Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D, or simply Harley) is an American

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

manufacturer headquartered in

Milwaukee Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at the 2020 census, Milwaukee is ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

, United States. Founded in 1903, it is one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

along with its historical rival,

Indian Motorcycles Indian Motorcycle (or ''Indian'') is an American brand of motorcycles owned and produced by American automotive manufacturer Polaris Inc.Automotive – RSS Feed
. ''

Popular Mechanics ''Popular Mechanics'' (sometimes PM or PopMech) is a magazine of popular science and technology, featuring automotive, home, outdoor, electronics, science, do-it-yourself, and technology topics. Military topics, aviation and transportation o ...

''. Retrieved July 7, 2011. The company has survived numerous ownership arrangements, subsidiary arrangements, periods of poor economic health and product quality, and intense global competition to become one of the world's largest motorcycle manufacturers and an iconic brand widely known for its loyal following. There are owner clubs and events worldwide, as well as a company-sponsored, brand-focused museum. Harley-Davidson is noted for a style of customization that gave rise to the chopper motorcycle style. The company traditionally marketed heavyweight, air-cooled

cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several roles. The term "cruiser", which has been in use for several hu ...

motorcycles with engine displacements greater than 700 cc, but it has broadened its offerings to include more contemporary VRSC (2002) and middle-weight

Street A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, ...

(2015) platforms. Harley-Davidson manufactures its motorcycles at factories in

York, Pennsylvania York ( Pennsylvania Dutch: ''Yarrick''), known as the White Rose City (after the symbol of the House of York), is the county seat of York County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is located in the south-central region of the state. The populati ...

;

, Wisconsin;

Manaus Manaus () is the capital and largest city of the Brazilian state of Amazonas. It is the seventh-largest city in Brazil, with an estimated 2020 population of 2,219,580 distributed over a land area of about . Located at the east center of the s ...

, Brazil; Bawal, India; and Pluak Daeng,

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

. The company markets its products worldwide, and also licenses and markets merchandise under the Harley-Davidson brand, among them apparel, home décor and ornaments, accessories, toys, scale models of its motorcycles, and video games based on its motorcycle line and the community.

History

Founders of Harley-Davidson The North Shore Bulletin Dec 1920

In 1901, -year-old

William S. Harley William Sylvester Harley (December 29, 1880 – September 18, 1943) was an American mechanical engineer and businessman. He was one of the co-founders of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. Early life Harley was born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1 ...

drew up plans for a small engine with a

displacement Displacement may refer to: Physical sciences Mathematics and Physics *Displacement (geometry), is the difference between the final and initial position of a point trajectory (for instance, the center of mass of a moving object). The actual path ...

of 7.07 cubic inches (116 cc) and four-inch (102 mm)

flywheel A flywheel is a mechanical device which uses the conservation of angular momentum to store rotational energy; a form of kinetic energy proportional to the product of its moment of inertia and the square of its rotational speed. In particular, ass ...

s designed for use in a regular pedal-bicycle frame. Over the next two years, he and his childhood friend Arthur Davidson worked on their motor-bicycle using the northside

machine shop at the home of their friend Henry Melk. It was finished in 1903 with the help of Arthur's brother Walter Davidson. Upon testing their power-cycle, Harley and the Davidson brothers found it unable to climb the hills around Milwaukee without pedal assistance, and they wrote off their first motor-bicycle as a valuable learning experiment. The three began work on a new and improved machine with an engine of 24.74 cubic inches (405 cc) with flywheels weighing . Its advanced loop-frame pattern was similar to the 1903 Milwaukee Merkel motorcycle designed by Joseph Merkel, later of Flying Merkel fame. The bigger engine and loop-frame design took it out of the motorized bicycle category and marked the path to future motorcycle designs. They also received help with their bigger engine from outboard motor pioneer Ole Evinrude, who was then building gas engines of his own design for automotive use on Milwaukee's Lake Street. Harley-Davidson Monocylinder

The prototype of the new loop-frame Harley-Davidson was assembled in a shed in the Davidson family backyard.Wagner, 2003. pp. 45–62. Most of the major parts, however, were made elsewhere, including some probably fabricated at the West Milwaukee railshops where oldest brother William A. Davidson was toolroom foreman. This prototype machine was functional by September 8, 1904, when it competed in a Milwaukee motorcycle race held at State Fair Park. Edward Hildebrand rode it and placed fourth in the race. In January 1905, the company placed small advertisements in the ''Automobile and Cycle Trade Journal'' offering bare Harley-Davidson engines to the do-it-yourself trade. By April, they were producing complete motorcycles on a very limited basis. That year, Harley-Davidson dealer Carl H. Lang of Chicago sold three bikes from the five built in the Davidson backyard shed. Years later, the company moved the original shed to the Juneau Avenue factory where it stood for many decades as a tribute. In 1906, Harley and the Davidson brothers built their first factory on Chestnut Street (later Juneau Avenue), at the current location of Harley-Davidson's corporate headquarters. The first Juneau Avenue plant was a single-story wooden structure. The company produced about 50 motorcycles that year. 1907 Harley Davidson

In 1907, William S. Harley graduated from the

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

with a degree in mechanical engineering. That year, they expanded the factory with a second floor and later with facings and additions of Milwaukee pale yellow ("cream") brick. With the new facilities, production increased to 150 motorcycles in 1907. The company was officially incorporated that September. They also began selling their motorcycles to police departments around this time, a market that has been important to them ever since. In 1907, William A. Davidson quit his job as tool foreman for the Milwaukee Road railroad and joined the Motor Company. Production in 1905 and 1906 were all single-cylinder models with 26.84-cubic-inch (440 cc) engines. In February 1907, they displayed a prototype model at the Chicago Automobile Show with a 45-degree

V-Twin A V-twin engine, also called a V2 engine, is a two-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Although widely associated with motorcycles (installed either transversely or longit ...

engine. Very few V-Twin models were built between 1907 and 1910. These first V-Twins displaced 53.68 cubic inches (880 cc) and produced about . This gave about double the power of the first singles, and top speed was about . Production jumped from 450 motorcycles in 1908 to 1,149 machines in 1909. Harley Davidson Motor Company The Implement Age v16

Harley Davidson Motor Company The Implement Age v16

In 1911, the company introduced an improved V-Twin model with a displacement of 49.48 cubic inches (811 cc) and mechanically operated intake valves, as opposed to the "automatic" intake valves used on earlier V-Twins that opened by engine vacuum. It was smaller than earlier twins but gave better performance. After 1913, the majority of bikes produced by Harley-Davidson were V-Twin models. In 1912, Harley-Davidson introduced their patented "Ful-Floteing Seat", which was suspended by a coil spring inside the seat tube. The spring tension could be adjusted to suit the rider's weight, and more than of travel was available. Harley-Davidson used seats of this type until 1958. By 1913, the yellow brick factory had been demolished and a new five-story structure had been built on the site which took up two blocks along Juneau Avenue and around the corner on 38th Street. Despite the competition, Harley-Davidson was already pulling ahead of

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

and dominated motorcycle racing after 1914. Production that year swelled to 16,284 machines. RalphHepburn1922

World War I

In 1917, the United States entered

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and the military demanded motorcycles for the war effort. Harleys had already been used by the military in the Pancho Villa Expedition but World War I was the first time that it was adopted for military issue, first with the British Model H produced by

Triumph Motorcycles Ltd Triumph Motorcycles Ltd is the largest UK-owned motorcycle manufacturer, established in 1983 by John Bloor after the original company Triumph Engineering went into receivership. The new company, initially called Bonneville Coventry Ltd, contin ...

in 1915. The U.S. military purchased over 20,000 motorcycles from Harley-Davidson. Harley-Davidson launched a line of bicycles in 1917 in hopes of recruiting more domestic customers for its motorcycles. Models included the traditional

diamond frame A bicycle frame is the main component of a bicycle, onto which wheels and other components are fitted. The modern and most common frame design for an upright bicycle is based on the safety bicycle, and consists of two triangles: a main triangle ...

men's bicycle, a

step-through frame A step-through frame (also known as open frame, drop frame, or low-step frame) is a type of bicycle frame, often used for utility bicycles, with a low or absent top tube or cross-bar. Traditionally, bicycles with a step-through frame were known ...

3–18 "Ladies Standard", and a 5–17 "Boy Scout" for youth. The effort was discontinued in 1923 because of disappointing sales. The bicycles were built for Harley-Davidson in

Dayton Dayton () is the sixth-largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Montgomery County. A small part of the city extends into Greene County. The 2020 U.S. census estimate put the city population at 137,644, while Greater Da ...

, Ohio by the Davis Machine Company from 1917 to 1921, when Davis stopped manufacturing bicycles.

