The Founding of Harley Davidson

Based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Harley Davidson is one of the most famous of motorcycle companies in the world. Known for their large displacement cruisers, Harley is an iconic symbol of freedom and American biker style. Harley engines also have a signature sound and a customized look that sets them apart from other bikes.

Harley Davidson began in 1901, when a young William Harley designed a small motor to be fitted onto a bicycle. Within two years, with the help of Arthur Davidson, his brother Walter, and the use of the machine shop of Henry Melk, they built their first bike. This underpowered machine was deemed insufficient and work soon began on their next bike.

Moving into a shed, in the Davidson’s backyard, they soon developed a new design, borrowing a frame design and getting engine help from Ole Evinrude. By September 1904, they entered their first race, placing forth at State Fair Park in Milwaukee.

Soon they began producing engines for do-it-yourselfers and a few bikes. The first Harley Davidson dealership started in 1905, owned by Carl H. Lang in Chicago, where he sold three motorcycles in the first year. The company was incorporated in 1907 and by that time, they had built and began expansion of their factory on Chestnut Street in Milwaukee.

Building modest and underpowered single cylinder motorcycles at the rate of 150 a year, no one could have predicted the large displacement mass-produced bikes of twenty years later. Harley has gone on to be a household word, a huge corporation and a symbol of American idealism.