act3 is a communication strategy and design firm that specializes in telling stories.

This blog is our story laboratory, a way to poke, prod, and take a closer look at the stories we see, the stories we tell, and our own assumptions and knowledge about why stories work (or don't). The goal is to better understand what makes a story connect with people, and how to tell better stories.

Like any blog, it's an evolving concept. We hope you'll follow along.

August 4

Harley Davidson: Every rider has a story

I’ve never been a fan of motorcycles. This antipathy no doubt traces back to my traumatic first motorcycle experience, in which my parents’ crazy friend Steve (who has since legally changed his name to Stephon — seriously) rode over to our house and parked his motorcycle in our driveway. I was 2 or 3 at the time, so all I knew about motorcycles was that the tailpipe was shiny, and that I liked shiny things. I wanted to touch it. What I didn’t know was that the shiny tailpipe of a motorcycle that has just been riding is hot. Very hot.

I spent the rest of the evening holding ice cubes and crying.

Even now, I’ve got a beef with bikes — specifically those that insist on riding unmuffled. Now that it’s summertime, it seems like you can’t enjoy a nice meal at an outdoor table, or even watch TV with the windows open, without enduring the reverberating belch of somebody’s hog rumbling by.

Nevertheless, I do like what Harley Davidson is up to: they’re encouraging 100,000 women to learn to ride, and they’re encouraging them through storytelling.

A while back I spotted this banner ad:

Harley Ad

It led me to Harley’s Women Riders Riding Stories page, where users have submitted “Why I Ride My Harley,” “How I Learned to Ride,” and “Why I Want to Learn” stories.

Several of the rider stories were interesting, but I found this Why I Ride My Harley one especially powerful:

I am an incest and physical abuse suvivor that most people thought would not see the age of 7, yet here I am, 65. My wonderful husband of 46 years has always allowed me to be his rider while encouraging me to ride on my own. I was always too afraid. My background left me with little self esteem or confidence. But with this birthday I decided that now is the time for me to declare myself a winner and taste the freedom that only a Harley Davidson provides. So meet my new Tri Glide. It was so easy to learn to ride I feel silly for being so fearful. I love everything about my life now and my HD is a big part of it. I ride along with my husband and his Ultra Classic wherever the wind blows us. Sisters, nothing can stop you. It is only life if you live it and they only win if you let them. Just believe and climb on that Harley and when you see me on the road wave and look at the big smile on my face. Ride on and live your best life……….

Though all the stories are technically about motorcycles, read through a few of the submissions and you quickly realize that the larger story Harley is telling isn’t about motorcycles at all. It’s a story about freedom, self-esteem, and empowerment.

If you seek those things, and you read enough of these stories, maybe you start wondering about what it would feel like to ride a Harley yourself — and you forget how obnoxiously loud they are.

Or how hot that tailpipe is.

:: Posted by Eric Ratinoff ::