From a press release issued by Harley-Davidson:

HARLEY-DAVIDSON ARCHIVES RECEIVES HEARTFELT DONATION FROM OREGON RIDER

Albert Ver Cruysse began riding at age 62 and rode more than 775,000 miles in 25 years. The Harley-Davidson Archives recently received an impressive donation: a 1988 Harley-Davidson FLHTC Electra Glide Classic, which was donated by Albert Ver Cruysse of Salem, Ore., who rode the bike a total of 451,775 miles. In addition to donating his bike, Ver Cruysse also donated the bike’s sidecar and extensive service and maintenance records to the Motor Company.

Ver Cruysse received the Electra Glide Classic after meeting Vaughn Beals, Harley-Davidson Chairman Emeritus, at a rally in 1987. Beals was so impressed by the nearly 100,000 miles on Ver Cruysse’s Evolution engine that he asked Ver Cruysse to send the engine in for evaluation. As an exchange, Beals offered Ver Cruysse the Harley-Davidson motorcycle of his choice. Thus began the journey of 451,775 miles.

Including this motorcycle, Ver Cruysse has owned six Harley-Davidson motorcycles, ridden more than 775,000 miles and served as a goodwill ambassador for the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

Earlier this year, at the age of 87, Ver Cruysse failed a vision test for his driver’s license and decided it was time to hang up his helmet. Although he had hoped to reach his personal goal of riding 500,000 miles on one motorcycle, he instead gave the motorcycle back to Harley-Davidson along with a photo album and written accounts chronicling his 33 cross-country trips on his motorcycles.

After a quarter of a century and three-quarters of a million miles, the riding memories of Albert Ver Cryusse live on in the Archives as part of the heritage, history and mystique of the Motor Company.