1920s

By 1920 Harley-Davidson was the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world, with 28,189 machines produced and dealers in 67 countries. In 1921, Otto Walker set a record on a Harley-Davidson as the first motorcycle to win a race at an average speed greater than . Harley-Davidson put several improvements in place during the 1920s, such as a new 74 cubic inch (1,212.6 cc) V-Twin introduced in 1921, and the "teardrop" gas tank in 1925. They added a front brake in 1928, although only on the J/JD models. In the late summer of 1929, Harley-Davidson introduced its 45-cubic-inch (737 cc) flathead V-Twin to compete with the

Indian 101 Scout The Indian Scout is a motorcycle built by the Indian Motocycle Manufacturing Company, Indian Company from 1920 to 1949. It rivaled the Indian Chief (motorcycle), Chief as Indian's most important model. The 101 Scout, made from 1928 to 1931, has b ...

and the

Excelsior Super X The Excelsior Super X was a motorcycle manufactured by the Excelsior Motor Manufacturing & Supply Company from 1925 to 1931.Wilson, H. ''The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle'' p. 59 Dorling-Kindersley Limited, 1995 It was the most famous Excelsi ...

. This was the "D" model produced from 1929 to 1931. Riders of Indian motorcycles derisively referred to it as the "three cylinder Harley" because the generator was upright and parallel to the front cylinder.

Great Depression

The

began a few months after the introduction of their model. Harley-Davidson's sales fell from 21,000 in 1929 to 3,703 in 1933. Despite this, Harley-Davidson unveiled a new lineup for 1934, which included a flathead engine and

Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...

styling. In order to survive the remainder of the Depression, the company manufactured industrial powerplants based on their motorcycle engines. They also designed and built a three-wheeled delivery vehicle called the

Servi-Car The Harley-Davidson Servi-Car was a three-wheeled utility motorcycle manufactured by Harley-Davidson from 1932 to 1973. Concept and uses The Servi-Car was designed during the Great Depression when Harley-Davidson was desperate to expand its produ ...

, which remained in production until 1973. Vintage harley davidson photo in madrid spain 2011

Alfred Rich Child opened a production line in Japan in the mid-1930s with the VL. The Japanese license-holder, Sankyo Seiyaku Corporation, severed its business relations with Harley-Davidson in 1936 and continued manufacturing the VL under the Rikuo name. Harley-Davidson Sales Co

An flathead engine was added to the line in 1935, by which time the single-cylinder motorcycles had been discontinued.Mitchel, p. 92 In 1936, the 61E and 61EL models with the " Knucklehead"

OHV An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located bel ...

engines were introduced.Mitchel, pp. 94–95

Valvetrain A valvetrain or valve train is a mechanical system that controls the operation of the intake and exhaust valves in an internal combustion engine. The intake valves control the flow of air/fuel mixture (or air alone for direct-injected engines) ...

problems in early Knucklehead engines required a redesign halfway through its first year of production and retrofitting of the new valvetrain on earlier engines. By 1937, all Harley-Davidson flathead engines were equipped with dry-sump oil recirculation systems similar to the one introduced in the "Knucklehead" OHV engine. The revised V and VL models were renamed U and UL, the VH and VLH to be renamed UH and ULH, and the R to be renamed W. In 1941, the 74-cubic-inch "Knucklehead" was introduced as the F and the FL. The flathead UH and ULH models were discontinued after 1941, while the 74-cubic-inchU & UL flathead models were produced up to 1948.

World War II

One of only two manufacturers to survive the

, Harley-Davidson again produced large numbers of motorcycles for the US Army in

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and resumed civilian production afterwards, producing a range of large V-twin motorcycles that were successful both on racetracks and for private buyers. Harley-Davidson, on the eve of World War II, was already supplying the Army with a military-specific version of its WL line, called the WLA. The A in this case stood for "Army". Upon the outbreak of war, the company, along with most other manufacturing enterprises, shifted to war work. More than 90,000 military motorcycles, mostly WLAs and WLCs (the Canadian version) were produced, many to be provided to allies.'' Smithsonian'' magazine, August 2003, pp. 34 – "Wild Thing", Robert F. Howe Harley-Davidson received two

Army-Navy "E" Award The Army-Navy "E" Award was an honor presented to companies during World War II whose production facilities achieved "Excellence in Production" ("E") of war equipment. The award was also known as the Army-Navy Production Award. The award was cr ...

s, one in 1943 and the other in 1945, which were awarded for Excellence in Production. HD Liberator

Shipments to the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

under the

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

program numbered at least 30,000. The WLAs produced during all four years of war production generally have 1942 serial numbers. Production of the WLA stopped at the end of World War II, but was resumed from 1950 to 1952 for use in the

Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...

. The U.S. Army also asked Harley-Davidson to produce a new motorcycle with many of the features of BMW's side-valve and shaft-driven R71. Harley-Davidson largely copied the BMW engine and drive train and produced the shaft-driven 750 cc 1942

Harley-Davidson XA The Harley-Davidson XA (Experimental Army) was a flat-twin, shaft drive motorcycle made by Harley-Davidson for the US Army during World War II. Development and production During WWII, the U.S. Army asked Harley-Davidson to design a specification ...

. This shared no dimensions, no parts or no design concepts (except side valves) with any prior Harley-Davidson engine. Due to the superior cooling of the flat-twin engine with the cylinders across the frame, Harley's XA cylinder heads ran 100 °F (56 °C) cooler than its V-twins. The XA never entered full production: the motorcycle by that time had been eclipsed by the

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner American Moto ...

as the Army's general-purpose vehicle, and the WLAalready in productionwas sufficient for its limited police, escort, and courier roles. Only 1,000 were made and the XA never went into full production. It remains the only shaft-driven Harley-Davidson ever made.

Small: Hummer, Sportcycle and Aermacchi

Harley-Davidson Young America advertisement

As part of war reparations, Harley-Davidson acquired the design of a small German motorcycle, the

DKW RT 125 The RT 125 was a German two-stroke motorcycle made by DKW in Zschopau in the 1930s, IFA and MZ in the 1950s and early 1960s, and DKW in Ingolstadt in the 1950s and 1960s. "RT" stands for "Reichstyp" or "National Model". In the 1930s DKW pio ...

, which they adapted, manufactured, and sold from 1948 to 1966.History
. Harley Hummer Club (May 17, 2010). Retrieved July 7, 2011. Various models were made, including the

Hummer Hummer (stylized as HUMMER) is a brand of pickups and SUVs that was first marketed in 1992 when AM General began selling a civilian version of the M998 Humvee. Although discontinued in 2010, Hummer returned as a sub-brand of GMC in 2020. ...

from 1955 to 1959, but they are all colloquially referred to as "Hummers" at present.Harley Hummer. Com
. Harleyhummer.com. Retrieved July 7, 2011. BSA in the United Kingdom took the same design as the foundation of their BSA Bantam.Wilson, H. "The Encyclopedia of the Motorcycle" p. 37 Dorling-Kindersley Limited, 1995 Aermacchi Turismo Veloce 1971 crop

In 1960, Harley-Davidson consolidated the Model 165 and Hummer lines into the Super-10, introduced the Topper scooter,Wilson, p. 252 and bought fifty percent of Aermacchi's motorcycle division. Importation of Aermacchi's 250 cc horizontal single began the following year.Wilson, p. 74Mitchel, p. 187 The bike bore Harley-Davidson badges and was marketed as the Harley-Davidson Sprint. The engine of the Sprint was increased to 350 cc in 1969Mitchel, p. 215 and would remain that size until 1974, when the four-stroke Sprint was discontinued. After the Pacer and Scat models were discontinued at the end of 1965, the Bobcat became the last of Harley-Davidson's American-made

two-stroke A two-stroke (or two-stroke cycle) engine is a type of internal combustion engine that completes a Thermodynamic power cycle, power cycle with two strokes (up and down movements) of the piston during one power cycle, this power cycle being comple ...

motorcycles. The Bobcat was manufactured only in the 1966 model year.Mitchel, p. 193 Harley-Davidson replaced their American-made lightweight two-stroke motorcycles with the Italian Aermacchi-built two-stroke powered M-65, M-65S, and Rapido. The M-65 had a semi-step-through frame and tank. The M-65S was a M-65 with a larger tank that eliminated the step-through feature. The Rapido was a larger bike with a 125 cc engine.Mitchel, p. 218 The Aermacchi-built Harley-Davidsons became entirely two-stroke powered when the 250 cc two-stroke SS-250 replaced the four-stroke 350 cc Sprint in 1974.Mitchel, pp. 247, 250 Harley-Davidson purchased full control of Aermacchi's motorcycle production in 1974 and continued making two-stroke motorcycles there until 1978, when they sold the facility to

Cagiva Cagiva is an Italian motorcycle manufacturer. It was founded in 1950 by Giovanni Castiglioni in Varese, originally producing small metal components. Giovanni's sons, Claudio and Gianfranco Castiglioni, went into the motorcycle industry in 1978. ...

, owned by the Castiglioni family.

Tarnished reputation

In 1952, following their application to the

U.S. Tariff Commission The United States International Trade Commission (USITC or I.T.C.) is an agency of the United States federal government that advises the legislature, legislative and executive (government), executive branches on matters of trade. It is an indepe ...

for a 40 percent tax on imported motorcycles, Harley-Davidson was charged with restrictive practices. Harley-Davidson 6

In 1969, American Machine and Foundry (AMF) bought the company, streamlined production, and slashed the workforce. This tactic resulted in a

labor strike Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to work. A strike usually takes place in response to employee grievances. Strikes became common during the I ...

and cost-cutting produced lower-quality bikes. Simultaneously, the Japanese "big four" manufacturers (

Honda is a Japanese public multinational conglomerate manufacturer of automobiles, motorcycles, and power equipment, headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, reaching a product ...

