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    Harley-Davidson: A History of the World’s Most Famous Motorcycle
    Harley-Davidson: A History of the World’s Most Famous Motorcycle
    Harley-Davidson: A History of the World’s Most Famous Motorcycle
    Ebook116 pages1 hour

    Harley-Davidson: A History of the World’s Most Famous Motorcycle

    By Margie Siegal

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    About this ebook

    Harley-Davidson: words that evoke the open American road and the 'Made in America' tradition like no others. The sweeping chopper handlebars, the distinctive throaty 'potato potato' roar of the engine and the unmistakable logo are all emblems recognized the world over. This book expertly ties together the mechanical evolution of the Harley's engines – from the earliest motorized pedal bicycles to the iconic heavyweight twin cylinder V-engines we know and love today – and the social history of the brand's phenomenal rise in the twentieth century, as innovative survivor of the Great Depression, supplier of the military during both World Wars and enduring symbol of freedom and rebellion in movies such as 'Easy Rider'. It is fully illustrated with pictures of the bikes and those who have ridden them as well as beautiful examples of H-D's distinctive design aesthetic in advertising and collectibles.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateMay 10, 2014
    ISBN9780747814955
    Harley-Davidson: A History of the World’s Most Famous Motorcycle

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    • 5/5
      Just started riding this year. Got a sportster 1200c. I am in love and crave more!
    • 5/5
      Well organized overview of the H-D story. A quick read which provides the reader with some background information.

    Book preview

    Harley-Davidson - Margie Siegal

    INTRODUCTION

    If I have to explain, you wouldn’t understand.

    Slogan on t-shirt

    THERE is s something about motorcycles, the experience of moving through the air at speed, that attracts people. And if there is something about motorcycles in general, there is more than a mere something about Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Harley-Davidson has been building motorcycles for over a century, and in that time, its products have acquired an aura. There is a certain amount of magic about a Harley: it is a lot more than a motor, a frame, and two wheels. When most people look at a Harley, they are seeing not a vehicle, but a cultural icon. Although Harley-Davidson motorcycles started out as economical transport, few Americans now ride Harley-Davidsons just because they want to get from point A to point B. The experience of the trip is the important thing when riding a motorcycle, and especially when riding a Harley.

    This brand is embedded in the American popular mind as THE motorcycle, to the point where riders of other makes are often asked if they wouldn’t rather ride a Harley. Harleys turn up in ads for totally unrelated products, and in the windows of retail stores. They appear in movies and on television, and when they do, the Harley is a character in itself. Putting an actor or actress on a Harley is a definite statement.

    It wasn’t always like this. When the Davidson brothers and their friend William Harley started out to build motorcycles at the turn of the twentieth century, their effort was only one of over a hundred small American motorcycle factories. Out of all those businesses, only Harley-Davidson has survived.

    This book not only details the specific models that Harley-Davidson has produced over the years, but also explores why Harley-Davidson survived when the others did not, and the role that Harley-Davidson and its motorcycles have played in American economic and social life.

    Come along for the ride. It will be an interesting and enjoyable trip, and together we will prove that t-shirt wrong.

    The Harley-Davidson’s inlet-over-exhaust twin cylinder engine. A version of this engine powered Harley Davidson V-twins from 1911 to 1929. Long thin rods actuated the intake valve in the top center of the cylinder. The exhaust valve is covered by a spring and is worked from below. The gear train to the magneto is behind the oval cover.

    MECHANICAL BEGINNINGS

    THE IDEA of a motorcycle—a motor-driven bicycle—was popularized by a swindler by the name of Edward Pennington. Pennington demonstrated a prototype motorcycle in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1895, and this demonstration was the talk of the town. Shortly afterwards, he left for England, where he raised money from backers, then disappeared. Pennington had a real gift for publicity, and his demonstration sparked the idea of a motor-driven cycle in a lot of people, possibly including two Milwaukee teenagers, William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson.

    Edward Pennington’s prototype motorcycle was not a commercially viable product (no one has ever figured out how it ran) but, by the time of Pennington’s 1895 demonstration, the idea of a motorcycle had the potential to be more than a dream. All the components were in place for a motor driven two-wheeler to become a reality. In the 1890s, the Count De Dion financed a French company that built the first ever reliable lightweight internal combustion engines. From 1896, these air-cooled single cylinder engines were imported to the United States. They were discussed, dissected and copied by early motorheads. Sparked by battery and coil ignition, the valve arrangement was inlet over exhaust, with a vacuum-operated intake valve. Other components needed for a motorcycle were invented around this time: the pneumatic tire, the coaster brake, and seamless steel tubing for the frame. The requirements for good handling—front fork rake and trail, for example—had been worked out by the bicycle manufacturers.

    By 1902, at least thirteen different factories were building motorcycles in the United States, all using variations of the De Dion motor. William and Arthur had been trying to build their own motorcycle for a year, and were getting nowhere. Finally, Arthur’s brother Walter Davidson came home to attend a family wedding, saw the experimental motor and got bit by the motorcycle bug. With his help, a first prototype was ready in 1903. This first prototype did not develop enough horsepower, and a second

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