Facts Of Harley-Davidson – From Startup To Icon

In a city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin is the home of Harley-Davidson Motorcycle which we all know is the iconic American motorcycle manufacturer. It was founded in 1903 by William S. Harley and brothers Arthur and Walter Davidson, in which they produced and sold their first motorcycle.

Harley-Davidson incorporated in 1907, setting roots in Milwaukee and hiring employees and by the end of the decade their signature 45-degree air-cooled V-twin. The following decade they continued to expand many sales were by Uncle Sam and with the American military sourcing motorcycles during the first war.

In the early 30’s Harley found themselves producing high quantities of bikes during World War II which came to 90,000 units. They introduced Sportster in 1957 which was post war which is now the oldest production.

There were changes in ownership in 1960’s and went public in 1965 and merged with American Machine and Foundry (AMF) in 1969 then there was a decline in fortunes from AMF that they sold the stake back to current ownership now which the Davidson’s family involve in day-to-day running of Harley-Davidson with Willie G. Davidson served as President.

In the 80’s and 90’s there were a lot of model families that continues to this day such as Softail, FLT, and Road King lines joining classic models like Electra Glide. In the 90’s Harley-Davidson took control of the American sportbike/street bike manufacturer and selling Buell motorcycles at many of the dealers nationwide.

The pubic knows Harley-Davidson for its cruisers, but Americans firm does have a storied racing past. Present racing is focused on success in the NHRA drag and AMA flat track series.