, Kawasaki,

Suzuki is a Japan, Japanese multinational corporation headquartered in Minami-ku, Hamamatsu, Japan. Suzuki manufactures automobiles, motorcycles, All-terrain vehicle, all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), outboard motor, outboard marine engines, wheelchairs ...

, and

Yamaha Yamaha may refer to: * Yamaha Corporation, a Japanese company with a wide range of products and services, established in 1887. The company is the largest shareholder of Yamaha Motor Company (below). ** Yamaha Music Foundation, an organization estab ...

) revolutionized the North American market by introducing what the motoring press would call the

Universal Japanese Motorcycle Universal Japanese Motorcycle (UJM) is a US motorcycling media term for a general-purpose style of Japanese standard motorcycle that revolutionized the industry and made motorcycling in America more accessible during the 1970s and 1980s. By aro ...

. In comparison, Harley-Davidson's bikes were expensive and inferior in performance, handling, and quality. Sales and quality declined, and the company almost went bankrupt. The "Harley-Davidson" name was mocked as "Hardly Ableson", "Hardly Driveable", and "Hogly Ferguson", and the nickname "Hog" became

pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

. In 1977, following the successful manufacture of the Liberty Edition to commemorate America's

bicentennial __NOTOC__ A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to: Europe *French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...

in 1976, Harley-Davidson produced what has become one of its most controversial models, the

Harley-Davidson Confederate Edition The Harley-Davidson Confederate Edition was a cross-range limited edition motorcycle made by Harley-Davidson in 1977. It was released following the successful manufacture of the Liberty Edition to commemorate the United States Bicentennial in 1976 ...

. The bike was essentially a stock Harley-Davidson with

Confederate Confederacy or confederate may refer to: States or communities * Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities * Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...

-specific paint and details.

Restructuring and revival

In 1981, AMF sold the company to a group of 13 investors led by

Vaughn Beals Vaughn L. Beals Jr. (January 2, 1928 – August 19, 2018) was an American businessman who was a CEO of Harley-Davidson between 1981 and 1989, and chairman from 1981 to 1996. He was inducted to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2008. Early life and ...

and

Willie G. Davidson William Godfrey "Willie G." Davidson (born 1933) is an American businessman and motorcycle designer, and the former senior vice president & chief styling officer of Harley-Davidson Motor Company. He was also the head of Harley-Davidson's Willie ...

for $80 million.''Smithsonian'' magazine, August 2003, p. 36 – "Wild Thing", Robert F. Howe The new management team improved product quality, introduced new technologies, and adopted just-in-time inventory management. These operational and product improvements were matched with a strategy of seeking tariff protection for large-displacement motorcycles in the face of intense competition with Japanese manufacturers. These protections were granted by the Reagan administration in 1983, giving Harley-Davidson time to implement their new strategies. Revising stagnated product designs was a crucial centerpiece of Harley-Davidson's turnaround strategy. Rather than trying to mimic popular Japanese designs, the new management deliberately exploited the "retro" appeal of Harley motorcycles, building machines that deliberately adopted the look and feel of their earlier bikes and the subsequent customizations of owners of that era. Many components such as brakes, forks, shocks, carburetors, electrics and wheels were outsourced from foreign manufacturers and quality increased, technical improvements were made, and buyers slowly returned. Harley-Davidson bought the "Sub Shock" cantilever-swingarm rear suspension design from Missouri engineer Bill Davis and developed it into its

Softail A softail (shortened form of ''soft tail'') motorcycle intentionally looks like vintage motorcycles with a rigid hard-tail frame that has a triangle of steel tubes at the rear axle, like on a bicycle frame, but on a Softail these tubes are ...

series of motorcycles, introduced in 1984 with the FXST Softail. In response to possible motorcycle market loss due to the aging of baby-boomers, Harley-Davidson bought luxury motorhome manufacturer

Holiday Rambler Holiday Rambler Corporation is an American corporation which primarily manufactures recreational vehicles. It was founded in 1953. In 1961, Holiday Rambler’s introduction of aluminum body framing ushered in a new era of lighter, stronger and mor ...

in 1986. In 1996, the company sold Holiday Rambler to the

Monaco Coach Corporation Monaco is a recreational vehicle (RV) brand, manufactured in Decatur, Indiana, and wholly owned by REV Recreation Group. Monaco holds a portfolio of Class A diesel motorhomes. REV Recreation Group is a subsidiary of REV Group. Allied Recreation ...

. The "Sturgis" model, boasting a dual belt-drive, was introduced initially in 1980 and was made for three years. This bike was then brought back as a commemorative model in 1991.

Fat Boy, Dyna, and Harley-Davidson museum

By 1990, with the introduction of the "Fat Boy", Harley-Davidson once again became the sales leader in the heavyweight (over 750 cc) market. At the time of the Fat Boy model introduction, a

false etymology A false etymology (fake etymology, popular etymology, etymythology, pseudo-etymology, or par(a)etymology) is a popular but false belief about the origin or derivation of a specific word. It is sometimes called a folk etymology, but this is also a ...

spread that "Fat Boy" was a combination of the names of the atomic bombs

Fat Man "Fat Man" (also known as Mark III) is the codename for the type of nuclear bomb the United States detonated over the Japanese city of Nagasaki on 9 August 1945. It was the second of the only two nuclear weapons ever used in warfare, the fir ...

and Little Boy. This has been debunked, as the name "Fat Boy" actually comes from the observation that the motorcycle is somewhat wider than other bikes when viewed head-on. 1993 and 1994 saw the replacement of FXR models with the Dyna (FXD), which became the sole rubber mount FX Big Twin frame in 1994. The FXR was revived briefly from 1999 to 2000 for special limited editions (FXR², FXR³ & FXR⁴). Harley-Davidson celebrated their 100th anniversary on September 1, 2003 with a large event and concert featuring performances from

Elton John Sir Elton Hercules John (born Reginald Kenneth Dwight; 25 March 1947) is a British singer, pianist and composer. Commonly nicknamed the "Rocket Man" after his 1972 hit single of the same name, John has led a commercially successful career a ...

The Doobie Brothers The Doobie Brothers are an American rock band formed in 1970 in San Jose, California, known for their flexibility in performing across numerous genres and their vocal harmonies. Active for five decades, with their greatest success in the 1970s, ...

Kid Rock Robert James Ritchie (born January 17, 1971), known professionally as Kid Rock (also known as Bobby Shazam), is an American singer, songwriter and rapper. His style alternates between rock, hip hop, country, and metal. A self-taught musician, ...

, and

Tim McGraw Samuel Timothy McGraw (born May 1, 1967) is an American country singer, songwriter, record producer, and actor. He has released 16 studio albums (11 for Curb Records, four for Big Machine Records and one for Arista Nashville). 10 of those album ...

. Construction started on the $75 million, 130,000 square-foot (12,000 m²)

Harley-Davidson Museum The Harley-Davidson Museum is an American museum located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin celebrating the more than 100-year history of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The three-building complex on along the Menomonee River bank contains more than 450 Har ...

in the

Menomonee Valley The Menomonee Valley or Menomonee River Valley is a U-shaped land formation along the southern bend of the Menomonee River in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Because of its easy access to Lake Michigan and other waterways, the neighborhood has historically ...

of Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 1, 2006. It opened in 2008 and houses the company's vast collection of historic motorcycles and corporate archives, along with a restaurant, café and meeting space.The Business Journal (Milwaukee)
– Harley-Davidson kick-starts $75M museum project

Overseas operations

Established in 1918, the oldest continuously operating Harley-Davidson dealership outside of the United States is in Australia. Sales in Japan started in 1912 then in 1929, Harley-Davidsons were produced in Japan under license to the company Rikuo (Rikuo Internal Combustion Company) under the name of Harley-Davidson and using the company's tooling, and later under the name Rikuo. Production continued until 1958. In 1998, the first Harley-Davidson factory outside the US opened in

, Brazil, taking advantage of the free economic zone there. The location was positioned to sell motorcycles in the southern hemisphere market. In August 2009, Harley-Davidson launched Harley-Davidson India and started selling motorcycles there in 2010. The company established the subsidiary in

Gurgaon Gurgaon (pronunciation: �ʊɽɡãːw, officially named Gurugram (pronunciation: �ʊɾʊɡɾaːm, is a city located in the northern Indian state of Haryana. It is situated near the Delhi–Haryana border, about southwest of the nationa ...

, near Delhi, in 2011 and created an Indian dealer network. On September 24, 2020, Harley Davidson announced that it would discontinue its sales and manufacturing operations in India due to weak demand and sales. The move involves $75 million in restructuring costs, 70 layoffs and the closure of its Bawal plant in northern India.

