Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
The company incorporated in 1907, and within a decade became the largest mo-
torcycle maker in the world. The Harleys' reputation for sound engineering and
thusendurance—thefirstmotorcyclelasted100,000miles—madethempopularwith
the U.S. Postal Service and especially police departments. In the first Federation of
American Motorcyclists endurance test, a hog scored above a perfect 1,000 points,
leading to a Harley dominance in motorcycle racing for decades. Constant innova-
tions, such as the first clutch, fueled success.
During World War I Harley gained the U.S. government's devotion—Harleys
with sidecars equipped with machine guns also pursued pesky Pancho Villa into
Mexico in 1917. Europeans found a great enthusiasm for the machines, too, after the
Great War; within five years, 20 percent of the company's business was exported.
Further, no motorcycle maker could claim the innovation or the zeal with which
Harley-Davidson catered to its riders. Original dealers were instructed to employ the
consumersinasmuchoftheprocessaspossible.Harley-Davidsonopenhouseswere
legendary.
The Enthusiast,
the company's newsletter, is the longest-running continu-
ously published motorcycle organ anywhere.
THE BIKES
The company hit eternal fame with the goofy-looking, radically designed Knuckle-
head in 1936, when a public initially dismayed by the bulging overhead valves
(hence the name) soon realized its synthesis of art and engineering; it has been
called the most perfect motorcycle ever made. The Sportster, introduced in 1957,
also gets the nod from aficionados—it's called the Superbike. In the 1970s, the
Super Glide—the
Easy Rider
low-rider's progenitor—singlehandedly rescued the
company.ThemodernSoftailandTourGlidesareconsideredbyHarley-Davidsonto
be the best ever engineered.
GOOD TIMES, BAD TIMES
By the 1940s, two-thirds of all U.S. bikes were Harley-Davidsons. By the 1950s,
swelled by demand, Harley managed to push out its main competitor, Indian Mo-
torcycle. But somewhere along the line, something happened. Harleys had been de-
risively dubbed “Hardly Ablesons” because of their tendency to break down—or so
said owners of archrival Indian Motorcycles.
