A new TV series is focusing on the founders of Milwaukee's most famous motorcycle maker.
The show called "Harley and the Davidsons" explores the company's start in 1903, and the museum in Milwaukee played a role in the show. The creators spent time at the museum researching the history of the company.
"It's a phenomenal story," said Bill Davidson, who is the great-grandson of one of the original founders. He's also the Vice President of the Harley Davidson Museum.
Bill's great-grandfather, William A. Davidson, along with Bill's two great-uncles and their friend Bill Harley, started the company in a small wooden shed.
"When you think back about those humble beginnings of those four founders working in a 10 by 15 wooden shed in the backyard of my great-great grandparents, it's amazing to see that shed, we have a replica here on the museum grounds, and then know what our company is today," said Bill Davidson.
He says the show's creators used the museum as a research center and allowed the Davidson family to preview parts of the script.
"The family has talked a lot about it, we don't know really what to expect but the neat thing is Discovery did want to work with us and we helped them on some of the facts and figures and pictures of motorcycles," said Bill Davidson. "I think they really tried to be as true as possible but also wanted to bring the drama into it."
He says his relatives faced a lot of challenges at the beginning and poured all of their money into rolling out the company's first motorcycle in 1903.
Fast forward 113 years and the company just unveiled it's latest engine, the Milwaukee Eight.
"I refer to it often as a Cinderella story," said Bill Davidson. "Because the company has had so many different chapters, great chapters and some not so good chapters, but overall it's been a wonderful, wonderful history for our company."
The three-part miniseries airs starting Monday at 8 p.m. central on the Discovery Channel.
