Harley Davidson History Essay

Actually, the history of the Harley-Davidson fellowship began in 1903, when two brothers, Bill Harley and Walter Davidson, invented their initiatory ride in Milwaukee (Gannon, 2002, p. 8). At that period of time other companies produced repulsebikes in the North-American states and one of them, the Indian Motorcycle Company, became the important competitor of Harley-Davidson for many old age. In fact, it was a bicycle, equipped with a one-cylinder motor. All details of that pedal were produced manually. Later, the jiffy version of that bike was produced with more powerful motor and it became the first motorcycle for sale (p. 10).Three bikes were assembled that year and the Harley-Davidson Company opened the first foliate of its history. In 1904, the brothers produced 8 motorcycles and in 1906 it were 50. The play along developed very chop-chop and by that period of time it included nearly 20 employees hired. Harley-Davidson forever aspired to create a high speed bike an d as a result the new vex kn accept as V-twin was introduced in 1909. The curiously designed vacuum valves and a belt transmitting were the main features of that instance (Oliver, 1957, p. 26). In 1910, the legendary Bar and Shield logo was developed.It continues to be the main defining symbol of Harley-Davidson bikes today (p. 28). The significant progress of the Harley-Davidson Company took vest in 1912. A new 6-story factory was built and first foreign sales were made in Japan. That year Harley-Davidson presented its first version of vend box. The mechanism of chain gear was designed in 1913 and a three-speed sliding-gear transmission was developed in 1915 (p. 32). It should be emphasized that the First World state of war played a big role in the development of the Harley-Davidson Company.So, about 20,000 motorcycles were exchange to the U. S. military forces by the end of 1918 (Walker, 2000, p. 67). The granted order importantly improved the reputation of Harley-Davids on and having 2,000 additional dealerships worldwide the troupe managed to become the biggest motorcycle factory in the world (Oliver, 1957, p. 34). Improving the turn of events of V-twin motors, companys constructors couldnt urinate rid of the main problems, typical for the given split up of motors. The opened valves often clogged up and had a lot of fear problems.At that time, Indian Motorcycle Company used another construction of V-motors. Though, theoretically that construction was less effective the engineers managed to bring it to perfection and got the maximal power and maintenance simplicity. For that reason, the administration of the Harley-Davidson Company took decision to create its own class of V-motors with longitudinal bulgement. The first pattern of that bike appeared in the demise days of the second decade (p. 35). The new model, equipped with the Flathead V-twin engine was invented in 1929 (Walker, 2000, p. 72).The motors of the given model were equipped with side-valves and the classical Flathead could successfully compete with the merchandise of the Indian Motorcycle Company. Unfortunately, Flathead appeared two months earlier the moment when the Great falloff began. The number of sales decreased in several times, but the company managed to survive when others went bankrupt. However, having survived the depression time the company managed to stabilize its economy and was in very advantageous position huge demand and the absence of supply. In 1932, the three-wheel Servi-Car was developed (Oliver, 1957, p. 38).Together with the change, called as the eagle design, which was painted on all Harley-Davidson gas tanks, there were a lot of changes made in the engine s construction. Afterwards, the given model made a tidy impression on the U. S. police, as a result, Servi-Car managed to become police vehicle (p. 38). In 1936, the Knucklehead motorbike was invented and managed to become the victory over the Indian (p. 39). The given model took place on the market for 12 years and had a huge influence on the further developments. The engineers continued works on Knucklehead model even during the Second World War.Having changed the motors configuration and added the hydraulic device intended for pushing valves, the constructors managed to get rid of adjusting gaps. Due to the aluminum body of engine the motors heat emission was increased. Afterwards, bikers called that model Penhead. The main event which took place in 1953, it was the collapse of the main competitor of Harley Davidson Indian Motorcycle Company (Walker, 2000, p. 88). Nevertheless, the company faced a lot of problems in the marketing stadium due to the fast development of Japanese and European motorbike companies.Thus, having sold the part of its stocks, Harley Davidson was involved in the cruel fight against foreign producers. In 1969, American Machine and Foundry Company bought the control packet of shares of Harley Davidson and became its develope d owner (Oliver, 1957, p. 40). The new motorcycles had a negative impact on the companys reputation and Harley Davidson began to lose the market of Big-twin and Sportster models. In 1971, FX Super soaring model was produced (p. 43). Although the given model wasnt popular, Harley Davidson developed its further comical motorcycles on the basis of FX Super Glide.By the middle of 70-s the given models couldnt cope with the production of Japanese competitors. As a result, in 1981 elderberry bush members of Harley-Davidson bought back Harley-Davidson Motor Company from AMF (Walker, 2000, p. 90). In 1983 the group H. O. G was founded and became the largest factory-sponsored motorcycle club in the world. By the year 2000, the club had over 500,000 members (Gannon, 2002, p. 15). In 1984, the new Evolution V2 model with an aluminum head was presented to public (Oliver, 1957, p. 42).At the end of this revolutionary decade for Harley-Davidson, the FXSTS Springer Softail model was introduced into the lineup. It was made on the basis of motorcycles of the 1940-s and equipped with the new-fangled 1340 cc motor (Walker, 2000, p. 92). The appearance of the given engine allowed the Harley Davidson Company to produce many motorcycles by individual orders. So, debut of such model as FLSTF Fat-Boy in the early 1990-s can be considered as a good evidence of that fact. In 2001, the new model of Harley-Davidson was presented for the 2002 model year.The main feature of the given model was suggested to be the modern engine, equipped with a liquid-cooled system. It should be pointed out that today the Harley Davidson Company takes the spark advance position in the business World, when demand exceeds supply, that allows to increase the prices of production and stock.ReferencesGannon E. , Veno A. (2002). Brotherhoods deep down the Outlaw Motorcycle Clubs. Crows Nest Allen & Unwin Oliver S. H. (1957). Automobiles and Motorcycles in the U. S. National Museum. Washington Smithsonian psychiatric hospital Walker S. M. (2000). Bikers Culture, Politics and Power. New York Berg