Harley-Davidson to Sponsor Pendleton Bike Week
Oregon’s Third Annual Event Lands Only West Coast Harley Sponsorship — and Grand Funk Railroad!
This year marks only the third year for Oregon’s Pendleton Bike Week, but the event has already drawn the biggest title sponsor of all: none other than Harley-Davidson. Eric Folkestad, co-founder of the event, broke the news this week to the East Oregonian, though H-D will wait until March 8 to make the announcement. Folkestad said that the deal has been in the works since August, and that it will be the only event Harley-Davidson sponsors on the West Coast in 2017.
Representatives from the city of Pendleton joined Folkestad at Harley headquarters in Milwaukee on Jan. 25 to discuss the deal. H-D was clearly impressed and felt that the rally embodied the company’s values and brand image. Pendleton Bike Week has also clearly proven itself to be a huge success. Attendance in 2015 topped 6,000, and it exploded to 16,000 in 2016.
Pat Beard, of Travel Pendleton, expects Harley-Davidson’s sponsorship to legitimize the event even further. Beard estimates that this year’s event could top 20,000 attendees. With the social media prowess and marketing reach of H-D, the sky’s the limit. Beard also confirmed that the event could use the title “Harley-Davidson’s Pendleton Bike Week.”
But Harley isn’t just lending it’s iconic name to the event. H-D is planning to send a couple of semi trailers full of motorcycles to the rally, all of which attendees can ride for free. Classic rock band Grand Funk Railroad is the headlining act for Saturday night, which is a huge draw. In fact, last year’s rally brought in an estimated $2.5 million to the local economy.
Pendleton Bike Week 2017 takes place July 19-23 in Pendleton, Oregon. Get more details at the rally’s official web site.
