Harley-Davidson Motorcycles
By Justin Schmidt
Harley-Davidson
Do you know that feeling when you are sitting on a motorcycle, it vibrates and makes that unforgettable sound of the engine running? William A Davidson, William S Harley, Walter Davidson, and Arthur Davidson had an idea to make a huge new company of the new kind of transportation, it would be related to the simple, plain bicycle. But William Harley came up with the design that would change the world of transportation. He designed to put an engine on a bicycle, an engine powered bicycle. Even though there were already motorcycles, they wanted to start a huge, huge, new company. Their first place where they were building was a 15ft by 10ft shed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In 1903, Henry Meyer bought the first model. That was the first ever Harley Davidson bicycle that was ever sold. Later, it became the first police motorcycle that went to the Detroit Police Department. William Davidson quit the H-D business in 1907 to join the Milwaukee Road Railroad.
Factories Over the Years
First Factory 1903
Second Factory 1906
3rd Factory 1912
Most Popular Product and the Most Important Man
In 1908, Walter Davidson won a perfect score of 1,000 at the 7th Annual Federation of American Motorcyclists Endurance and Reliability contest. After that, a giant word of Harley started spreading around and the company was starting to become more popular. In 1909, they released the first V-twin powered motorcycle. That engine produced 7 horsepower. Than, in 1915 Harley invented three speed sliding-gear transmissions. The model that first came out with this was the 1915 11F. This is now known as the most popular model of Harley Davidson history because of the popularity that it gave to H-D.
The most important person that is influential to this company is probably, William S Harley. Will Harley was born on December 29, 1880, in Milwaukee, WI. He was the one who actually made H-D come to life, he made the design for the first ever model. Without that model, the company would obviously not exist, or at least wouldn't be called Harley Davidson. Will died on September 18, 1943.
The most important person that is influential to this company is probably, William S Harley. Will Harley was born on December 29, 1880, in Milwaukee, WI. He was the one who actually made H-D come to life, he made the design for the first ever model. Without that model, the company would obviously not exist, or at least wouldn't be called Harley Davidson. Will died on September 18, 1943.