REPORT ON HARLEY DAVIDSON

Report on Harley Davidson

Harley-Davidson

History

Harley-Davidson as a company traces its roots back to Milwaukee, year of 1903 when one-cylinder motorcycle was developed by Arthur Walter Davidson and Bill Harley, two close friends. Initially, motorcycle was built for racing and powered by one-cylinder gasoline combustion engine (Herbert, 2003,, 22).

Picture from 1916 

The one-cylinder motorcycle the two-friends built was beautiful and reliable which eventually caught the eye of its first buyer. This encouraged Arthur Walter Davidson and Bill Harley to increase the production of their beautiful and reliable bike and they took it to the 11 units by 1905. In 1908, they built a company in a wooden barn (built by Davidson's father) which had produced 154 bikes so far. Another member from Davidson family, William, joined the small company and contributed in its expansion. William's joining was followed by hiring of another 20 employees in a stone-built factor especially built for the production of beautiful and reliable Harley-Davidson bikes due to its increasing demand (Herbert, 2003,, 22).

In 1909, company undertook a project of the first V-Twin 1000 CC Bikes. Bike had a modest seven horsepower. V-Twin soon became one of the most recognizable images of the company's bikes. V-Twin bike due to its high demand and popularity stayed with Harley-Davidson for a long, long time. This bike was actually developed by Bill Harley who didn't think something creative while designing this bike, rather followed the tendency of the time. He kept in mind what characteristics customers needs and are looking for in a bike and then designed V-Twin around those needs (Herbert, pp.22).

In 1910, company placed the legendary “Bar & Shield” logo on the bikes for the first time. The legendary logo then became a defining symbol for the company to this day. The company gain more recognition when its bikes won the first place in numerous contests like racing, hill climbs and endurance contests. 1911 is marked the introduction of “F-head” engine. Harley-Davidson used this powerful workhorse engine in all the bikes company produced till 1929. “F-head” was eventually replaced by more powerful, efficient and reliable engine “Flatheaf”.

Arthur & Walter Davidson, William S.Harley and William A Davidson (1915)  (Zuberi, 2006,, 12).

In 1912, Harley-Davidson began its production in a new, especially built 6-story factory. The production capacity of the new factory helped Harley-Davidson to export its bikes outside United States for the first time in company's history. The first overseas sale of the company was made in Japan. The company by 1912 had over 200 dealerships in its home country, United States (Zuberi, 2006,, 12).

Three-speed sliding-gear transmission was introduced in the bikes in 1915. In 1918, US military due to WW1 became Harley-Davidson's biggest buyer, buying almost half of all the bikes company was producing. In 1920's, changes in the appearance of motorcycle took place, which are more recognizable today. Some changes to the appearance of the motorcycle (identifiable teardrop shape of a gas tank). In 1940s during WW2, US military again bought the bikes from Harley for its war ...