Harley moves testing to new Arizona site

KINGMAN, Ariz. -- The Harley-Davidson Motor Co. is relocating some of its testing operations from Mesa to Mohave County.

The company will test motorcycles at the Chrysler LLC-owned and operated Arizona Proving Grounds at Yucca off Interstate 40, about 25 miles south of Kingman.

"Chrysler and Harley- Davidson have finalized an agreement that enables Harley-Davidson to occupy three existing buildings at the Arizona Proving Grounds (APG)," said Chrysler spokeswoman Christina Biache. She said the companies will coordinate shared use of track and other test facilities.

Harley-Davidson has been testing in Mesa at the General Motors Proving Ground that has been sold for a variety of planned developments. Testing in Mesa will cease in summer 2009.

"We will transition our testing operations from the current facility in Mesa in April of next year with the expectation that we'll be fully utilizing the Yucca facility by July 1," said Harley-Davidson spokeswoman Pat Sweeney. "We will occupy several buildings and we will use their track facilities for testing and their facilities include the 5-mile high-speed oval track and vehicle dynamics area."

Sweeney said Harley-Davidson and other motorcycles from its Buell sports bike division will be put through their paces at the Chrysler facility.

She said other terms of the testing operation agreement are confidential and she declined to disclose how many people Harley-Davidson will employ at APG.

Attempting to measure potential employment at APG is further complicated by Harley-Davidson's fluctuating work force numbers over time in Mesa.

One former test rider said "no less than 50 and no more than 100" people worked for the motorcycle testing operation during her period of employment.

Misty Cyr, an account manager for labor supply contractor Modern Solutions LLC, said her company was accustomed to providing between 30 and 65 test riders, depending upon variations in test programs implemented by Harley-Davidson. She said she believed Harley-Davidson employed between 8 and 10 of its own technicians, engineers and administrators.

Scott Rigby, a project manager for the city of Mesa's Economic Development Department, said his department hasn't had contact with Harley-Davidson for more than a year. He said, however, it was believed some 18 months ago that the company employed between 100 and 150 people in Mesa.