Apprentice to Alumnus

We were at the Harley-Davidson University in Gurugram (formerly Gurgaon) recently to try our hand at dissembling and then reassembling H-D’s latest Milwaukee Eight 107 V-twin. Thus, in a manner of speaking, I entered the shop floor as an apprentice and le

It so rarely happens

that a manufacturer invites the media to one of their workshops/learning centres to actually come and play around with the technology that goes into making their products. often a manufacturer would invite us to their facility and show us round their assembly/manufacturing lines, all from a curious spectator’s perspective. however, harley-Davidson RAVI CHANDNANI HARLEY-DAVIDSON decided to deviate from the beaten track and invited a group of journalists to offer us some hands-on experience. Understandably, the excitement quotient was quite high among the bunch of journalists who were present at the event; after all, we were going to open up the new milwaukee eight 107 V-twin from h-D and then put it back together as well. this was a rare opportunity for us to explore the heart of the modern h-D line-up up-close. honestly, it turned out to be one of the best experiences i have had in my career as an automotive journalist so far.

it all started off with a classroom session where John mcenaney, Lead, technical training asia emerging markets, stated some ground rules and how we would approach the entire process. he surely was a strict teacher but, at the same time, he ensured that we had a brilliant time playing with a 107-cubic inch engine.