Who Is the Real Hog?

Book excerpt: Bob Michel has been in the motorcycle industry for 29 years. Fourteen years with Harley-Davidson. He spent nine years as partner and vice president of Milwaukee Harley-Davidson . Bob became sole owner of that dealership in July of 2003. As owner, he oversaw all the day-to-day operations, as he had since becoming involved with the dealership in 1996. Under his direction, dealership sales nearly tripled. He helped Harley-Davidson with almost all of their programs for their retail dealer network. His last position at Harley-Davidson was manager of dealer facilities planning. Prior to that Bob was manager of worldwide retail services. Earlier on, he held a variety of sales positions including, district sales manager for Maryland, Virginia, Washington, DC and part of North Carolina. He was part of the sales team that helped lead to the resurgence of Harley-Davidson. Bob has been treasurer of both local and state motorcycle associations. He is also co-author of the Executive Sales Academy Manual. He is a true motorcycle enthusiast who started riding when he was 12 years old and has owned over 20 motorcycles. This story is about his experience as an enthusiast, an employee of Harley-Davidson and owner of a franchised dealership for Harley-Davidson.