THE CLASSIC HARLEY
Many thanks to Mark Williams for the following excerpts from The Classic Harley
For Hundreds of thousands of motorcyclists the Harley Davidson marque represents an expression of human spirit enjoyed by no other brand of vehicle, whether two or four wheeled, a name that's synonymous with a distinctive attitude and a proud lifestyle. Unlike the "Big Four" Japanese companies that dominate the world market, the Harley Davidson Motor Co. have been building motorcycles since 1903, but this depth of history is as important in human as it is in numerical terms, for the stamp of the Harley and Davidson families who founded the company has remained firmly embodied in its machines throughout this entire period. Back in 1903 world markets were probably the last thing on the minds of Arthur and Walter Davidson and Bill Harley. Bill and Walter were working for Milwaukee's Barth Manufacturing Co. where a German immigrant colleague helped them perfect a crude, 3-horsepower, single cylinder engine based on the French DeDion design. The frame that they bolted this engine into was a unique, loop-frame unit considerably stronger than most of the diamond pattern designs that other fledgling manufacturers of powered bicycles tended to utilize. Painted in gleaming black enamel with pin-striping and a logo design applied by the steady hand of Aunt Janet Davidson, this was one handsome and much admired machine. But despite temptations to follow their own star, the three men were sufficiently pragmatic to stay on the Barth payroll for a further three years, devoting only their spare time to the development of the Harley Davidson Motor Co. and its motorcycles. So by 1906 a mere fifty bikes had been produced and sold, at which point the founding trio were joined by the elder Davidson sibling, William A., and moved into a wooden shed built by the Davidsons' father in the family's backyard - a site now owned by the Miller Brewing Company. From this modest workshop the four men and their sole employee tripled their previous productions total in just one year, and in 1908 some 450 bikes left the tiny 'factory', all of them developed from Bill Harley's original single cylinder, belt-driven design. It wasn't until 1909 that the V-twin engine which is today synonymous with the company name appeared in its rudimentary 61 cu. In. (1000 cc) guise, the ever practical Bill Harley effecting this transformation by simply grafting an extra cylinder onto the existing single which, conveniently enough, was slanted forward to follow the line of the chassis downtube, resulting in the 45 degree angle that became its trademark. The bottom end was beefed up to cope with the extra grunt of this first 'hog' and other modifications and additions followed thick and fast, including the first fully productionised motorcycle clutch (1912), the 'step-starter' and internal expanding rear brake (1914) and a 3-speed transmission (1915). In the first two decades of the century mass production of the internal combustion engine and the industrial revolution of which it was a fundamental part opened up a huge new market for personal mobility. Then, as now, the motorcycle was in many ways the poor relation of the automobile, appealing more to blue rather than the white collar workers and in this transport-hungry marketplace there was a proliferation of ill-financed manufacturers producing badly designed and shoddily made machines. But by 1914 the Harley Davidson Motor Co. had expanded rapidly to occupy nearly 300,000 sq. ft. and employ over one thousand five hundred people, such was the demand for its carefully conceived, high quality products. Equally crucial to this success was Harley Davidson's use of reliability as a vital marketing gambit and they entered their bikes in numerous endurance trials and lengthy road races, often ridden by the founders themselves. Their dominance in these events clearly bore fruit in sales which, by 1920, had reached over 28,000 a year but the Depression which followed in '21 saw that figure drop by almost two thirds. Known as fair, even philanthropic employers, this meant difficult decisions for the founders, as it involved substantial lay-offs at the Juneau Avenue plant. But if times were tough for Harley, other manufacturers were completely wiped out by the 1920-21 recession, and this handed the Milwaukee company the lion's share of the low sales volumes that were achievable. Mindful of the precarious effect the national economy could have on their company, Harley Davidson cultivated sales to the military and police departments, developed their own line of sidecars (including those built solely for freight and deliveries) and a very popular 74 cu. In. (1200 cc.) aero engine based on their fore-and-aft motorcycle engine. The 'twenties were also notable for the racing successes of the 21 cu. In. (344 cc.) OHV 'peashooter' single in speedway and hill-climb events all over the world. Late in that decade, the second generation of the two founding families was entering the company, continuing a tradition which even today is not lost on customers who aschew the faceless corporate identities of the Japanese multi-nationals. By the time of the 1929 Wall Street Crash there were six Davidsons and three Harleys working for the company, most of whom started out on the factory floor. They needed all their