Sturgis Hall of Famer retires from Harley-Davidson

Steve Piehl, Harley-Davidson Motor Company’s manager of North America Event Strategy, announced his retirement after 35 years with the company.

Piehl won the J.C. Pappy Hoel Outstanding Achievement Award from the Sturgis Motorcycle Museum and Hall of Fame in 2012 thanks to his efforts in guiding Harley-Davidson’s launch of the Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.) in 1983. Today, H.O.G. features more than 900,000 members.

In his current position for the past year, Piehl spent the previous for years as director of customer experience. His other titles with the Motor Co. included director of consumer event marketing and director of communications.

Piehl has overseen such projects as H.O.G., the launch of Harley-Davidson.com, Jumpstart and the Project LiveWire Experience Tour.

“I’ve been fortunate to ride Harleys all over the world and to always have a great motorcycle in my garage (that part is not going to change). And the Sturgis Hall of Fame was way beyond anything I could have ever dreamed of,” Piehl wrote in an email to Powersports Business. “Personally, I couldn’t be more excited. We’ve got kids living in three different states, we’ve got a super-fun grandson who’s 18 months old. … So after today, my next chapter will begin. Chapter One was ‘Pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming’ good. My goal is to make my next chapter even better.”