Officials at Harley-Davidson and the townsfolk of Ryder have joined forces hoping to make the western North Dakota town the first in America to have all of its residents fully licensed as riders.
Mike Roach, leader of public relations for Harley-Davidson in the U.S., said 50 people signed up for a riding academy in the first three hours on Saturday, which he said was all of the eligible riders with a driver's license in the town of 85 people about 40 miles southwest of Minot.
The other 35 residents are either too young or too old to ride.
Roach, who got a key to the city from Mayor Jody Reinisch, was in the town with a Harley-Davidson team of about eight people. Besides the training academy, the town also had a barbecue and street dance.
Motorcyclists from the area also joined in the festivities and a main attraction was taking photos in front of the freshly painted water tower which has the town's name on one side and "Harley-Davidson" on the other side. Roach said it was unusual how the water tower so closely resembled the Harley water tower that sits atop its Milwaukee headquarters.
Roach said they looked at several towns, including Freedom and Independence in other states, but picked Ryder because the "people were so kind, nice, so amazing."
"Plus the water tower sure needed some new paint," he said
