Saw a picture of Harley Davidson earlier on Facebook.?ÿ Actually, it was a photo of a graduating senior from a high school in the next county.?ÿ The tradition is to list their full names.?ÿ Young Mr. Davidson has the middle name Harley.?ÿ He has a common, for these days, first name.
Some parents have quite a sense of humor, that may or may not be appreciated by their children over a lifetime.
Of course, most people know that Mr. Harley and?ÿ the three Davidson brothers were partners.
When was Harley-Davidson officially founded?
Harley-Davidson was founded in 1903 in Milwaukee, WI and officially incorporated in 1907, with Walter Davidson acting as the first president. Arthur Davidson became the first general sales manager and the secretary, while William Davidson was the first works manager. William Harley, meanwhile, became the chief engineer and treasurer.
Given the ratio of three Davidsons to one Harley, you may wonder why the company wasn't called Davidson-Harley. Since the original idea for the motorcycle came from William Harley, the gang thought it was only fair to have his name first.
Who were the founders of Harley-Davidson?
A common question is whether or not Harley-Davidson is a person. It??s actually four people.
William Harley was only a year older than Arthur Davidson. The two boys grew up just a couple of houses apart in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Such was the start of their lifelong friendship.
Both boys were enamored with bicycles. William even took a job at a Milwaukee-based bicycle factory when he was 15, rising from the rank of cycle fitter to drafter, which led him to work as a draftsman at the Barth Manufacturing Company. It was there that he designed his first internal combustion engine. It was based on the French de Dion-Bouton engine, which would go on to be used by many early motorcycle manufacturers.
Along with Arthur, another draftsman from Barth, and a friend whose father owned a lathe, William and his cohorts would spend the next several years working on a proto motorcycle in their spare time. The prototype fizzled out, but it proved invaluable because it made William and Arthur realize that they needed a machinist.
The two reached out to Arthur's older brother Walter, who was living in Parsons, Kansas, at the time. Walter arrived expecting to see a motorcycle but instead was greeted by an unfinished mess. But in that mess, Walter saw a dream, so he decided to stay in Milwaukee to make William and Arthur's dream a reality.
Soon, another mechanic, William Davidson, Arthur's eldest brother, joined the trio. By 1904, a second prototype was completed. It was the first-ever Harley-Davidson???ÿmotorcycle to participate in a motorcycle race. And while it didn't win, the team was already off and running to make motorcycle history!
I'd like to take this opportunity to mention some usually omitted details concerning the development of the brothers' dream and their ultimate product. This is the genesis of what I call "H-D Engineering".
Back in early 1900s the team's goal was to produce a bicycle that didn't require (much) peddling. Developing and producing a reciprocating internal combustion engine that was light enough was an early hurdle. Aluminum production I might add was still in its infancy.
The guys were eventually successful. But due to the materials used the early prototypes weighed more than thay had preferred. This led to eventual frame failures, not to mention the ravages on spoked bicycle wheels and tires.
As was common in the early days of America's mechanized revolution the answer was simple; if it broke, make it thicker and bigger. That is basic "H-D Engineering" in a nutshell. The firm eventually perfected, produced and marketed their "powered bicycle"...After all the proper modifications if sported 61 c.i. 2 cylinder engine and weighed in around 700 pounds. 19th. century American engineering at its finest. 😉
I sold my last motorsickle a few years ago. Before corrective heart surgery I was prone to syncopal episodes which made my wife nervous about my riding. The Byrds said it best about a season for everything.
The kid that bought my "powered bicycle" was one happy puppy.
Long may you run.
Over 30 years ago I was participating in an organized walking tour of a specific historic street in Parsons, Kansas being led by a local historian assis ted by other local history buffs. As a couple hundred of us followed along, the leader and various locals dressed up in period-appropriate attire would start a conversation. One of the houses had once been the home of Walter Davidson when he was an employee of the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad Company (MKT or Katy). So the leader had a chat with Walter (local history buff in costume) while we all listened. That was the day I learned about Walter Davidson living in my mother's hometown.