Buell Motorcycle Company

Harley-Davidson's association with sportbike manufacturer Buell Motorcycle Company began in 1987 when they supplied Buell with fifty surplus XR1000 engines. Buell continued to buy engines from Harley-Davidson until 1993, when Harley-Davidson bought 49 percent of the Buell Motorcycle Company. Harley-Davidson increased its share in Buell to ninety-eight percent in 1998, and to complete ownership in 2003. In an attempt to attract newcomers to motorcycling in general and to Harley-Davidson in particular, Buell developed a low-cost, low-maintenance motorcycle. The resulting single-cylinder Buell Blast was introduced in 2000,* and was made through 2009, which, according to Buell, was to be the final year of production. The Buell Blast was the training vehicle for the Harley-Davidson Rider's Edge New Rider Course from 2000 until May 2014, when the company re-branded the training academy and started using the Harley-Davidson Street 500 motorcycles. In those 14 years, more than 350,000 participants in the course learned to ride on the Buell Blast. On October 15, 2009, Harley-Davidson Inc. issued an official statement that it would be discontinuing the Buell line and ceasing production immediately. The stated reason was to focus on the Harley-Davidson brand. The company refused to consider selling Buell. Founder Erik Buell subsequently established Erik Buell Racing and continued to manufacture and develop the company's 1125RR racing motorcycle.

Claims of stock price manipulation

During its period of peak demand, during the late 1990s and early first decade of the 21st century, Harley-Davidson embarked on a program of expanding the number of dealerships throughout the country. At the same time, its current dealers typically had waiting lists that extended up to a year for some of the most popular models. Harley-Davidson, like the auto manufacturers, records a sale not when a consumer buys their product, but rather when it is delivered to a dealer. Therefore, it is possible for the manufacturer to inflate sales numbers by requiring dealers to accept more inventory than desired in a practice called

channel stuffing Channel stuffing is a business practice in which a company, or a sales force within a company, inflates its sales figures by forcing more products through a distribution channel than the channel is capable of selling. Also known as trade loading, ...

. When demand softened following the unique 2003 model year, this news led to a dramatic decline in the stock price. In April 2004 alone, the price of HOG shares dropped from more than $60 to less than $40. Immediately prior to this decline, retiring CEO Jeffrey Bleustein profited $42 million on the exercise of

employee stock option Employee stock options (ESO) is a label that refers to compensation contracts between an employer and an employee that carries some characteristics of financial options. Employee stock options are commonly viewed as an internal agreement prov ...

s. Harley-Davidson was named as a defendant in numerous

class action A class action, also known as a class-action lawsuit, class suit, or representative action, is a type of lawsuit where one of the parties is a group of people who are represented collectively by a member or members of that group. The class actio ...

suits filed by investors who claimed they were intentionally defrauded by Harley-Davidson's management and directors. By January 2007, the price of Harley-Davidson shares reached $70.

Problems with Police Touring models

Starting around 2000, several police departments started reporting problems with high-speed instability on the Harley-Davidson Touring motorcycles. A

Raleigh, North Carolina Raleigh (; ) is the capital city of the state of North Carolina and the List of North Carolina county seats, seat of Wake County, North Carolina, Wake County in the United States. It is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, second-most ...

police officer, Charles Paul, was killed when his 2002 police touring motorcycle crashed after reportedly experiencing a high-speed wobble. The California Highway Patrol conducted testing of the Police Touring motorcycles in 2006. The CHP test riders reported experiencing wobble or weave instability while operating the motorcycles on the test track.

2007 strike

On February 2, 2007, upon the expiration of their union contract, about 2,700 employees at Harley-Davidson Inc.'s largest manufacturing plant in

, went on strike after failing to agree on wages and health benefits. During the pendency of the strike, the company refused to pay for any portion of the striking employees' health care. The day before the strike, after the union voted against the proposed contract and to authorize the strike, the company shut down all production at the plant. The York facility employs more than 3,200 workers, both union and non-union. Harley-Davidson announced on February 16, 2007, that it had reached a labor agreement with union workers at its largest manufacturing plant, a breakthrough in the two-week-old strike. The strike disrupted Harley-Davidson's national production and was felt in Wisconsin, where 440 employees were laid off, and many Harley suppliers also laid off workers because of the strike.

MV Agusta Group

On July 11, 2008, Harley-Davidson announced they had signed a definitive agreement to acquire the MV Agusta Group for US$109 million (€70M). MV Agusta Group contains two lines of motorcycles: the high-performance

MV Agusta MV Agusta (, full name: MV AGUSTA Motor S.p.A., original name: Meccanica Verghera Agusta or MV) is a motorcycle manufacturer founded by Count Domenico Agusta on 19 January 1945 as one of the branches of the Agusta aircraft company near Milan in ...

brand and the lightweight

brand. The acquisition was completed on August 8. On October 15, 2009, Harley-Davidson announced that it would divest its interest in MV Agusta. Harley-Davidson Inc. sold Italian motorcycle maker MV Agusta to Claudio Castiglioni – a member of the family that had purchased Aermacchi from H-D in 1978 – for a reported 3 euros, ending the transaction in the first week of August 2010. Castiglioni was MV Agusta's former owner, and had been MV Agusta's chairman since Harley-Davidson bought it in 2008. As part of the deal, Harley-Davidson put $26M into MV Agusta's accounts, essentially giving Castiglioni $26M to take the brand.

Financial crisis

According to Interbrand, the value of the Harley-Davidson brand fell by 43 percent to $4.34 billion in 2009. The fall in value is believed to be connected to the 66 percent drop in the company profits in two-quarters of the previous year. On April 29, 2010, Harley-Davidson stated that they must cut $54 million in manufacturing costs from its production facilities in Wisconsin, and that they would explore alternative U.S. sites to accomplish this. The announcement came in the wake of a massive company-wide restructuring, which began in early 2009 and involved the closing of two factories, one distribution center, and the planned elimination of nearly 25 percent of its total workforce (around 3,500 employees). The company announced on September 14, 2010, that it would remain in Wisconsin.

Motorcycle engines

The classic Harley-Davidson engines are

V-twin engine A V-twin engine, also called a V2 engine, is a two-cylinder piston engine where the cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. Although widely associated with motorcycles (installed either transversely or longi ...

s, with a 45° angle between the cylinders. The

crankshaft A crankshaft is a mechanical component used in a piston engine to convert the reciprocating motion into rotational motion. The crankshaft is a rotating shaft containing one or more crankpins, that are driven by the pistons via the connecting ...

has a single pin, and both

piston A piston is a component of reciprocating engines, reciprocating pumps, gas compressors, hydraulic cylinders and pneumatic cylinders, among other similar mechanisms. It is the moving component that is contained by a cylinder and is made gas-tig ...

s are connected to this pin through their

connecting rod A connecting rod, also called a 'con rod', is the part of a piston engine which connects the piston to the crankshaft. Together with the crank, the connecting rod converts the reciprocating motion of the piston into the rotation of the cranksh ...

s. This 45° angle is covered under several United States patents and is an engineering tradeoff that allows a large, high-torque engine in a relatively small space. It causes the cylinders to fire at uneven intervals and produces the choppy "potato-potato" sound so strongly linked to the Harley-Davidson brand. To simplify the engine and reduce costs, the V-twin ignition was designed to operate with a single set of points and no distributor. This is known as a dual fire ignition system, causing both spark plugs to fire regardless of which cylinder was on its compression stroke, with the other spark plug firing on its cylinder's exhaust stroke, effectively " wasting a spark". The exhaust note is basically a throaty growling sound with some popping. The 45° design of the engine thus creates a plug firing sequencing as such: The first cylinder fires, the second (rear) cylinder fires 315° later, then there is a 405° gap until the first cylinder fires again, giving the engine its unique sound. Harley-Davidson has used various ignition systems throughout its history – be it the early points and condenser system, (Big Twin and Sportsters up to 1978), magneto ignition system used on some 1958 to 1969 Sportsters, early electronic with centrifugal mechanical advance weights, (all models from mid-1978 until 1979), or the late electronic with a transistorized ignition control module, more familiarly known as the black box or the brain, (all models 1980 to present). Starting in 1995, the company introduced Electronic Fuel Injection (EFI) as an option for the 30th anniversary edition

Electra Glide The Harley-Davidson FL is a model designation used on Harley-Davidson motorcycles since 1941. The FL prefix is mostly applied to Harley-Davidson's large-framed bikes, including the current Touring series, and also the Softail series, especially ...

. EFI became standard on all Harley-Davidson motorcycles, including Sportsters, upon the introduction of the 2007 product line. In 1991, Harley-Davidson began to participate in the Sound Quality Working Group, founded by Orfield Labs, Bruel and Kjaer,

TEAC TEAC may refer to: * TEAC Corporation () is a Japanese electronics manufacturer. TEAC was created by the merger of the Tokyo Television Acoustic Company, founded in 1953, and the Tokyo Electro-Acoustic Company, founded in 1956. Overview ...

, Sennheiser, SMS and Cortex. This was the nation's first group to share research on psychological acoustics. Later that year, Harley-Davidson participated in a series of sound quality studies at Orfield Labs, based on recordings taken at the

Talladega Superspeedway Talladega Superspeedway, nicknamed “'Dega”, and formerly named Alabama International Motor Speedway (AIMS) from 1969 to 1989, is a motorsports complex located north of Talladega, Alabama. It is located on the former Anniston Air Force Base ...

, with the objective to lower the sound level for EU standards while analytically capturing the "Harley Sound". This research resulted in the bikes that were introduced in compliance with EU standards for 1998. On February 1, 1994, the company filed a sound trademark application for the distinctive sound of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle engine: "The mark consists of the exhaust sound of applicant's motorcycles, produced by V-twin, common crankpin motorcycle engines when the goods are in use". Nine of Harley-Davidson's competitors filed comments opposing the application, arguing that cruiser-style motorcycles of various brands use a single-crankpin V-twin engine which produce a similar sound. These objections were followed by litigation. In June 2000, the company dropped efforts to federally register its trademark.

