Harley-Davidson - History

Harley-Davidson, an American motorcycle manufacturer was founded in 1903 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the USA, making it one of the oldest motorcycle companies in the world today. The company was founded by William S Harley and Arthur Davidson. In 1904 the first Harley-Davidson dealer, C.H. Lang of Chicago, Illinois opened for business. On the 4th of July 1905, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle won a 15 mile race in Chicago. By 1920, after supplying the war effort with 15,000 motorcycles in 1917, Harley-Davidson had grown to the biggest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. By 1920 Harley-Davidson motorcycles were being sold by 67 countries. The Great Depression began in 1929. The company's sales plummeted from 21,000 in 1929 to less than 4,000 in 1933. The company manufactured industrial powerplants based on motorcycle engines to survive. They also built a 3-wheeled delivery vehicle, the Servi-Car which remained in production until 1973. Harley-Davidson is one of only 2 American motorcycle manufacturers which survived the Great Depression.

When World War 2 broke out, Harley-Davidson produced large numbers of motorcycles for the US Army. Harley-Davidson produced over 90,000 to contribute to the Allied and Soviet War efforts. The company produced the WLA & WLC model for the war effort. Production of this model was halted when the war ended. Harley-Davidson then resumed civilian production, producing a range of large V-twin motorcycles that were successful both on racetracks and for private buyers. In 1950 they produced the WLA motorcycle again to help with the Korean War Effort up to 1952. In spite of a media-accelerated negative image of motorcyclists, a period of poor quality control, competition with Japanese manufacturers and a workers strike in 2007, the company still keeps on producing motorcycles. William S. Harley, Arthur Davidson, William A. Davidson and Walter Davidson both used and believed in their products and relied on dedication of their employees to produce quality motorcycles, all 4 of them were inducted into the Labor Hall of Fame. There's nothing like hearing a Harley-Davidson power its way around in traffic or on the open road. The bike's engine has a distinct sound (very loud I might add). The company only produces motorcycles over 750cc, so all the bikes have powerful engines. You can find adverts for Harley-Davidson parts and bikes in various classifieds publications and on websites around the world. Harley-Davidson has a loyal brand community, licensing of the Harley-Davidson logo accounts for almost 5% of the company's net revenue. Harley-Davidson supplies many American Police departments with motorcycles. Harley-Davidson has always been associated with the biker, motorcycle club, outlaw biker & outlaw motorcycle gang sub-cultures. This brand has truly left it's mark on motorcycle history.

Related Links:
Harley Davidson Official Website.