It started with a business trip to Wichita, with a HD friend - walking through the airport we saw a Ridgeback on display - great looking bike - there was a sign saying factory tours were available - the tour sounded better than work, so off we went one afternoon. During the tour we were impressed with the pride and dedication of their employees, their manufacturing processes, the great graphics department, and their drive to continuously improve the product. Walking across the street into the distribution warehouse and seeing 400-500 Big Dogs, any one of which you could ride with pride, was the defining moment. Three days later, my buddy had traded his Dyna in on a Ridgeback.
For me, it took a little longer - about two years to get finances and family realigned. During that time I looked at a lot of other bikes, from ricers to Harleys, AIH to Saxon, BMC, Victory - anything I could find. I never saw one that brought it all together in style and value like BD. Frankly, there were very few other bikes - particularly the Harley line - that I even felt inspired to own.
In the end, it was probably the graphics that got me, all other things being equal. On another lone business trip to Wichita, dragging through the airport after an ugly night of flight delays and bad weather, I wondered which Big Dog they would have on display to cheer me up a bit. When I turned the corner and saw their 20,000th bike, the K-9 in full flag paint, that was it - had to have one.