The Tomahawk Leader newspaper also publishes the official Tomahawk Fall Ride guide. It's available throughout the area during Ride week and the 2007 guide can be downloaded here. (12.6 MB Download)

Tours at both plants

Tomahawk's two Harley-Davidson plants will be hosting open houses this year, with tours of facilities on Somo Avenue and Kaphaem Road.

The Kaphaem Road plant, Tomahawk's newest Harley-Davidson facility, houses a windshield department, sidecar manufacturing area, injection mold hall and direct-to-dealer and original equipment paint shop with one robotic and two manual paint lines. Somo is Tomahawk's first Harley-Davidson operation, featuring an original equipment paint shop with four robotic paint lines.

Motorcycle stunt shows also will be featured at the Kaphaem Road plant.

• Live entertainment with Vic Ferrari and brat fry Thursday evening
• Harley-Davidson 2008 demo fleet beginning at 11 a.m. Thursday and continuing Friday and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday 9 a.m. to noon
• Live auction and MDA raffles Saturday
• Fun runs through the scenic Northwoods
• Harley-Davidson traveling museum
• Refreshment stands, food vendors, merchandise vendors
• Official Tomahawk Fall Ride and Tomahawk Harley-Davidson merchandise
• New and improved children's attractions
• Other entertainment, including live shows, MDA Goodwill Ambassadors and exhibits

Bob Troutman, organizer of events at Bubba's Midwest Biker Productions, will host Bubba's Big Party at Nokomis Community Park on County Road L, north of the city. Vendors, live entertainment, car show, bike show, lawn tractor races and more are on tap. The park features camping.

National headliner 38 Special is slated to perform. Black Frog with Tommy Greywolf, Tuck Pence, Slab, Magnum and Road Kill also are scheduled as live entertainment.

Two lucky winners will leave the Tomahawk Fall Ride with a new ride as events conclude Sunday at SARA Park with the noon drawing of two Harley-Davidson custom-painted raffle bikes. This year's first place motorcycle is a 2007 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic Electra Glide. Second place is a 2007 Harley-Davidson 883 Custom.

Both bikes feature a one-of-a-kind paint job by Jesse Hunter, Harley-Davidson new products technician, who donates his time to customize the machines. John Schaffer, senior project engineer at Harley-Davidson, disassembles and reassembles the cycles with their new paint-schemed parts.

Tickets are on sale now at participating businesses in the area for $5 each or three for $10. If you're interested, contact us at the Tomahawk Leader at news@tomahawkleader.com (Raffle bike in subject line) and we'll put you in touch with the ticket people.

Be one of the thousands of bikes or watch them cruise in the ever-popular and traditional 18-mile, Friday night Thunder Parade. Line-up is at 5:30 at the Tomahawk School District and the parade rolls at 6 p.m., taking participants through a picturesque ride in the Northwoods and into downtown Tomahawk.

Downtown shuts down the streets Friday and Saturday nights, offering a perfect chance to check out thousands of bikes, meet new people, enjoy a bite to eat from non-profit food booths, meander through vendor displays and listen to live bands under the stars. New this year will be two non-profit food courts on the north sides of both Second and Third streets, creating more bike parking on West Wisconsin Avenue, noted Brown.

Live musical entertainment will be provided Friday by Clear Blue Betty on the east end of main street and Johnny Wad Friday on the west side of West Wisconsin Avenue. Saturday, look for Relentless on the east end and Oil Can Harry on the west side. Bands end at 11:30 p.m. Friday and 10:30 p.m. Saturday. On-street vending and drinking end promptly at midnight Friday and 11 p.m. Saturday.

Open intoxicants in the downtown are prohibited before 5 p.m. and after midnight and not allowed in any other area of the city. Local law enforcement will be enforcing the ordinance downtown and elsewhere in the city.

And, we post scores of pictures during and following the event on our online Photo Album at TomahawkLeader.com. Be sure there for scenes and pictures of friends and family: Maybe we'll see you here Sept. 13-16.