ALT-1 The History of Harley Davidson Motorcycles
The moment anyone mentions about motorcycles, more often than not the nameHarley Davidsoncomes into mind. In fact, the name Harley Davidson has become the benchmark for the motorcycle industry. It is worthy to note that it was not an easy task for the Harley Davidson "brand" to rise to the top, and a lot of patience was involved as well. This shows that the reputation and fame of Harley Davidson motorcycles was not built overnight. Besides, the trust and respect earned from consumers took decades to be established.
Based in Wisconsin, the Harley-Davidson Motor Company is one of the two still-existing large-scale motorcycle manufacturers in the United States, the other being Victory Motors. What made Harley Davidson motorcycles a big hit compared to other manufacturers at that time were the elegant design and the remarkable sound produced by those motorcycles. Those were the major characteristics consumers were craving for.
The humble beginnings of the company began in 1903, when an ambitious 21-year-old young man came up with the idea brilliant idea of replacing flywheels with a small engine. The engine was meant to be fixed onto a bicycle to make it run quicker.
With the engine idea as the basis of research, William Harley and his pal Arthur Davidson spent approximately two years developing on the idea, with occasional help from Arthur's brother Walter. When they completed their maiden prototype and did some testing on it, they discovered that the machine had difficulties mounting hills if pedals were excluded. Based on the failure of the first prototype, they continued to improve and adjust the prototype to make it better.
Their second prototype made use of a larger engine. This model was the brainchild of William, Arthur and Walter with help from Ole Evinrude, an outboard motor pioneer. In fact, the first Harley Davidson motorcycle had a loop frame almost identical to the second prototype. The second prototype was completed by 1904 and participated in a motorcycle race that year itself. Via a do-it-yourself trade, the engine was commercialized in 1905 with several more Harley Davidson motorcycles manufactured.
The three aspiring young men, pretty sure that their motorcycles will make a name someday, went on to construct a motorcycle factory on Chestnut Street, a street name later modified to Juneeau Avenue. A special memorial for Harley Davidson currently exists there. When the factory was first built, it was only constructed using wood; however that did not deter the three from producing about 50 Harley Davidson motorcycles that particular year itself.
Graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Wisconsin proved useful for William because he could use the knowledge to expand the motorcycle business. 1907 was a successful year for the three young men, when they expanded their productivity to produce approximately 150 units of motorcycles and managed to sell some units to the police department and the government. In addition, their business became an "incorporated" company, an achievement the three could definitely be proud of.
A new prototype was also released in 1907. This new prototype had several added-on features that are advantageous to the motorcycle; a dual-cylinder engine known as the V-twin model, a horsepower of 7 (double that of the previous prototype) and an increase in speed to around 60mph. In 1911, the engine was slightly modified by introducing mechanically operated intake valves to it. This makes the engine smaller, but have elevated performance, which is desirable.
The business evolved so successfully by 1913 that the three upgraded the existing factory to a 5-story one. From then on, the Harley Davidson "brand" motorcycle went on to become so well-known that they became the benchmark for the motorcycle industry, as mentioned earlier.