Big V-twins

F-head The intake/inlet over exhaust, or "IOE" engine, known in the US as F-head, is a four-stroke internal combustion engine whose valvetrain comprises OHV inlet valves within the cylinder head and exhaust side-valves within the engine block.V.A.W H ...

, also known as JD, pocket valve and IOE (intake over exhaust), 1914–1929 (1,000 cc), and 1922–1929 (1,200 cc) * Flathead, 1930–1949 (1,200 cc) and 1935–1941 (1,300 cc). * Knucklehead, 1936–1947 61 cubic inch (1,000 cc), and 1941–1947 74 cubic inch (1,200 cc) *

Panhead The panhead is an overhead-valve Harley-Davidson motorcycle engine, so nicknamed because the rocker covers resembled cooking pans. The engine is a two-cylinder, two-valve-per-cylinder, pushrod V-twin, made in both 61 c.i. (EL) and 74 c.i. (FL, ...

, 1948–1965 61 cubic inch (1,000 cc), and 1948–1965, 74 cubic inch (1,200 cc) *

Shovelhead Shovelhead may refer to: *Harley-Davidson Shovelhead engine, an engine produced by Harley-Davidson from 1966 to 1984 *Bonnethead The bonnethead (''Sphyrna tiburo''), also called a bonnet shark or shovelhead, is a small member of the hammerhea ...

, 1966–1984, 74 cubic inch (1,200 cc) and 80 cubic inch (1,338 cc) since late 1978 *

Evolution Evolution is change in the heritable characteristics of biological populations over successive generations. These characteristics are the expressions of genes, which are passed on from parent to offspring during reproduction. Variation ...

(a.k.a. "Evo" and "Blockhead"), 1984–1999, 80 cubic inch (1,340 cc) * Twin Cam (a.k.a. "Fathead" as named by American Iron Magazine) 1999–2017, in the following versions: ** Twin Cam 88, 1999–2006, 88 cubic inch (1,450 cc) ** Twin Cam 88B, counterbalanced version of the Twin Cam 88, 2000–2006, 88 cubic inch (1,450 cc) ** Twin Cam 95, since 2000, 95 cubic inch (1,550 cc) (engines for early C.V.O. models) ** Twin Cam 96, since 2007. ** Twin Cam 103, 2003–2006, 2009, 103 cubic inch (1,690 cc) (engines for C.V.O. models), Standard on 2011 Touring models: Ultra Limited, Road King Classic and Road Glide Ultra and optional on the Road Glide Custom and Street Glide. Standard on most 2012 models excluding Sportsters and 2 Dynas (Street Bob and Super Glide Custom). Standard on all 2014 dyna models. ** Twin Cam 110, 2007–2017, 110 cubic inch (1,800 cc) (engines for C.V.O. models, 2016 Soft Tail Slim S; FatBoy S, Low Rider S, and Pro-Street Breakout) * Milwaukee-Eight ** Standard : Standard on touring model year 2017+ and Softail models 2018+. ** Twin-cooled : Optional on some touring and trike model year 2017+. ** Twin-cooled : Optional on touring and trike model year 2017+, standard on 2017 CVO models. ** Twin-cooled : Standard on 2018 CVO models

Small V-twins

* D Model, 1929–1931, 750 cc * R Model, 1932–1936, 750 cc * W Model, 1937–1952, 750 cc, solo (2 wheel, frame only) * G (Servi-Car) Model, 1932–1973, 750 cc * K Model, 1952–1953, 750 cc * KH Model, 1954–1956, 900 cc * Ironhead, 1957–1971, 883 cc; 1972–1985, 1,000 cc *

, since 1986, 883 cc, 1,100 cc and 1,200 cc

Revolution engine

The Revolution engine is based on the VR-1000 Superbike race program, developed by Harley-Davidson's Powertrain Engineering with Porsche helping to make the engine suitable for street use. It is a liquid cooled, dual overhead cam, internally counterbalanced 60 degree V-twin engine with a displacement of 69 cubic inch (1,130 cc), producing at 8,250 rpm at the crank, with a redline of 9,000 rpm. It was introduced for the new VRSC (V-Rod) line in 2001 for the 2002 model year, starting with the single VRSCA (V-Twin Racing Street Custom) model. The Revolution marks Harley's first collaboration with Porsche since the V4 Nova project, which, like the V-Rod, was a radical departure from Harley's traditional lineup until it was cancelled by AMF in 1981 in favor of the Evolution engine. A 1,250 cc Screamin' Eagle version of the Revolution engine was made available for 2005 and 2006, and was present thereafter in a single production model from 2005 to 2007. In 2008, the 1,250 cc Revolution Engine became standard for the entire VRSC line. Harley-Davidson claims at the crank for the 2008 VRSCAW model. The VRXSE ''Destroyer'' dragbike is equipped with a stroker (75 mm crank) Screamin' Eagle 79 cubic inch (1,300 cc) Revolution Engine, producing , and more than . 750 cc and 500 cc versions of the Revolution engine are used in Harley-Davidson's

Street line A street is a public thoroughfare in a built environment. It is a public parcel of land adjoining buildings in an urban context, on which people may freely assemble, interact, and move about. A street can be as simple as a level patch of dirt, ...

of light cruisers. These motors, named the Revolution X, use a single overhead cam, screw and locknut valve adjustment, a single internal counterbalancer, and vertically split crankcases; all of these changes making it different from the original Revolution design.

Düsseldorf-Test

An extreme endurance test of the Revolution engine was performed in a dynamometer installation at the Harley-Davidson factory in Milwaukee, simulating the German

Autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...

(highways without general speed limit) between the Porsche research and development center in Weissach, near Stuttgart to

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf ( , , ; often in English sources; Low Franconian and Ripuarian: ''Düsseldörp'' ; archaic nl, Dusseldorp ) is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in th ...

. An undisclosed number of samples of engines failed, until an engine successfully passed the 500-hour nonstop run. This was the benchmark for the engineers to approve the start of production for the Revolution engine, which was documented in the

Discovery channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

special ''Harley-Davidson: Birth of the V-Rod'', October 14, 2001.

Single-cylinder engines

;IOE singles The first Harley-Davidson motorcycles were powered by single-cylinder

IOE engine The intake/inlet over exhaust, or "IOE" engine, known in the US as F-head, is a four-stroke internal combustion engine whose valvetrain comprises OHV inlet valves within the cylinder head and exhaust side-valves within the engine block.V.A.W H ...

s with the inlet valve operated by engine vacuum, based on the DeDion-Bouton pattern. Singles of this type continued to be made until 1913, when a pushrod and rocker system was used to operate the overhead inlet valve on the single, a similar system having been used on their V-twins since 1911. Single-cylinder motorcycle engines were discontinued in 1918. ;Flathead and OHV singles Single-cylinder engines were reintroduced in 1925 as 1926 models. These singles were available either as

flathead engine A flathead engine, also known as a sidevalve engine''American Rodder'', 6/94, pp.45 & 93. or valve-in-block engine is an internal combustion engine with its poppet valves contained within the engine block, instead of in the cylinder head, as ...

s or as

overhead valve An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located be ...

engines until 1930, after which they were only available as flatheads. The flathead single-cylinder motorcycles were designated Model A for engines with magneto systems only and Model B for engines with battery and coil systems, while overhead valve versions were designated Model AA and Model BA respectively, and a magneto-only racing version was designated Model S. This line of single-cylinder motorcycles ended production in 1934. ;Two-stroke singles

Model families

Modern Harley-branded motorcycles fall into one of seven model families: Touring, Softail, Dyna, Sportster, Vrod, Street and LiveWire. These model families are distinguished by the frame, engine, suspension, and other characteristics.

