HARLEY-DAVIDSON STORY

The legendary Harley-Davidson is much more than an icon of American culture. It is certainly the most traditional and one of the largest motorcycle manufacturers in the world today. The company, which today has three major factories in the United States, directly employs about 9,000 workers and is expected to reach a production of nearly 300,000 bikes this year. These are expressive numbers that hide a modest start and full of challenges.

The brand's history began in 1903, in a shed located at the back of the home of young brothers Arthur and Walter Davidson in the county of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The pair, who was about 20 years old, had just teamed up with 21-year-old William S. Harley to craft a small model motorcycle for competitions. It was in this shed (three meters wide by nine meters long), and on whose front could read the sign "Harley-Davidson Motor Company", that the first three motorcycles of the brand were produced.

Of these three starter motorcycles, one was sold directly by the company's founders in Milwaukee to Henry Meyer, a personal friend of William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson. In Chicago, the first dealer named by the brand - C. H. Lang - marketed another of these three bikes initially made.

Business was beginning to evolve, but at a slow pace. On July 4, 1905, however, a Harley-Davidson motorcycle won its first competition in Chicago - and this helped further leverage the young company's sales. That same year, the first full-time employee of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company was hired in Milwaukee.

The following year, with sales soaring, its founders decided to abandon initial installations and settle in a much larger, better-working warehouse located on Juneau Avenue in Milwaukee. Five more employees were hired to work there full time. Still in 1906, the brand produced its first promotional catalog.

In 1907, another Davidson joins the business. William A. Davidson, brother of Arthur and Walter, quits his job and also joins the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. Later this year, the headcount and work area of ​​the factory were nearly doubled. A year later, the first motorcycle was sold to the Detroit police, starting a traditional partnership that survives to this day.

In 1909, the six-year-old Harley-Davidson Motor Company introduced its first major technological evolution in the two-wheel market. The world saw the birth of the first motorcycle-mounted V-Twin engine, a propeller capable of developing 7 hp - a considerable power for that time. Before long, the image of a two-cylinder thruster arranged at a 45-degree angle became one of the icons in Harley-Davidson history.

In 1912, the definitive construction of the Juneau Avenue plant began and an exclusive area for parts and accessories was inaugurated. The same year that the company reached the mark of 200 dealers in the United States and exported its first units abroad, reaching the Japanese market.

Marca sold nearly 100,000 bikes to the army

Between 1917 and 1918, the Harley-Davidson Motor Company produced and marketed 17,000 motorcycles for the US Army during World War I. An American soldier driving a sidecar-equipped Harley-Davidson was the first to enter German territory.

By 1920, with about 2,000 dealers in 67 countries, Harley-Davidson was already the largest motorcycle manufacturer on the planet. At the same time, rider Leslie “Red” Parkhurst broke no less than 23 world speed records with a branded motorcycle. Harley-Davidson was the first company, for example, to win a speed race exceeding the 100 mile / hour mark.

In 1936, the company introduced the EL model, known as the "Knucklehead", equipped with side valves. This bike was considered one of the most important launched by Harley-Davidson in its history. The following year died William A. Davidson, one of the founders of the company. Two other founders - Walter Davidson and Bill Harley - would die in the next five years.

Between 1941 and 1945, the period of the Second World War, the company returned to supply its motorcycles to the US Army and its allies. Almost all of its production, estimated at around 90,000 units, was sent to US forces during this period. One of Harley-Davidson's specially developed models for the war was the XA 750, which was equipped with a horizontal cylinder with opposite cylinders intended primarily for use in the desert. 1,011 units of this model were marketed for military use during the war.

In November 1945, with the end of the war, the production of motorcycles for civilian use resumed. Two years later, to meet the growing demand for motorcycles, the company acquires its second factory - the Capitol Drive plant - in Wauwatosa, also in the state of Wisconsin. In 1952, the Hydra-Glide model was launched, the first motorcycle of the brand named after a name - and not with numbers, as it used to be.
The party in honor of the brand's 50th anniversary in 1953 did not feature three of its founders. In the festivities, in style, a new logo was created in honor of the engine arranged in “V”, the company's trademark. This year, with the closure of the Indian brand, Harley-Davidson would become the only motorcycle manufacturer in the United States for the next 46 years.

