Harley Davidson History
These Harley Davidson bikes are world famous. They are a great status symbol. This is a famous symbol of the American culture. In this short article about the harley davidson motorcycles history let us get some interesting facts about this company from its history.
This Harley Davidson motorcycles company was established in 1903 in America.
Harley had developed the first engine of 116cc capacity and mounted it on the bicycle frame. He was helped by his boyfriend Arthur Davidson. There were two other friends to help them develop motorcycle. The first such attempt failed to give any results. The first real Harley Davidson bike was a better evolved machine. it had 405cc engine. The first recorded motorcycle was functional on 8th sept 1904 as it took part in the Milwaukee motorcycle race. In 1905 first three Harley Davidson bikes were sold. In 1906 they built their first factory and then fifty Harley Davidson bikes were sold. In 1907 the production increased to one hundred and fifty Harley Davidson bikes.
In 1911V-twin model was introduced. During the First World War it provided more than twenty thousand Harley Davidson bikes. In 1920 it was the largest bike manufacturer selling more than 28000 of them in 67 countries. In the great depression time the sales plummeted to 4000 in 1933. In the Second World War more than 90,000 Harley Davidson bikes were sold to military. As the military preferred jeep as its vehicle the demand for Harley Davidson bikes was not there any more. In 1952 onwards the image of this Harley Davidson company was tarnished due to lot many reasons. There was lot many movies from the Hollywood depicting outlaw motorcyclists. The image of the motorbike rider was not very good in the society. There were some other problems also.
This family ownership of this Harley Davidson company came to an end in nineteen seventies when this company was taken over by American metal foundry. The management decided to cut down the costs by cutting the jobs. This created lot of anger in the labor resulting in a strike. By this time the company was producing substandard bikes. Their image was tarnished. In1981 a group of investors took over this company. There after this Harley Davidson company recovered very fast. There was lot many changes made by the management which were extremely useful for the full recovery of his Harley Davidson company. This is short history of this Harley Davidson company. There are special web pages on the company web sites where you can see interesting photographs and get all other historical details also. When you buy a Harley Davidson bike you actually buy a piece of the American history.