1250 engine.
In 2013, Ben is on YouTube
wth Kirk Rasmussen (Harley
Manager of Styling) and
Ben McGinley a “Designer”
both discussing the styling
and inspiration behind the
new Twin-Cam 103 Harley-
Davidson Breakout. I can see
here that his early days at
Harley were well spent.
In 2014, Ben is called
the “Boy Wonder” for his
inventive motorcycle designs
as the “Lead Designer” under
Kirk Rasmussen for Project
LiveWire. That year he also
contributed to the design of the
2014 Low Rider.
In 2015, we find Ben on
YouTube introducing the the
re-designed 2016 Sportster
Forty-Eight. He says “Riders
have long since complained