Harley and Arthur Davidson were both of Milwaukee and childhood friends. In 1900 they began building sort of a kit single-cylinder engine.
They had it in a frame and running by 1903. The first production Harley had Harley’s modified DeDion engine, 26.8 cc displacements, a belt drive and a one gallon gas tank.
It held one quart of oil and had a hand pump to manually lubricate the engine.
When people saw the first Harley-Davidson motorcycle pass by on the road, they were more curious than impressed. To most people at that time, traveling around on one of these motorized bikes seemed dangerous, impractical and even inappropriate.
William Harley and Arthur Davidson were joined by Arthur’s brothers William A and Walter and in 1907 the firm was incorporated as Harley-Davidson.
In 1907, the factory size doubled and they hired on 18 more workers and by that time production tripled to 150 motorcycles.
By 1920 Harley-Davidson had become the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world, and by 1953 there were just two American motorcycle manufacturers left standing: Harley Davidson and Indian, based in Springfield, Massachusetts.
Early history of Harley-Davidson
