The legendary Harley-Davidson motorcycle and its history

The history of the Harley-Davidson brand is the history of professionalism, hard work, and self-confidence. This is the story of a dream come true ... And it began at the turn of the past and the century before last, just as there began a lot of other stories that do not, however, have the same victorious continuation.

Today, the Harley-Davidson motorcycle is a dream for millions. And the very name HD makes the heart beat more often everyone who has anything to do with the bike culture.

About the wooden garage, its inhabitants and their offspring

One day two friends, Arthur and William, decided to attach a bike to the bike that had been assembled by hand. For this purpose, an inconspicuous garage was chosen in the city of Milwaukee. Soon the new unit was tested and successfully passed them. Thus began the era of the most famous brand in the world, producing motorcycles.

Without further ado, the creators simply wrote their names through a hyphen on the doors of a wooden garage and started to work. For a long time, already when the glory of "Harley-Davidson" was thundering all over the world, that same garage was still the property of the owners. Moreover, the first assembly shop, and then the entire plant, was built around an inconspicuous board building. Unfortunately, to this day he did not live - he was accidentally destroyed by hired cleaners, taking for old trash.

Keep up with progress

The company has always sought to win customers not by lush advertising, not by dubious shares and not by cheap PR. Its chip has always been quality and unique style. The beginning of the twentieth century was marked by a number of innovations that gave the HD model line several unique models. Each new Harley-Davidson motorcycle was equipped with the latest technology. The company's technologists were the first in the world to introduce such an innovation as water cooling of the engine. And for the development of new models, the most powerful engines at that time were used, the belt transmission was replaced with a chain one, and in 1909 the legendary V-shaped engine was first created and put into production.

In the service of the Motherland

One day, Walter Davidson took part in a race on his own production motorcycle. And won first place. And then he set a world record for profitability - he drove more than 300 km on one gallon of gasoline. The authorities of the city of Detroit were so impressed by these brilliant victories that they immediately rushed to order a whole batch of the same transport. Since then, the Harley-Davidson motorcycle has been serving in the police.

The war fell on his fate. And more precisely, it is not even one. And in the First and the Second World, the lion's share of HD products went to the front. Moreover, the historical fact is widely known: after the capitulation of Germany, the first American who crossed its border, Corporal Holtz, was seated not on anything but on the Harley.

Threat of intrusion

Another war was not weakened either - the war for the hearts of the fans. And if of all the motor-manufacturers of the United States that existed in the 1920s until the 1940s, one single company survived, then the enemy was never drowsy overseas. Among the managers of the company even existed the term "Japanese invasion", implying, of course, not a military threat, but the seizure of the American market. Japanese made bikes often copied the style of HD, and cost much less than the Harley-Davidson motorcycles. This price was due to the use of more budgetary consumables and materials, which the American motor-monger never allowed himself.

A number of marketing developments allowed the company to stay afloat and even bring its products to the domestic market of the Land of the Rising Sun.

The most famous models of motorcycles "Harley-Davidson"

• Sportster (1957) - a powerful motorcycle with a 0.9-liter engine, inexpensive small in size.
• Electra-Glide (1965) is a legendary member of the Glide family with an electric starter.
• Dyna - a whole family of motorcycles, the models of which were equipped not with chains, but ... again with straps! Only this time Kevlar - reliable, powerful, practically not requiring care.
• V-Rod (2001) - a joint development with Porsche, equipped with the latest technology.
• XR1200 (2008) - a model dedicated to the centennial of the company, spread throughout the world.

New Century - New Perspectives

In the city of Milwaukee, a museum of the company is opened, at the entrance to which a huge monument is erected - the Harley-Davidson motorcycle, flying upwards, piloted by the legendary Walter. More than a hundred years of the company's history were not only rosy. After the ups, of course, there were also falls. Today, the manufacturer, survived both the Great Depression, and several wars, and the crisis, and fierce competition, continues its work.