Harley Davidson The American Motorcycle Essay Research

Harley Davidson: The American Motorcycle Essay, Research Paper

Harley Davidson, America’s number one and only motorcycle rests comfortably at the head of the pack, but it wasn’t always that way, and it wasn’t always just Harley.

It’s hard to say when the invention of the first motorcycle was thought of, plans for bikes go as far back as the 1700’s, of course they had no motors. In the 1860’s inventors finally got a bike that worked the next logical step was a motor. The first motorcycle came when the Johnson Motor Company strapped a steam engine to a bike, and it came from of all places, but France. Later in 1868 Leo Purrol hooked an engine to a “Velocipe” and on Dec 26,1868 had it patented, this day could very well be concidered the “birthday” of the motorcycle. Later the following year an American by the name of Roper made his own version but it was not practical.Finally in 1885 a German man named Gutty Damler built a bike around his own internal combustion motor, he only made the one bike and scrapped the entire idea after it caught his son’s pants on fire, saying there was “no future in two wheel vehicles” he later went on to start a car company and he call it Mercades Benz.

Inventors kept at it and by the turn of the century bike shops were turning out bikes left and right, but with little in the way of speed control or breaking these were not for the weak of heart, which was exactly part of their appeal. Daredevils were all over the place driving through flaming walls, crossing tight-ropes and even appearing on “Ripply’s Believe It or Not” when a daredevil jumped his motorcycle over 23 people! Of course all bikers had and still do have a daredevil in them, most don’t take it to the extreme, and why should they, there is no reason to you are in danger just being out there. Of course no one knew the potential of motorcycles at this point, they were only used commercially as pace cars for bike races.

Nations just as people have dates and events that stand out in mind. For America it was 1903, people called it the begining of “America’s Century” as it was the time that hundreds and thousands of immigrants were flocking to America, the Wright brothers finally achieved man’s dream of flight and Henry Ford came out with the first Model A which would be a sign of things to come.

Down in Milwaulke, Wisconson, William Harley, and the three Davidson brothers Walter, William, and Aurthor worked out of a small garage that the Davidson’s father built for them. They saw the need for personal and affordable transportation that could handle a road system that was non-existent, the answer would later be known as Harley Davidson, the first bike was small, only three horsepower. The following year in 1904 The partners made two motorcycles and sold both of them, Harley Davidson was underway.

In 1909 nations were begining to become known for the engines they put on their motorcycles. Britain came out with a vertical engine on their Triumphs and Nortons, while Germany had BMW’s being built with a horizontal engine. America made the Harley’s with a new design, the V-Twin, a perfect engine that fit the frame and left no extra space. It had the torque, power and sound that makes you come alive with a feeling that made it great to ride, and this was the begining of the Harley “Mystique”

The invention of the V-Twin engine wasn’t about “Mystique” to Harley, they were looking for power…double the power of the single engines everyone else was using. By then it was needed, and America was ready for it.

The demand for motorcycles grew, Harley rapidly became the workhorse of America, everything was being delivered on a Hog, it was dependable, 1/3 the cost of a car, and could go everywhere a car couldn’t. Budget minded families purchased them cause they just made better sense, and this is when women first became interested in bikes. It was the the “Golden Years of Motorcycles” a period unmatched in popularity. 86 thousand cycles were registered in the U.S. in 1910 alone, by 1913 more than that were being produced each year. There were manufacturers everyplace, even Sears had a motorcycle that you could order through the catalogues as you were ordering your clothes. Harley Davidson was no exception as they also expanding their sales.

Aurthor Davidson went coast to coast setting up the single best dealership network in the U.S. William Davidson concentrated on the labor force using German and Italian immigrants that were moving into the Wisconson area. Harley was the engineer of the group, he helped in keeping the edge with the first successful clutch and kickstarter system. Within 10 years the Harley Davidson Motor Company had gone from a handshake deal to a major motor company. Unfortunately even the innovative inventions coming out of Harley weren’t enough to prove the companies superiority. The way to be proven was in racing, and for Harley each race was a struggle to keep the company going and let the public know they were the best.

To do this President Walter Davidson entered a two day endurance run from the Catskills to Brooklyn, NY and while most of the motorcycles brokedown in the first day, Walter and his bike finished first place.

Harley Davidson never looked back from that race on, they raced everyone and won. Eventually Harley found a match in racing when put against the Indian motorcycles. Indian and Ha