resolve and dedication to weather the Great Depression which followed, for while sales dropped only slightly in 1930 - from almost 21,000 units to some 17,600 - the 1931 model year saw this figure plummet to a paltry 10,000 units. Fortunately the biggest casualties were the single cylinder machines, the newer V-twins proving especially attractive to bikers who could still afford motorcycles and, most particularly, America's police departments. Harvey Davidson also continued to sponsor their racing activities during the thirties, their biggest star being a quiet Canadian, Joe Petrali who, as well as being a versatile master of board-. dirt-track and hill-climb,, provided valuable design input on Harley Davidson's seminal OHV 'knucklehead' engine (so called because of the shape of the valve housings), launched in 1936 and remaining in production for eleven years. The Knucklehead, available in 61, 74 and 80 cu. in. versions, featured a high-pressure lube system, 4-speed gearbox, roller-bearing cranks and greatly improved chassis and suspension, and the models they powered are still deemed by many to be the best looking ever. However, the star of the decade, certainly in financial terms, was the Servi-Car, a three-wheeler developed for the military at the behest of William S. Harley and Walter Davidson. This odd looking vehicle used the lowly 45 cu. in. (737 cc.) side-valve motor mated to an enclosed, automobile-type differential via a 3-speed gearbox and chain drive. Versions of the Servi-Car were still being built well into the early 'sixties and during the WWII period alone nearly 89,000 units rolled off the production line. Harley's fortunes fluctuated during the 'forties, aided by the slow demise of their only remaining domestic competitor, Indian, whose disastrous flirtation with lightweight 'British-style' galvanized their commitment to the development of bigger and better V-twins. Harley's response to their threatening British invasion was initially confined mainly to their influence over American motorcycling racing's sanctioning body, the AMA, covertly governing such matters as capacity and compression ratios which machines against the technically advance 500cc OHV British twins. With the war over, a generation of homecoming servicemen found themselves unable to readjust to civilian life; many of them drifted around in the motorcycle gangs later glamorized by such films as The Wild Angels and the Wild One. These greasy jeaned, leather jacketed tearaways soon earned the 'outlaw tag and their allegiance to what had become the quintessential American marque was a mixed blessing to Harley Davidson, especially the more extreme gangs of Hell's Angels whose involvement in organized crime was later chronicled in Hunter S. Thompson's book of the same name. It's ironic that image of the outsider is the compelling motif that has led legions of well-heeled, middle class motorcyclists into the arms of their nearest Harley Davidson dealer. But if outlaw gangs of variable notoriety hared Harley's good name, the factory enjoyed continued growth through the late 'forties and 'fifties. 1948 saw the birth of the 'Panhead' motor, named after the flat-top castings protecting the new, hydraulically actuated tappets, an engine which for the first time featured mainly aluminum components and was inserted in the first Harley to use hydraulic front forks, unsurprisingly christened the Hydra Glide. Improvements to the Panhead's porting and exhaust design in 1950 were not so much to foster a performance image as to enable the motor adequately to propel the increasingly heavy touring-style bikes the company saw as its future, and it opened a new plant at Capital Drive, Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, in order to build them. The Duo-Glide (with rear swingarm) and the Electra Glide proved the wisdom of their vision while the lackluster Model K 45 and 55 cu. in.(900cc) were apparently intended as a sop to riders tempted by something in the European mold. But in 1957 that big and/or soft approach was brusquely sidelined when Harley launched the XL series, known colloquially then, and officially now, as the sporster. Initially produced in a 40 bhp, 5 cu.in. (883 cc) form, the XL motor soon gathered power thanks to improved piston design, porting and valvegear and by 1962 the 55 cu. in. engined Sportster was capable of running 13-second quarter mile drags with terminal speeds in the 115 mph region. The Sportster kept on growing and wrought a number of variants including a mean looking 61 cu. in. 'cafe-racer', the XLCR, which was the personal brainchild of Willie G. Davidson, grandson of William A., who remains head of styling at the time of writing. Today, 883 and 1200cc Sportsters are Harley Davidson's best selling machines, even dominating capacity classes where they compete with the all-pervasive Japanese, who still strive unsuccessfully to emulate the feel and style of America's flying eagle. The Sportster also spawned the alloy engined XR750, undoubtedly the most successful dirt- and flat-track racer ever, which was created by de-stroking the smallest, 883cc XL engine, fitting it with alloy barrels and dual Mikuni carbs. Good for 90bhp, the XR750 dominated American oval racing until the late 'eighties and inspired the XR1000 roadracer (nicknamed 'Lucifers Hammer') which won Daytona's famous