Hewlett-Davidson? Or Harley-Packard?

It’s not exactly the sort of thing the Eye expects to encounter in the showroom of the local Harley-Davidson motorcycle dealership.

A computer workstation that’s all decked out in chrome trim and flames.

A computer workstation that goes “Vrooom!”

The union of the world’s premier motorcycle maker and one of its biggest computer manufacturers happened quietly last year, when a roomful of engineers at H-P’s Fort Collins complex began dressing one of the companies new, high-end workstations in Hog garb.

Milwaukee-based Harley-Davidson had recently become an H-P customer, and the product development group — always happy to tailor products to users — decided chrome and flames would fit the bill.

For a time, one of the workstations was in use at Thunder Mountain, Harley-Davidson’s Fort Collins store, where it drew attention from geeks and bikers alike.

But, alas, it was a loaner — and was eventually shipped to Harley’s headquarters where it and several other Harley-Packards went on a charity auction block to benefit the Muscular Distrophy Association, according to Thunder Mountain owner Todd Erdmann.

“We told H-P we would like to buy one, and I may have one here as early as next week,” Erdmann said. “They’ve even got the thing worked so that it goes ‘vrroOOoom’ when it boots up.”

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