The Depression and Harley Davidson

The Great Depression began a few months after the introduction of their 45 cubic inch model. Harley-Davidson's sales plummeted from 21,000 in 1929 to less than 4,000 in 1933. In order to survive, the company manufactured industrial powerplants based on their motorcycle engines. They also designed and built a three-wheeled delivery vehicle called the Servi-Car, which remained in production until 1973.
In the mid-'30s, Alfred Rich Child opened a production line in Japan with the 74ci VL, which became Rikuo after the parent company severed its business relations with Harley-Davidson.
An 80 cubic inch flathead engine was added to the line in 1935, by which time the single cylinder motorcycles had been discontinued.
By 1937, all the flathead engines were equipped with the dry-sump oil recirculation system that had been initially introduced on the 61E and 61EL "Knucklehead" OHV models. This prompted the 74 cubic inch V and VL models to be renamed U and UL, the 80 cubic inch VH and VLH to be renamed UL and ULH, and the 45 cubic inch RL to be renamed WL.
In 1941, the 74 cubic inch "Knucklehead" was introduced as the F and the FL, replacing the 80 cubic inch flathead UH and ULH models.

Harley Davidson in the 1920's

By 1920, Harley-Davidson was the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. Producing over 28,000 bikes,being sold in over 60 countries.

Otto Walker, was the first motorcyclist to win a race at an average speed of over 100 mph in 1921

In 1929, Harley-Davidson introduced its 45 cubic inch flathead V-Twin to compete with the Indian and the Excelsior Super machines

AS THE HARLEY EVOLVES

In 1907 additional factory expansion came with a second floor and later with facings and additions of Milwaukee pale yellow ("cream") brick. With the new facilities production increased to 150 motorcycles.Also in this year they began selling their motorcycles to police departments, a market that has been important to them ever since.

Production in 1905 and 1906 were all single-cylinder models with 440 cc engines. In February 1907 a prototype 45-degree V-Twin engine was displayed at the Chicago Automobile Show. Although shown and advertised, very few V-Twin models were built between 1907 and 1910. Top speed was about 60 mph . Production jumped from 450 motorcycles in 1908 to 1,149 machines in 1909.

In 1911, an improved V-Twin model was introduced.a 810cc model , the 1911 V-Twin was smaller than earlier twins, but gave better performance. After 1913 the majority of bikes produced by Harley-Davidson would be V-Twin models.

By 1913, the yellow brick factory had been demolished and on the site a new 5-story structure of reinforced concrete and red brick had been built.Production that year swelled to 16,284 machines

THE EVOLUTION OF THE HARLEY DAVIDSON

From this builing in 1901 William S. Harley, age 21, completes a blueprint drawing of an engine designed to fit into a bicycle.

Harley-Davidson Motor Company is an American manufacturer of motorcycles based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company sells heavyweight (over 750 cc) motorcycles designed for cruising on the highway. Harley-Davidson motorcycles (popularly known as "Harleys") have a distinctive design and exhaust note.
In 2003, the Buell Motorcycle Company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harley-Davidson,the same year that the Motor Company celebrated its 100th birthday. The Motor Company supplies many American police forces with their motorcycle fleets.

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