Touring

Harley-Davidson Road King in Switzerland (2022)

Touring models use Big-Twin engines and large-diameter telescopic forks. All Touring designations begin with the letters FL, ''e.g.'', FLHR (Road King) and FLTR (Road Glide). The touring family, also known as "dressers" or "baggers", includes Road King, Road Glide, Street Glide and Electra Glide models offered in various trims. The Road Kings have a "retro cruiser" appearance and are equipped with a large clear windshield. Road Kings are reminiscent of big-twin models from the 1940s and 1950s. Electra Glides can be identified by their full front fairings. Most Electra Glides sport a fork-mounted fairing referred to as the "Batwing" due to its unmistakable shape. The Road Glide and Road Glide Ultra Classic have a frame-mounted fairing, referred to as the "Sharknose". The Sharknose includes a unique, dual front headlight. Touring models are distinguishable by their large saddlebags, rear coil-over air suspension and are the only models to offer full fairings with radios and CBs. All touring models use the same frame, first introduced with a Shovelhead motor in 1980, and carried forward with only modest upgrades until 2009, when it was extensively redesigned. The frame is distinguished by the location of the steering head in front of the forks and was the first H-D frame to rubber mount the drivetrain to isolate the rider from the vibration of the big V-twin. harley

The frame was modified for the 1993 model year when the oil tank went under the transmission and the battery was moved inboard from under the right saddlebag to under the seat. In 1997, the frame was again modified to allow for a larger battery under the seat and to lower seat height. In 2007, Harley-Davidson introduced the Twin Cam 96 engine, as well the six-speed transmission to give the rider better speeds on the highway. In 2006, Harley introduced the FLHX Street Glide, a bike designed by Willie G. Davidson to be his personal ride, to its touring line. In 2008, Harley added

anti-lock braking system An anti-lock braking system (ABS) is a safety anti-skid braking system used on aircraft and on land vehicles, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, and buses. ABS operates by preventing the wheels from locking up during braking, thereby maintaini ...

s and cruise control as a factory installed option on all touring models (standard on CVO and Anniversary models). Also new for 2008 is the fuel tank for all touring models. 2008 also brought throttle-by-wire to all touring models. For the 2009 model year, Harley-Davidson redesigned the entire touring range with several changes, including a new frame, new swingarm, a completely revised engine-mounting system, front wheels for all but the FLHRC Road King Classic, and a 2–1–2 exhaust. The changes result in greater load carrying capacity, better handling, a smoother engine, longer range and less exhaust heat transmitted to the rider and passenger. Also released for the 2009 model year is the FLHTCUTG Tri-Glide Ultra Classic, the first three-wheeled Harley since the Servi-Car was discontinued in 1973. The model features a unique frame and a 103-cubic-inch (1,690 cc) engine exclusive to the trike. In 2014, Harley-Davidson released a redesign for specific touring bikes and called it "Project Rushmore". Changes include a new 103CI High Output engine, one handed easy open saddlebags and compartments, a new Boom! Box Infotainment system with either 4.3-inch (10 cm) or 6.5-inch (16.5 cm) screens featuring touchscreen functionality .5-inch (16.5 cm) models only Bluetooth (media and phone with approved compatible devices), available GPS and SiriusXM, Text-to-Speech functionality (with approved compatible devices) and USB connectivity with charging. Other features include ABS with Reflex linked brakes, improved styling, Halogen or LED lighting and upgraded passenger comfort.

Softail

These big-twin motorcycles capitalize on Harley's strong value on tradition. With the rear-wheel suspension hidden under the transmission, they are visually similar to the "hardtail" choppers popular in the 1960s and 1970s, as well as from their own earlier history. In keeping with that tradition, Harley offers Softail models with "Heritage" styling that incorporate design cues from throughout their history and used to offer "Springer" front ends on these Softail models from the factory. ;Designation Softail models utilize the big-twin engine (F) and the Softail chassis (ST). * Softail models that use 21-inch (530 mm) Front Wheels have designations that begin with FX, ''e.g.'', FXSTB (Night Train), FXSTD (Deuce), and FXSTS (Springer). * Softail models that use 16-inch (410 mm) Front Wheels have designations beginning with FL, ''e.g.'', FLSTF (Fat Boy), FLSTC (Heritage Softail Classic), FLSTN (Softail Deluxe) and FLS (Softail Slim). * Softail models that use Springer forks with a wheel have designations that begin with FXSTS, ''e.g.'', FXSTS (Springer Softail) and FXSTSB (Bad Boy). * Softail models that use Springer forks with a wheel have designations that begin with FLSTS, ''e.g.'', FLSTSC (Springer Classic) and FLSTSB (Cross Bones).

Dyna

Dyna-frame motorcycles were developed in the 1980s and early 1990s and debuted in the 1991 model year with the FXDB Sturgis offered in limited edition quantities. In 1992 the line continued with the limited edition FXDB Daytona and a production model FXD Super Glide. The new DYNA frame featured big-twin engines and traditional styling. They can be distinguished from the Softail by the traditional coil-over suspension that connects the swingarm to the frame, and from the Sportster by their larger engines. On these models, the transmission also houses the engine's oil reservoir. Prior to 2006, Dyna models typically featured a narrow, XL-style 39mm front fork and front wheel, as well as footpegs which the manufacturer included the letter "X" in the model designation to indicate. This lineup traditionally included the Super Glide (FXD), Super Glide Custom (FXDC), Street Bob (FXDB), and Low Rider (FXDL). One exception was the Wide Glide (FXDWG), which featured thicker 41mm forks and a narrow front wheel, but positioned the forks on wider triple-trees that give a beefier appearance. In 2008, the Dyna Fat Bob (FXDF) was introduced to the Dyna lineup, featuring aggressive styling like a new 2–1–2 exhaust, twin headlamps, a 180 mm rear tire, and, for the first time in the Dyna lineup, a 130 mm front tire. For the 2012 model year, the Dyna Switchback (FLD) became the first Dyna to break the tradition of having an FX model designation with floorboards, detachable painted hard saddlebags, touring windshield, headlight nacelle and a wide front tire with full fender. The new front end resembled the big-twin FL models from 1968 to 1971. The Dyna family used the 88-cubic-inch (1,440 cc) twin cam from 1999 to 2006. In 2007, the displacement was increased to 96 cubic inches (1,570 cc) as the factory increased the stroke to . For the 2012 model year, the manufacturer began to offer Dyna models with the 103-cubic-inch (1,690 cc) upgrade. All Dyna models use a rubber-mounted engine to isolate engine vibration. Harley discontinued the Dyna platform in 2017 for the 2018 model year, having been replaced by a completely-redesigned

chassis; some of the existing models previously released by the company under the Dyna nameplate have since been carried over to the new Softail line. ;Designation Dyna models utilize the big-twin engine (F), footpegs noted as (X) with the exception of the 2012 FLD Switchback, a Dyna model which used floorboards as featured on the Touring (L) models, and the Dyna chassis (D). Therefore, except for the FLD from 2012 to 2016, all Dyna models have designations that begin with FXD, ''e.g.'', FXDWG (Dyna Wide Glide) and FXDL (Dyna Low Rider).

Sportster

Introduced in 1957, the Sportster family were conceived as racing motorcycles, and were popular on dirt and flat-track race courses through the 1960s and 1970s. Smaller and lighter than the other Harley models, contemporary Sportsters make use of 883 cc or 1,200 cc Evolution engines and, though often modified, remain similar in appearance to their racing ancestors. Up until the 2003 model year, the engine on the Sportster was rigidly mounted to the frame. The 2004 Sportster received a new frame accommodating a rubber-mounted engine. This made the bike heavier and reduced the available lean angle, while it reduced the amount of vibration transmitted to the frame and the rider, providing a smoother ride for rider and passenger. In the 2007 model year, Harley-Davidson celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Sportster and produced a limited edition called the XL50, of which only 2000 were made for sale worldwide. Each motorcycle was individually numbered and came in one of two colors, Mirage Pearl Orange or Vivid Black. Also in 2007, electronic fuel injection was introduced to the Sportster family, and the Nightster model was introduced in mid-year. In 2009, Harley-Davidson added the Iron 883 to the Sportster line, as part of the Dark Custom series. In the 2008 model year, Harley-Davidson released the XR1200 Sportster in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. The XR1200 had an Evolution engine tuned to produce , four-piston dual front disc brakes, and an aluminum swing arm. '' Motorcyclist'' featured the XR1200 on the cover of its July 2008 issue and was generally positive about it in their "First Ride" story, in which Harley-Davidson was repeatedly asked to sell it in the United States. One possible reason for the delayed availability in the United States was the fact that Harley-Davidson had to obtain the "XR1200" naming rights from Storz Performance, a Harley customizing shop in Ventura, Calif. The XR1200 was released in the United States in 2009 in a special color scheme including Mirage Orange highlighting its dirt-tracker heritage. The first 750 XR1200 models in 2009 were pre-ordered and came with a number 1 tag for the front of the bike, autographed by

Kenny Coolbeth Kenny Coolbeth (born March 30, 1977) is a flat track motorcycle racer from Warren Connecticut, United States. He won the 2006, 2007, and 2008 AMA Grand National Championship. He races the #2 Indian motorcycle. He attended Wamogo Regional High ...

and

Scott Parker Scott Matthew Parker (born 13 October 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently the head coach of Club Brugge in Belgium. Parker began his career at Charlton Athletic, and ...

and a thank you/welcome letter from the company, signed by Bill Davidson. The XR1200 was discontinued in model year 2013. In 2021, Harley-Davidson launched the Sportster S model, with a 121 hp engine and 228 Kg ready-to-ride weight. The Sportster S was one of the first Harleys to come with cornering-ABS and lean-sensitive traction control. The Sportster S is also the first model under the Sportster nameplate since 1957 to receive a completely new engine. ;Designation Except for the street-going XR1000 of the 1980s and the XR1200, most Sportsters made for street use have the prefix XL in their model designation. For the Sportster Evolution engines used since the mid-1980s, there have been two engine sizes. Motorcycles with the smaller engine are designated XL883, while those with the larger engine were initially designated XL1100. When the size of the larger engine was increased from 1,100 cc to 1,200 cc, the designation was changed accordingly from XL1100 to XL1200. Subsequent letters in the designation refer to model variations within the Sportster range, e.g. the XL883C refers to an 883 cc Sportster Custom, while the XL1200S designates the now-discontinued 1200 Sportster Sport.