Battle of the Twins with factory dirt-track star Jay Springsteen at the helm in 1983. Considering the popularity of oval track racing in America, and the mythology that lies behind it (going back to the board racing of the 'twenties', it may seem surprising that the factory never produced a road-going version of the XR750 to capitalize on its phenomenal success in the hands of latter-day heroes like Mert Lawwill, Cal Rayborn and the aforementioned Springsteen. The reason, of course, was cost; as ex-factory racing boss. the legendary Dick O'Brien explained to me, 'these engines were all hand-built, blueprinted and balanced, and without that they'd only make about half the power. Plus the cost of converting XR's to provide lighting and meeting emissions would've been prohibitive. Despite the impact of the Sportster, in 1959 the directors realized that they could no longer deal with the threat of lightweight European imports simply by trading on the emotive appeal of large V-twins. But rather than manufacturing bikes that required different production lines and offered smaller profits, the decision was taken to import a range of 125 - 250cc machines built by Aeronautica Macchi of Vares in Italy. William H. Davidson negotiated the purchase of 50 percent of the Aermacchi motorcycle division and head designer Wilbur Petri was dispatched to Varese to 'American-ise' existing models and develop new ones for the US market. Unhappily the bikes, though well enough designed and built, were somewhat lagging behind the technical and performance standards then being offered by the British and, increasingly, the Japanese. And so, despite a number of road-racing and motor-cross victories in the late 'sixties/early 'seventies, the Aermacchi experiment proved financially misplaced. The 'sixties proved to be an era of turmoil for the company n other ways. In 1965 Harley Davidson stock was offered to outside investors for the first time, which, by a circultous and sometimes actimonious route, led to the merger of the company with the American Machine and Foundry Corp. in January 1969. Much needed development capital wasn't the only benefit of this union, for AMF had an empty bowling equipment and munitions plant in York, Pennsylvania, which was quickly adapted for motorcycle assembly, with Capitol Drive producing only engines and transmissions. Also during the 'sixties, the AMA's relaxing of restrictions on foreign marques hastened the defection of many factory riders to the Triumphs, BSAs and Nortons that were then dominating most areas of motorcycle competition where Harley had hitherto held sway. At the end of the 'sixties, Harley Davidson were selling only about 15,500 home-produced bikes per annum and the oil crisis of the early 'seventies (affecting haulage costs between the company's three plants perhaps more than it harmed actual sales), and the alleged 'dumping' of vast quantities of Japanese motorcycles added to Harley Davidson's woes. On the upside was an increasing awareness of the product among a non-motorcycling public through films and TV series like Electra Glide in Blue and Then Came Bronson and, in 1978, the US Treasury dept.'s findings in favor of Harley Davidson's protestations of dumping against three of the Japanes 'Big Four'. Their elation was offset just three month's later by the International Trade Commission's ruling that their activities had not harmed sales of Harley's very different model range. Relationships between AMF and the 'old' Harley managers were strained by all this and more, and after protracted negotiations, twelve of the senior managers. led by Vaughn Beals and Willie G. Davidson, bought back their company from AMF for $75 million in 1981. A year later, revitalized by the introduction of the Evolution engine, which offered all the character of the redoubtable V-twins but none of the weaknesses and oil leaks, they sold off the Aermacchi plant to the Italian Castiglioni brothers (who founded their Cagiva/Ducati empire there) and began a bold new era. the older, increasingly ill-finished models that had somehow seen them through the 'seventies were running out of steam and the 'Evo" engine, developed with the aid of AMF money, was gradually introduced in the different capacities demanded by the range. Butt chassis and transmissions also had to keep pace and belt-drive, mono-shock 'Soft-tail' rear-ends and even a modern version of the 'Springer' front forks enabled Harley Davidson to marry modern technology with their customers' insistence on the folksy looks and character of its all-American heritage. The company's ability to carry off this has been fueled by a combination of tenacious vision and traditional values, on the one hand maintaining the image and nature of the abundantly torquey, slow-revving V-twin but within new technological and legislative parameters, on the other, expanding the marketplace to embrace a new generation of owners with clever marketing, a broad range of factory-customizing options, clothing and merchandise, and their dedicated backing of the international Harley Davidson Owners Group (HOG). Thus, in the 1990's with sales in excess of 100,000 units per annum, Harley Davidson riders enjoy the camaraderie of a worldwide motorcycling brotherhood, secure in the knowledge that theirs is a unique motorcycle, usually in both senses of the word.
