A History Of The Harley Davidson Company

A Brief History of Harley-Davidson

Harley Davidson is an iconic motorcycle manufacturer in America and most probably the most famous motorcycle manufacturer in the world. The company is based in the United States. Having been founded out of a small outhouse in 1903 by a 20-year-old William S. Harley, the company has achieved massive success. William Harvey built the first powered bicycle using a small engine that had 116 cc capacity. Harley had drawn the blueprint for this engine in 1901.

The first garage of this company which measured 10ft by 15ft was a courtyard shed behind their home. This is where the first power-cycle bicycle was made. The Motor Company has grown into the largest motorcycle company in America. It manufactures traditional cruiser motorcycles by utilizing air-cooled V-Twin engines. The first Harley motorcycle was a racing bike that was built in a woodshed that had the name Harley-Davidson Motor Company crudely scribed on it.

When Harley manufactured and sold the first Harley motorcycle in 1903, there were several small motorcycle companies that were mushrooming across the country. If we can flash forward more than a century ago, we’ll find out that the Harley-Davidson brand is so rooted in the American culture that the history of this motorcycle company interweaves with the history of America.

After the first motorcycle in 1903 was already successful fact, his brother Arthur Davidson joined the company and got involved in the business. Arthur was 21 years old at the time. They now opened a dealer shop in 1904 and managed to sell three Harley motorbikes. In 1905, a Harley model won a 15-mile race in Chicago. In the same year, the Harley Motor Company hired its very first employee, and a year later; they opened up a bigger factory where they hired five more people. It became the first company to produce the first catalog for a motor vehicle in the world in the year 1906.

William Harley and Arthur Davidson later joined forces with their other brother Walter Davidson and the Harley-Davison Company was born in 1907. Then the company started gathering pace. Harley-Davidson established roots in Milwaukee and began hiring employees. By the end of the decade, they were producing motorbikes using its 45-degree V-Twin engine that was air-cooled.

And The Harley Davidson Motorcycles Began Conquering The World…

In 1912, Harley-Davidson started the construction of what was to become a six-story building located on Juneau Avenue in Milwaukee. In the same year, the company started extending and exporting its bikes to Japan. The US dealer networks were expanded to two hundred branches in 1913. In 1914, Harley-Davidson opened a racing department, and they started releasing sidecars. The company started becoming more successful, especially after they were given a contract to supply the US army with motorcycles. By 1917, close to one-third of all the company production was going to the US army.

After 20 years of operation, Harley-Davidson became the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world as they supplied their models to 67 countries. Eight years later, in 1928, the company manufactured two cam engines on the JD series that could reach a maximum speed of up to 100 mph. An important moment in the history of this US-based company came when the 45-inch V-Twin engine was incorporated into the D model in 1929.

In 1936, Harley Davidson introduced the EL model that was powered by a 61cc engine. The model has later dubbed the Knucklehead and was used by Joe Petrali in 1937 to set a new speed record on land by clocking 136.183 mph.

In 1941, when the US joined World War II, Harley stopped manufacturing civilian bikes and started focusing on making military vehicles. When WWII was ending in 1945, Harley-Davidson had made a lot of new models of military vehicles, but the most successful model was the WLA, of which Harley manufactured 90,000 units of it.

In 1946, they went back to manufacturing racing motorcycles by introducing the 45ci flathead WR which was used by Jimmy Chann to win the first of the three successive AMA Grand National Championships. Harley-Davidson celebrated its half-decade anniversary in 1953 and 1957; they introduced the Sportster, the oldest model in the current H-D series.

Harley changed ownership in the early 1960s and went public in 1965. They eventually merged with AMF (American Machine and Foundry) in 1969. After a decline in fortunes, the AMF sold its stake back to the members of the founding families, who are still the current owners. That was in the 1980s. The Davidson family was involved in the daily activities of H-D as their direct descendant William Davidson took the role of styling.

Between 1980 and to the late 1990s, the company introduced a model series that continues to be improved to date. Among the popular models introduced during this period include FLT, Softail, and Road King series, joining classic models such as Electra Glide. Harley-Davidson dominated the sports bike/street bike market by selling Buell motorcycles in many of its dealer shops.

After 100 years in the motor industry, Harley-Davidson has retained and built its image as an iconic company in America. It’s now reaching out to other riders with the manufacture of more performance-based models such as V-Rod, which is the first model to be powered by a liquid-cooled engine. To keep up with the changing trends, H-D is breaking into the younger market by releasing edgier models of its classic series such as the Cross Bones.

The company has also been improving the riding experience of its touring bikes. For instance, in 2009, it did away with the welded and stamped single-piece frame that had anchored its touring motorcycles for the last three decades. They replaced it with a single-spar, rigid backbone frame. They also introduced the wider and longer swingarm to their touring motorcycles. H-D also introduced Tri Glide, a three-wheel motorcycle with classic styling and amazing touring features of its Electra Glide.

Harley-Davidson history is rich with amazing innovations and social impact. The company’s dedication and willingness to continually improve its products and the good relationship it has created with its customers create a deep bond that is both brand loyalty and national pride. From its inception, the company has retained its rich history and brand (Harley-Davidson) making people relate to it in a deeper way. The company has a museum where they display the key historical elements and company innovations since its inception. Therefore, if you want to know more about Harley-Davidson, you can visit the company’s museum to learn more about its history and the company’s innovations.

Today, The Harley Davidson Company owns close to 62% of the market for motorcycles in the 850cc or more, in America. For a beautiful and very detailed timeline of the company, you can visit their official site, where you will also find some more cool and interesting stuff about the history of this great business: https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/content/expert-advice/h-d-history-guides/harley-davidson-early-history.html.

10 Interesting Facts About Harley Davidson

1. Harley Davidson is one of the oldest and largest motorcycle manufacturers in the world, having been founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. in 1903 by William S Harley, Arthur Davidson, Walter Davidson, and William A. Davidson.

2. The company sold 1 million motorcycles to customers over its 115–year history – its first million was sold within a decade of its founding (1913).

3. It has 8 major factories in six countries around the globe that produce motorbikes including the United States (3), India (2), Brazil (1), Austria (1)d Thailand(1). It also has a small engine factory located in Wisconsin as well as several Parts & Accessories plants throughout North America and Europe

4.. Harley–Davidson launched “Livewire” – its first electric motorcycle –in June 2019; it can reach a top speed of 95 mph with an estimated range of 146 miles per charge.

5. Each year to celebrate their riderships’ loyalty and commitment to the brand; The Motor Company hosts an annual event called “Rumble on the River” held at Milwaukee hosting Harley owners from all parts of the USA.

6. Despite being based out of America they currently have a market presence across more than 100 different countries worldwide! That‘s more countries than Mcdonald’s operates in today!

7. They hold many patents for different aircraft-related technologies such as turbine engines and flight control systems; although they are not manufacturing any aircraft yet these patents can be used for licensing or other deals to bring revenue into the company if required.

8. The classic V twin engine design used by Harleys has now come to be known as one of their trademarks which set them apart from any other manufacturer.

9. In 1977 due to legal issues with certain competitors most notably Honda; made they actually trademark the “hog“ term referencing appropriately named motorcycle that sounded like a porcine creature thus representing their definitive branding.

10. Harley recently released running shoes honoring the Milwaukee brand headed into the 2017 spring season of sales proving that regardless of how you get there you should always ride on two wheels.

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