VRSC

Introduced in 2001 and produced until 2017, the VRSC muscle bike family bears little resemblance to Harley's more traditional lineup. Competing against Japanese and American muscle bikes in the upcoming muscle bike/power cruiser segment, the "V-Rod" makes use of the revolution engine that, for the first time in Harley history, incorporates overhead cams and liquid cooling. The V-Rod is visually distinctive, easily identified by the 60-degree V-Twin engine, the radiator and the

hydroformed Hydroforming is a cost-effective way of shaping ductile metals such as aluminium, brass, low alloy steel, and stainless steel into lightweight, structurally stiff and strong pieces. One of the largest applications of hydroforming is the automot ...

frame members that support the round-topped air cleaner cover. The VRSC platform was also used for factory drag-racing motorcycles. In 2008, Harley added the anti-lock braking system as a factory-installed option on all VRSC models. Harley also increased the displacement of the stock engine from , which had only previously been available from Screamin' Eagle, and added a slipper clutch as standard equipment. VRSC models include: * VRSCA: V-Rod (2002–2006), VRSCAW: V-Rod (2007–2010), VRSCB: V-Rod (2004–2005), VRSCD: Night Rod (2006–2008), VRSCDX: Night Rod Special (2007–2014), VRSCSE: Screamin' Eagle CVO V-Rod (2005), VRSCSE2: Screamin' Eagle CVO V-Rod (2006), VRSCR: Street Rod (2006–2007), VRSCX: Screamin' Eagle Tribute V-Rod (2007), VRSCF: V-Rod Muscle (2009–2014). VRSC models utilize the Revolution engine (VR), and the street versions are designated Street Custom (SC). After the VRSC prefix common to all street Revolution bikes, the next letter denotes the model, either A (base V-Rod: discontinued), AW (base V-Rod + W for Wide with a 240 mm rear tire), B (discontinued), D (Night Rod: discontinued), R (Street Rod: discontinued), SE and SEII (CVO Special Edition), or X (Special edition). Further differentiation within models are made with an additional letter, ''e.g.'', VRSCDX denotes the Night Rod Special.

VRXSE

The VRXSE V-Rod Destroyer is Harley-Davidson's production drag racing motorcycle, constructed to run the quarter mile in less than ten seconds. It is based on the same revolution engine that powers the VRSC line, but the VRXSE uses the Screamin' Eagle 1,300 cc "stroked" incarnation, featuring a 75 mm crankshaft, 105 mm Pistons, and 58 mm throttle bodies. The V-Rod Destroyer is not a street-legal motorcycle. As such, it uses "X" instead of "SC" to denote a non-street bike. "SE" denotes a CVO Special Edition.

Street

The Street, Harley-Davidson's newest platform and their first all new platform in thirteen years, was designed to appeal to younger riders looking for a lighter bike at a cheaper price. The Street 750 model was launched in India at the 2014 Indian Auto Expo, Delhi-NCR on February 5, 2014. The Street 750 weighs 218 kg and has a ground clearance of 144 mm giving it the lowest weight and the highest ground clearance of Harley-Davidson motorcycles currently available. The Street 750 uses an all-new, liquid-cooled, 60° V-twin engine called the Revolution X. In the Street 750, the engine displaces and produces 65 Nm at 4,000 rpm. A six speed transmission is used. The Street 750 and the smaller-displacement Street 500 have been available since late 2014. Street series motorcycles for the North American market will be built in Harley-Davidson's Kansas City, Missouri plant, while those for other markets around the world will be built completely in their plant in Bawal, India.

LiveWire

Harley-Davidson's ''LiveWire'', released in 2019, is their first

electric vehicle An electric vehicle (EV) is a vehicle that uses one or more electric motors for propulsion. It can be powered by a collector system, with electricity from extravehicular sources, or it can be powered autonomously by a battery (sometimes cha ...

. The high-voltage battery provides a minimum city range of 98 miles (158 km). The LiveWire targets a different type of customer than their classic V-twin powered motorcycles. In March 2020, a Harley-Davidson LiveWire was used to break the 24-hour distance record for an electric motorcycle. The bike traveled a reported 1,723 km (1,079 miles) in 23 hours and 48 minutes. The LiveWire offers a Level 1 slow recharge, which uses a regular wall outlet to refill an empty battery overnight, or a quick Level 3 DC Fast Charge. The Fast Charge fills the battery most of the way in about 40 minutes. Swiss rider

Michel von Tell Michel von Tell (8 October 1980) is a Swiss journalist, consultant and racing driver. Life He was a professional baseball player in the Swiss Baseball in Switzerland, NLB league. Miche Von Tell studied economics and was active in the financial i ...

used the Level 3 charging to make the 24-hour ride. In December 2021, the news was published that LiveWire would be spun-off from parent Harley Davidson, set to go public in the first half of 2022 as a

special-purpose acquisition company A special purpose acquisition company (SPAC; ), also known as a "blank check company", is a shell corporation listed on a stock exchange with the purpose of acquiring a private company, thus making it public without going through the traditional i ...

(SPAC) valued at $1.77 billion.

Custom Vehicle Operations

Custom Vehicle Operations (CVO) is a team within Harley-Davidson that produces limited-edition customizations of Harley's stock models. Every year since 1999, the team has selected two to five of the company's base models and added higher-displacement engines, performance upgrades, special-edition paint jobs, more chromed or accented components, audio system upgrades, and electronic accessories to create high-dollar, premium-quality customizations for the factory custom market. The models most commonly upgraded in such a fashion are the Ultra Classic Electra Glide, which has been selected for CVO treatment every year from 2006 to the present, and the Road King, which was selected in 2002, 2003, 2007, and 2008. The Dyna, Softail, and VRSC families have also been selected for CVO customization.

Environmental record

The

Environmental Protection Agency A biophysical environment is a biotic and abiotic surrounding of an organism or population, and consequently includes the factors that have an influence in their survival, development, and evolution. A biophysical environment can vary in scale f ...

conducted emissions-certification and representative emissions test in

Ann Arbor, Michigan Ann Arbor is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of Washtenaw County, Michigan, Washtenaw County. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded its population to be 123,851. It is the principal city of the Ann Arbor ...

, in 2005. Subsequently, Harley-Davidson produced an "environmental warranty". The warranty ensures each owner that the vehicle is designed and built free of any defects in materials and workmanship that would cause the vehicle to not meet EPA standards. In 2005, the EPA and the

Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) is the agency in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania responsible for protecting and preserving the land, air, water, and public health through enforcement of the state's environmental laws. ...

(PADEP) confirmed Harley-Davidson to be the first corporation to voluntarily enroll in the One Clean-Up Program. This program is designed for the clean-up of the affected soil and groundwater at the former York Naval Ordnance Plant. The program is backed by the state and local government along with participating organizations and corporations.Former York Naval Ordnance Plant
2005. Retrieved May 14, 2008 Paul Gotthold, Director of Operations for the EPA, congratulated the motor company: Harley-Davidson also purchased most of Castalloy, a South Australian producer of cast motorcycle wheels and hubs. The South Australian government has set forth "protection to the purchaser (Harley-Davidson) against environmental risks". In August 2016, Harley-Davidson settled with the EPA for $12 million, without admitting wrongdoing, over the sale of after-market "super tuners". Super tuners were devices, marketed for competition, which enabled increased performance of Harley-Davidson products. However, the devices also modified the emission control systems, producing increased

hydrocarbon In organic chemistry, a hydrocarbon is an organic compound consisting entirely of hydrogen and carbon. Hydrocarbons are examples of group 14 hydrides. Hydrocarbons are generally colourless and hydrophobic, and their odors are usually weak or ex ...

and

nitrogen oxide Nitrogen oxide may refer to a binary compound of oxygen and nitrogen, or a mixture of such compounds: Charge-neutral *Nitric oxide (NO), nitrogen(II) oxide, or nitrogen monoxide *Nitrogen dioxide (), nitrogen(IV) oxide * Nitrogen trioxide (), or n ...

. Harley-Davidson is required to buy back and destroy any super tuners which do not meet Clean Air Act requirements and spend $3 million on air pollution mitigation.

Brand culture

According to a recent Harley-Davidson study, in 1987 half of all Harley riders were under age 35. However, by 2006, only 15 percent of Harley buyers were under 35,Harley Just Keeps On Cruisin'
. Business Week (November 6, 2006). Retrieved July 7, 2011. and as of 2005, the

median In statistics and probability theory, the median is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a data sample, a population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as "the middle" value. The basic fe ...

age had risen to 46.7.Bumpy ride for Harley as competitors improve, customers age, SavannaNow

. Coastalsenior.com. Retrieved July 7, 2011.
, source: Harley-Davidson In 2008, Harley-Davidson stopped disclosing the average age of riders; at this point it was 48 years old. In 1987, the

household income of a Harley-Davidson rider was $38,000. By 1997, the

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways of ...

for those riders had more than doubled, to $83,000.Harley Over The Hill? KU School of Journalism and Mass Communications
. Reporting.journalism.ku.edu. Retrieved July 7, 2011. Many Harley-Davidson Clubs exist nowadays around the world; the oldest one, founded in 1928, is in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

. Harley-Davidson attracts a loyal

brand community A brand community is a concept in marketing and consumer research which postulates that human beings form communities on the basis of attachment to a brand or marque. A brand community refers to structured social relationships in which participants ...

