The history of Harley-Davidson motorcycle, a century-old legend of American highway
[Brand History] Professor Commager, an American critic, tried to explore "the elusive thing called the American spirit" in the book "The American Spirit", which is a combination of self-confidence, independence, enterprising, tolerance and freedom, and also contains profound confusion and confusion. Regarding the American spirit, I believe everyone has their own interpretation. If you were asked to find a brand in America that best explains the American spirit, who would you choose? The first thing that comes to my mind is not the car brands, but the Harley-Davidson we are going to talk about today.
Since 1903, Harley-Davidson has not only produced countless "exciting products" (Clinton’s evaluation), but also created a riding culture that embodies passion, freedom and independence. In the course of one hundred years’ development, it has experienced many baptism of war, economic recession, buyout and repurchase, foreign competition and market changes, and its success is called the legend of American traditional manufacturing industry. However, for such a brand, it is easy to be over-exaggerated and mythical. In the final analysis, it is only a means of transportation or one of the tools for people to express their personality, and it is not the only one. How to interpret the brand connotation of Harley-Davidson? I believe that a comprehensive understanding of its history is a good way.
● Milwaukee, the birthplace of legend
There was no expressway in Milwaukee more than 100 years ago. Most roads were paved with pebbles, and the streets were mostly gravel roads or dirt roads. Wagons are the main means of transportation in this city, while ordinary people without wagons have to walk or ride bicycles. Of course, the difficulties people faced at that time were far more than just traveling, but also incurable diseases and lack of material conditions.
Although the basic conditions are very poor, the industrial revolution has brought people extremely valuable wealth, which is creativity and imagination, and they are brave enough to try. In those days, gasoline-powered vehicles occasionally appeared on the roads, which always attracted crowds to watch. Most importantly, these vehicles and their related stories inspired the creativity of many young people in the early days, including William Harley, 21, and Arthur Davidson, 20.
William Harley and Arthur Davidson are both Milwaukee natives. Interestingly, they are both neighbors and work in the same metal factory. William Harley is a cartographer, while Arthur Davidson is a model mechanic. As amateurs, the two of them originally wanted to build a motor vehicle that relied on driving. Nevertheless, the difficulties in making such a car at that time are unimaginable now. You can’t go to the store or buy the parts you need through the mail order catalogue. Most of the parts must be designed and manufactured by yourself.
They are not just dreamers (), but supported by certain knowledge and technical foundation. William Harley once worked for a bicycle manufacturer and knew about the related hardware. Arthur Davidson has experience in engine model manufacturing. After two years of experiments, they made some progress, but they still needed more help, especially the knowledge about machinery, so they found Arthur Davidson’s brother Walter Davidson.
Walter Davidson is a highly skilled railway mechanic. After studying the design sketch, he decided to stay in Milwaukee to help William Harley and Arthur Davidson complete the engine development. At first, their experiment was carried out in the basement of their home, and the first engine was successfully manufactured and then installed on the bicycle. However, they found that the engine was too small to generate enough power, so they had to redesign it.
On the door panel of the wooden house, the words "HARLEY-DAVION MOTOR CO" are written, which is the first time that the two surnames of Harley-Davidson have been put together. Perhaps they wouldn’t have thought that this company, which was born in a log cabin, would develop into a legendary enterprise madly loved by car fans all over the world in the near future, and everything in the story really started here.
After repeated tests, the first mass-produced Harley-Davidson motorcycle was officially born in 1903, named Serial No.1 The equipment of this car is extremely simple. It can be said that it has two wheels and an engine, and the top speed is only 11km/h. The single-cylinder engine has a row and the displacement is 440ml. At present, Serial No.1 is treasured in the exhibition hall of Juneau Street.
Interestingly, for a long time, people didn’t know that serial number 1 was the first Harley-Davidson motorcycle. Until one day, when the repair members were disassembling some parts, they found that there was a "1" marked by the original mechanic, and the unexpected discovery made everyone excited.
At the beginning of the company’s establishment, although there were only three founders, William Harley and the Davidson brothers still divided their work. Among them, Walter Davidson was appointed, Arthur Davidson was in charge of sales, and William Harley was the chief engineer. In 1907, William Davidson, one of Davidson’s three brothers, joined the team and served as vice president, forming the earliest entrepreneurial team of Harley Davidson. Regarding the history of Harley-Davidson’s birth, there is a video below, and interested friends can have an addiction.
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