Saw a picture of Harley Davidson earlier on Facebook. Actually, it was a photo of a graduating senior from a high school in the next county. The tradition is to list their full names. Young Mr. Davidson has the middle name Harley. 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 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® motorcycle to participate in a motorcycle race. And while it didn't win, the team was already off and running to make motorcycle history!