The then young star Elvis Presley posed for the May 1956 issue of Enthusiast magazine with a Harley-Davidson model KH. One of the most traditional models in Harley-Davidson history, the Sportster, was introduced in 1957. To this day, this name stirs passions among fans of the brand. Another legend of the brand was launched in 1965: Electra-Glide, replacing the Duo-Glide model, and bringing innovation as an electric starter - a feature that soon would also reach the Sportster line.

Merger with MFA occurred in 1969

A new phase in Harley-Davidson history began in 1965. With the opening of its shares on the stock exchange, family control in the company ends. As a result of this decision, in 1969 Harley-Davidson teamed up with American Machine and Foundry (AMF), a traditional American manufacturer of leisure products. This year Harley-Davidson's annual output has reached 14,000 units.

In response to the personalization trend of motorcycles in 1971, the FX 1200 Super Glide motorcycle was created - a hybrid model between Electra-Glide and Sportster. A new category of motorcycles, called the cruiser and designed for long journeys, was born there - a product tailored to safely and safely cross the huge American roads.

Two years later, with demand rising again, Harley-Davidson made the strategic decision to expand production, leaving the Milwaukee plant exclusively for engine manufacturing. The motorcycle assembly line has been moved to a new, larger, more modern plant in York, Pennsylvania. The FXRS Low Rider model joined the Harley-Davidson product line in 1977.



Another turning point in Harley-Davidson's history took place on February 26, 1981, when 13 senior executives of the company signed a letter of intent to buy AMF's Harley-Davidson shares. In June of the same year, the purchase was completed and the phrase “The eagle soars alone” became popular. Immediately, the new owners of the company implemented new production methods and quality management in the production of branded motorcycles.

In 1982, Harley-Davidson asked the United States federal government to create an import tariff for motorcycles with engines over 700 cc to contain the true "invasion" of Japanese motorcycles in the North American market. The request has been granted. However, five years later, the company surprised the market. Confident in its ability to compete with foreign motorcycles, Harley-Davidson again asked the federal government to withdraw the import tariff for imported motorcycles a year earlier than scheduled.

It was an absolutely unprecedented measure in the country so far. The impact of this act was so strong that it led US President Ronald Reagan to tour the brand's facilities and publicly declare that he was a Harley-Davidson fan. It was enough to give the brand new breath.

Prior to this, however, in 1983, the Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.), the motorcycle owners group of the brand, currently has about 750,000 members worldwide. It is the largest club of its kind in the two-wheeled market on the planet. The following year, the new 1,340cc Evolution V-Twin engine was introduced, which required seven years of research and development by Harley-Davidson engineers.

This propeller would equip five of the brand's motorcycles that year, including the brand new Softail - another brand legend. The launch helped the company further increase its sales. As a result, in 1986, Harley-Davidson shares entered the New York Stock Exchange - the first time since 1969, when the Harley-Davidson-AMF merger had taken place.

In 1991, the Dyna family was introduced with the FXDB Sturgis model. Two years later, nearly 100,000 motorcyclists attended the brand's 90th birthday party in Milwaukee. In 1995, Harley-Davidson introduced the classic FLHR Road King. The Ultra Classic Electra Glide model, celebrating its 30th anniversary in 1995, became the brand's first motorcycle to feature sequential electronic fuel injection.

In 1998, Harley-Davidson acquired the Buell Motorcycle Company, opened a new engine plant outside Milwaukee, Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, and built a new assembly line in Kansas City, Missouri. In the same year, the company celebrated its 95th anniversary in Milwaukee, with the presence of over 140,000 fans of the brand in the city.

It was also in late 1998 that Harley-Davidson opened its factory in Manaus, Brazil. To date, it is the only branded assembly line installed outside the United States. This unit currently assembles the Softail FX, Softail Deuce, Fat Boy, Heritage Classic, Road King Classic and Ultra Electra Glide models. The new Road King Custom begins to be assembled at this unit in November.

In 1999, the brand new Twin Cam 88 thruster on the Dyna and Touring lines hit the market. In 2001, Harley-Davidson presented the world with a revolutionary model: the V-Rod. In addition to the futuristic design, the model was the first in the history of the North American brand to be equipped with a water-cooled engine.

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