, with licensing of the Harley-Davidson logo accounting for almost 5 percent of the company's net revenue ($41 million in 2004). Harley-Davidson supplies many American police forces with their motorcycle fleets. From its founding, Harley-Davidson had worked to brand its motorcycles as respectable and refined products, with ads that showed what motorcycling writer Fred Rau called "refined-looking ladies with parasols, and men in conservative suits as the target market". The 1906 Harley-Davidson's effective, and polite, muffler was emphasized in advertisements with the nickname "The Silent Gray Fellow". That began to shift in the 1960s, partially in response to the clean-cut motorcyclist portrayed in Honda's "

You meet the nicest people on a Honda The Honda Super Cub or Honda Cub is a Honda underbone motorcycle with a four-stroke single-cylinder engine ranging in displacement from . In continuous manufacture since 1958 with production surpassing 60 million in 2008, 87 million in 2014, an ...

" campaign, when Harley-Davidson sought to draw a contrast with Honda by underscoring the more working-class, macho, and even a little anti-social attitude associated with motorcycling's dark side. With the 1971 FX Super Glide, the company embraced, rather than distanced, itself from chopper style, and the counterculture custom Harley scene. Their marketing cultivated the "bad boy" image of

biker Biker or bikie may refer to: * A cyclist, a bicycle rider or participant in cycling sports * A motorcyclist, any motorcycle rider or passenger, or participant in motorcycle sports ** A motorcycle club member, defined more narrowly than all motor ...

and motorcycle clubs, and to a point, even outlaw or one-percenter motorcycle clubs.

Origin of "Hog" nickname

Beginning in 1920, a team of farm boys, including

Ray Weishaar Lawrence Ray Weishaar (September 9, 1890 – April 13, 1924) was a Class A Racing Champion in the 1910s and 1920s. He rode for the Harley-Davidson 'Wrecking Crew,' and helped to popularize the nickname 'hog' in reference to Harley-Davidson by ...

, who became known as the "hog boys", consistently won races. The group had a live hog as their

mascot A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...

. Following a win, they would put the hog on their Harley and take a

victory lap A victory lap (also lap of honor) is a term used in motorsports to describe an extra lap of the race track after the conclusion of a race. This lap, driven at reduced speed, allows the winning driver to celebrate their victory and gives the sp ...

.Harley-Davidson
– History In 1983, the Motor Company formed a club for owners of its product, taking advantage of the long-standing nickname by turning "hog" into the acronym HOG, for Harley Owners Group. Harley-Davidson attempted to trademark "hog", but lost a case against an independent Harley-Davidson specialist, The Hog Farm of West Seneca, New York, in 1999, when the appellate panel ruled that "hog" had become a generic term for large motorcycles and was therefore unprotectable as a trademark. On August 15, 2006, Harley-Davidson Inc. had its NYSE ticker symbol changed from HDI to HOG.

Bobbers

Harley-Davidson FL "big twins" normally had heavy steel fenders, chrome trim, and other ornate and heavy accessories. After

, riders wanting more speed would often shorten the fenders or take them off completely to reduce the weight of the motorcycle. These bikes were called "bobbers" or sometimes "choppers", because parts considered unnecessary were chopped off. Those who made or rode choppers and bobbers, especially members of motorcycle clubs like the Hells Angels, referred to stock FLs as "garbage wagons".

Harley Owners Group

Harley-Davidson established the

Harley Owners Group The Harley Owners Group (HOG) is a sponsored community marketing club, operated by Harley-Davidson for enthusiasts of that brand's motorcycles. The HOG is "the grandaddy of all community-building efforts," serving to promote not just a consumer ...

(HOG) in 1983 to build on the loyalty of Harley-Davidson enthusiasts as a means to promote a lifestyle alongside its products. The HOG also opened new revenue streams for the company, with the production of tie-in merchandise offered to club members, numbering more than one million. Other motorcycle brands, and other and consumer brands outside motorcycling, have also tried to create factory-sponsored

community marketing Community marketing is a strategy to engage an audience in an active, non-intrusive prospect and customer conversation. Definition Whereas marketing communication strategies such as advertising, promotion, PR, and sales all focus on attain ...

clubs of their own. HOG members typically spend 30 percent more than other Harley owners on such items as clothing and Harley-Davidson-sponsored events. In 1991, HOG went international, with the first official European HOG Rally in Cheltenham, England. Today, more than one million members and more than 1400 chapters worldwide make HOG the largest factory-sponsored motorcycle organization in the world. HOG benefits include organized group rides, exclusive products and product discounts
insurance discounts
and the Hog Tales newsletter. A one-year full membership is included with the purchase of a new, unregistered Harley-Davidson. In 2008, HOG celebrated its 25th anniversary in conjunction with the Harley 105th in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 3rd Southern HOG Rally set to bring together largest gathering of Harley-Davidson owners in South India. More than 600 Harley-Davidson Owners expected to ride to Hyderabad from across 13 HOG Chapters.

Factory tours and museum

Harley-Davidson offers factory tours at four of its manufacturing sites, and the

, which opened in 2008, exhibits Harley-Davidson's history, culture, and vehicles, including the motor company's corporate archives. *

– Vehicle Operations: Manufacturing site for Touring class, Softail, and custom vehicles. *

Tomahawk, Wisconsin Tomahawk is a city in Lincoln County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 3,346 at the 2010 census. The city is located to the northeast of the Town of Tomahawk and is not contiguous with it. History Before 1837, the land where Tomaha ...

– Tomahawk Operations: Facility that makes sidecars, saddlebags, windshields, and more. *

Kansas City, Missouri Kansas City (abbreviated KC or KCMO) is the largest city in Missouri by population and area. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 508,090 in 2020, making it the 36th most-populous city in the United States. It is the central ...

– Vehicle and Powertrain Operations: Manufacturing site of Sportster, VRSC, and other vehicles. * Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin – Pilgrim Road Powertrain Operations plant, two types of tours. *

Milwaukee, Wisconsin Milwaukee ( ), officially the City of Milwaukee, is both the most populous and most densely populated city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin and the county seat of Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County. With a population of 577,222 at th ...

– Harley-Davidson Museum: Archive; exhibits of people, products, culture and history; restaurant & café; and museum store. Due to the consolidation of operations, the Capitol Drive Tour Center in

Wauwatosa, Wisconsin Wauwatosa (; known informally as Tosa; originally Wau-wau-too-sa or Hart's Mill) is a city in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, Milwaukee County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 48,387 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 census. Wauwatos ...

, was closed in 2009.

Historic register designations

Some of the company's buildings have been listed on state and national historic registers, including: *

Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Factory Building The Harley-Davidson Motorcycle Factory Building was the original Harley-Davidson motorcycle factory constructed in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 1906. The factory was located at what is now 3700 W. Juneau and it was regularly expanded with additions in ...

– added to National Register of Historic Places on November 9, 1994. * Factory No. 7 – added to Wisconsin State Register of Historic Places on August 14, 2020.

Anniversary celebrations

Beginning with Harley-Davidson's 90th anniversary in 1993, Harley-Davidson has had celebratory rides to

called the "Ride Home". This new tradition has continued every five years, and is referred to unofficially as "Harleyfest", in line with Milwaukee's other festivals (Summerfest, German fest, Festa Italiana, etc.). This event brings Harley riders from all around the world. The 105th anniversary celebration was held on August 28–31, 2008, and included events in Milwaukee, Waukesha,

Racine Jean-Baptiste Racine ( , ) (; 22 December 163921 April 1699) was a French dramatist, one of the three great playwrights of 17th-century France, along with Molière and Corneille as well as an important literary figure in the Western traditio ...

, and Kenosha counties, in Southeast Wisconsin. The 110th-anniversary celebration was held on August 29–31, 2013. The 115th anniversary was held in

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

, the home country of the oldest existing Harley Davidson Club, on July 5–8, 2018 and attracted more than 100,000 visitors and 60,000 bikes.

Labor Hall of Fame

William S. Harley, Arthur Davidson, William A. Davidson and Walter Davidson Sr were, in 2004, inducted into the

Labor Hall of Fame The United States Department of Labor Hall of Honor is in the Frances Perkins Building, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC. It is a monument to honor Americans who have made a positive contribution to how people in the United States work an ...

for their accomplishments for the H-D company and its workforce.U.S. Department of Labor – Labor Hall of Fame – Harley-Davidson
. Dol.gov. Retrieved July 7, 2011.

Television drama

The company's origins were dramatized in a 2016 miniseries entitled ''

Harley and the Davidsons ''Harley and the Davidsons'' is a 2016 American television miniseries directed by Ciarán Donnelly and Stephen Kay, and co-written by Nick Schenk, Evan Wright and Seth Fisher which dramatizes the origins of motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davids ...

'', starring Robert Aramayo as William Harley, Bug Hall as Arthur Davidson and Michiel Huisman as Walter Davidson, and premiered on the

Discovery Channel Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Channe ...

as a "three-night event series" on September 5, 2016.

References

External links

* {{Authority control, state=expanded Motorcycle manufacturers of the United States Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Wisconsin Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1903 1903 establishments in Wisconsin Companies based in Wisconsin Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange American brands American companies established in 1903