They came on bikes and planes, from places as exotic as Japan and as mundane as Racine. Some came for the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and others came for the parties.

Then, on Saturday morning, the Harley-Davidson 100th Anniversary Celebration descended on Marquette and Milwaukee en force with a roughly three-hour, seven-and-a-half mile parade down Wisconsin Avenue.

Throngs of cheering, applauding Milwaukee residents watched from the curb as thousands of custom motorcycles rumbled past. Some participants in the parade reached out to shake and slap hands of bystanders. Others waved and cheered or sounded horns.

Bikes bearing flags from Japan, Mexico, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Brazil, Guatemala, Romania and the United States were encouraged by spectators to rev their engines in exchange for cups of water, bottles of beer and flashes of exposed skin. Helicopters from various local television news channels circled overhead. Another bike bore a couple dressed in a wedding gown and tuxedo with a sign reading “Just Married.”

Riders Ed and Julie Morgan of Janesville became unintentional spectators when their custom orange and black Harley overheated on the 2100 block of West Wisconsin Avenue. Bystanders rushed out to help the couple move out of the way of oncoming bikes.

“The bike’s just a little hot, and I wanted to let it cool off,” Ed said.

Despite the unexpected setback, Julie said the couple had found Milwaukee to be “fabulous.”

Most bikers said their ride had been favorable.

“It was beautiful,” said Dan Herbst, a St. Paul, Minn., resident who said he had experienced good weather for the entire ride.

Other bikers decided not to participate in the parade, saying they had not arrived in time to pre-register for it.

“I think it’s based on donations you make throughout the year, and you need an invitation to participate,” said Randy Neilson, a Bradford, Ontario, resident. “We didn’t get an invitation.”

Charles Ruppert, who was seated near the corner of West Wisconsin Avenue and North 5th Street, said he had opted out of the parade due to a $30 fee he claimed was being charged to participate.

One group of bikers, unwilling to compete for already scarce hotel rooms, came up with more unconventional means of lodging.

“We just paid $30 for the whole weekend and pitched a tent,” said Todd Gilbert of Ringgold, Ga. Gilbert was seated outside the two-room tent that he had pitched in a parking lot at the corner of West Wells and North 2nd streets with other Ringgold natives Casey Adams and Makayla Clemons.

Later in the evening, thousands of bikers and Milwaukee residents congregated around downtown Milwaukee bars, many of which staged concerts and events for the mass of bike immigrants. A body paint stand located on Water Street did a brisk business, selling temporary tattoos to pedestrians for anywhere from $3 to $10.

“Everybody has been so nice,” said paint stand proprietor Deborah Orzechowski, a Marquette graduate who also holds a master’s degree in scenography from the University of North Carolina. “Even the locals have changed because of the bikers. It’s kind of like when people put on a different demeanor for visitors.”

Standing on crowd duty farther down Water Street, Officer William Savagian of the Milwaukee Police Department agreed.

“There haven’t been any fights or anything like that,” he said, describing the mood of the crowd as “happy.”

Later, an unidentified woman clad from the waste up only in temporary body paint bearing the Harley-Davidson logo was seen consulting with Orzechowski about what type of paint she could get.

“Whoever does the chest paintings uses bad paint,” Orzechowski said. “It’s starting to wear off.”,”Brian O’Connor”

”