Indianapolis Southside Harley-Davidson 

Indianapolis Southside Harley-Davidson was established in October 1947 after Milwaukee, Wisconsin-based Harley-Davidson Motor Company granted a dealership to George Schulteti and Max Colville. The businessmen succeeded previous authorized dealer John Morgan, who started his dealership in 1919 at 701 South Meridian Street.  Schulteti and Colville, and later solely the Schulteti family continued doing business at Morgan’s location for 51 years. In 1998 the Schulteti’s moved the dealership 10 miles south of its original location to the corner of Southport and Emerson roads. During its existence, the dealership has provided a space to promote the growth of motorcycling culture, to encourage the discipline of motorcycle racing, and to contribute to local charitable causes. 

George Schulteti’s relationship with the Harley-Davidson Motor Company began in 1922 in Milwaukee. At that time, the sixteen-year-old Schulteti owned a Harley-Davidson bicycle and couldn’t find a needed replacement part at a local dealer. He went directly to the Milwaukee Harley-Davidson factory to find what he needed. 

A plant guard told Schulteti to find the part at a dealership. A company founder, William A. Davidson, overheard the conversation and furnished Schulteti with the part as well as a job offer. Two days later, Schulteti took a job sweeping floors at the factory. Soon enough, Schulteti’s love for cycling and his keen mechanical abilities allowed him to excel as a Harley-Davidson service technician and research-and-development team member. 

During World War II, Schulteti was assigned to inventory all the Harley-Davidson motorcycles in military service. In the process, he rode more than 50,000 miles per year. On one of these trips, he met Max Colville, a Harley dealer in Bloomington, Illinois. After realizing they both shared an ambition to own a Harley-Davidson dealership, the two pooled their resources. In October of 1947, they purchased John Morgan Harley-Davidson of Indianapolis, and Schulteti moved his wife and family from Milwaukee, Wisconsin to Indianapolis’s near south side. His wife, Ann, joined as the office manager and worked the parts counter when needed. 

In 1957, Max Colville sold his share of the business to Schulteti. Bob Schulteti, George Schulteti’s son, became a partner in the business. For the next five decades, the southside dealership would remain entirely owned and operated by the Schulteti family.  

During the 1960s and 1970s, Indianapolis Southside Harley-Davidson became a haven for local motorcyclists. The business coordinated weekly rides from the building during the summer months and sponsored Indianapolis-area racers in motorcycle racing events. The Schultetis were avid racers themselves. This was a period when almost every motorcycle dealership in Indianapolis had a motorcycle club.  

In 1997, Harley-Davidson Motor Company introduced a plan compelling numerous existing US dealerships to move to areas with larger potential customer bases. This included Indianapolis Southside Harley-Davidson, which faced the loss of its authorized dealership status if it failed to move to a location acceptable to the company. Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson Inc. sought to engineer Indianapolis Southside Harley-Davidson’s move to Greenwood, Indiana. The Schulteti family, preferring to remain in the Indianapolis area, successfully negotiated a relocation plan that kept their business within Marion County. In 1998, the business moved to a new location at Southport Road and I-65, still inside Indianapolis but now only ten miles from Greenwood. The new location allowed space for future expansion, and employee numbers rose from 17 to 32 after the move. 
 
In 2017, the Indiana Historical Society commemorated the 70th anniversary of the business with an exhibit called The Harley Shop: Seventy Years of Indianapolis Southside Harley-Davidson. The exhibit showcased seven significant models of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, from a 1949 restored Model S identical to the first bike that Bob Schulteti owned to a 2002 model. Numerous other memorabilia from the business populated the exhibit. 

Over its life, Indianapolis Southside Harley-Davidson has maintained various forms of civic engagement. The business was the original sponsor of the Miracle Ride for Riley Children’s Hospital in 1994. This charity ride, which raises money for Riley Hospital for Children, celebrated its 30th and final running in 2024, but organizers hosted the first annual Miracle Makers Reunion at Indianapolis Southside Harley-Davidson May 31, 2025. 

As of 2025, Indianapolis Southside Harley-Davidson is Indiana’s oldest factory-authorized, exclusive Harley-Davidson dealership. The dealership continues to be operated by second-generation Schultetis, with third, fourth, and fifth generation family members serving among the administrators and employees.