The Harley-Davidson company began with two friends, in 1903, the headquarters of HD back then was Milwaukee, Wisconsin. William Harley began construction of the company’s first model with Arthur Davidson, later, Arthur’s brother’s Walter and William joined them. The abilities of the additional Davidson brothers – Walter was a mechanic, and William made tools – undoubtedly lead to the initial HD Company’s success that would drive them towards incorporation.
During the first year of the Harley-Davidson company, they manufactured three motorcycles and all three were paid for before manufacturing was finished. ‘Silent Gray Fellows’ was a term of endearment given to these early motorcycles, as they were all made from the standard gray color. Within two years, the company added motorcycle and marine motors, reversible propellers, and float feed carburetors to their stock of sellable items.
The following ten years saw an ensuring climb in popularity for Harley-Davidson. Among the biggest fans of the company was the United States Postal service, who in 1914 used 4,800 of the company’s bikes but nine departments in total used the company’s products in the federal government in that year. In 1916 the military began using HD’s in border skirmishes with Pancho Villa where the motorcycles were equipped with machine guns. During World War I, half of all HD’s produced were shipped overseas for military use.
The end of the war did not hurt HD, as they took the opportunity to engage the sport of racing for the first time. Harley-Davidson suffered, but managed to survive the Great Depression and continued to prosper through the 1930’s. Repeating their government service in the 1940s, the HD bikes were a valuable tool during the Second World War.
Throughout the fifties, HD increased the fierceness of their marketing, and as a result, saw additional prosperity. War broke out again in Korea during this decade, but the military replaced their old faithful HD equipment with the Jeep. Harley-Davidson was free to concentrate on its civilian consumers.
The 1960’s brought about as much change for the company as everyone else in the United States. In the case of HD, change came through the manufacture of 3-wheeled golf carts. Cornering a third of the market by the end of the decade, these carts were also sold in other countries. In according to the change theme, motorcycle accessories became part of the Harley-Davidson family during the 1960s too.
During the seventies, many additions to the motorcycles allowed the Harley-Davidson bikes to experience continued success in the racing world. One of the greatest changes occurred in the 1980s when the HD Company became a private ownership once again, thanks to a buyback. The California Highway Patrol took note of the company’s standards of excellence in the 1980s, granting the company contract rights in 1984, 1985, 1987, 1988 and 1989.
In the nineties, Harley-Davidson focused on customized motorcycles with the production of the FLSTF Fat Boy making its debut. The goal of the new bike was to invoke the feel of past bikes while keeping up to date. The HD Company retains its strength and popularity in the dawn of the twenty-first century. There are several models of each line (which include the Sporster, the Dyna, the Softail, the VRSC, and a Touring line) in the company’s current production.