Harley-Davidson is one of the most recognisible brands around the world. It is a brand that is synonymous with its sector. When asked to name a motorcycle most people will say “Harley”, just as they would say "Coke" for soda or "Nike" for trainer.
There is more to Harley-Davidson than just a brand, though; there is a something about a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. It looks like a motorcycle should, the chrome pipes, the tear drop-shaped petrol tank with a stylized eagle painted on it; but most of all is it has an instantly recognizable sound.
The sound is so important to the Harley-Davidson brand that in 1994 they filed a sound trademark application to try to register the distinctive sound of their engine. The application stated that "The mark consists of the exhaust sound of applicant's motorcycles, produced by V-twin, common crankpin motorcycle engines when the goods are in use".
Harley-Davidson's competitors officially opposed the application, arguing that they also used a single-crankpin V-twin engine in some of their motorcycles and these engines produced a similar sound. In 2001 Harley-Davidson dropped efforts to federally register its trademark. However, legal counsel for the company still claims that the Harley-Davidson holds trademark rights in the sound even without a registration.
The sound is not the only iconic element to be found on a Harley-Davidson. Just as important as the sound is the 45 degree V-twin engine that has been a constant since it was first introduced in 1909. Harley-Davidson’s bar and shield logo has a perfect and recognisable silhouette that enhances the recognition factor of the brand and also looks very cool emblazoned on a battered leather jacket.
Harley History
At a very basic level a motorcycle is just a bicycle with an engine. The first Harley-Davidson ever built was exactly that, but with a slightly modified frame to make the engine easier to mount. It had pedals, so the rider could pedal if they wanted.
In 1903, the same year Henry Ford incorporated the Ford Motor Company and the Wright Brothers flew their first airplane, William Harley and his friends Arthur and Walter Davidson created the first Harley-Davidson.
In 1901 Harley, then aged 21 and not yet a college graduate, had drawn up plans for a small engine that displaced 7.07 cubic inches (116 cc). Over the next two years Harley, Arthur and Walter labored on their motor-bicycle in a small wooden shed with the words "Harley-Davidson Motor Company" hand-painted on the door.
Unfortunately their years of toil did not pay off, on the first test run around the streets of Milwaukee they found that their motor-bicycle was not powerful enough to climb the town’s modest hills without being pedaled. Harley and the Davidsons decided to go back to the drawing board, treating their first attempt as a valuable learning experience.
They immediately began work on a new and improved machine, which was to become the first real Harley-Davidson ever made. To give then the power they wanted they gave it a bigger engine, this time displacing 24.74 cubic inches (405 cc). Most of the major parts for the new engine were not made in the small wooden shed, but were created at the West Milwaukee rail-shops where the eldest Davidson brother, William, worked as a tools foreman. The three friends also received help with their engine from the outboard motor pioneer, Ole Evinrude, who was at that time building gas engines of his own design for use in motorcars.
Instead of merely mounting the engine on a bicycle they constructed a loop-frame that meant it was no longer a motor-bicycle but a real motorcycle. This Harley-Davidson would, in years to come, define what a motorcycle should look like and include in its design and construction.
Upon its completion, instead of merely testing it on the hills and streets of Milwaukee, it was decided that a real test of its abilities was required. The friends entered their motorcycle in a Milwaukee race held at the State Fair Park in September 1904. The rider was Edward Hildebrand and he came in fourth place.
Not long after the first test of its racing abilities advertisements appeared in the Automobile and Cycle Trade Journal offering Harley-Davidson engines to the do-it-yourself trade. By April of that year fully assembled motorcycles were in production on a limited basis. One of the first was sold to Henry Meyer, a friend of Harley and Arthur. Slowly word got around and when the first Harley-Davidson dealer opened in Chicago, they sold three bikes out of the twelve that had been built.
And so the Harley-Davidson motorcycle hit the streets of the United States.
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