Sunday, February 14, 2016

The Harley Story

I knew a young boy who wanted a Harley.

If you asked him what he wanted for his birthday or Christmas, he always would reply, "A Harley."

I didn't get it.

When he was older, he still wanted a Harley. When he got his first job in high school and was diligently saving his money, I wanted to know why. "To buy a Harley," he told me.

I didn't get it.

In college, he studied hard and I asked him what he wanted to do as an adult. "Go into finance," he answered. "And ride a Harley."

When he got a job, he did quite well, had fun, and was enjoying being young and living on his own. One of his first major purchases was a Harley.

I didn't get it.

One weekend he announced that he and a friend were coming up from the city for a visit.

I was out in the garden on that warm summer day, waiting for the young men to arrive.

And then I heard it - a deep, from-the-ground-up rumbling. A sound you could feel in your bones. I looked around, wondering what it was. I went up to the street - and there I saw a picture I'll always remember: two young guys, leather dusters flying behind them, grinning from ear to ear, owning the world and loving it. And riding their Harleys.

I finally got it.

A Harley isn't just a motorcycle. If you asked 100 Harley riders what it was, you'd probably hear: freedom; excitement; bonding; travel; adventure; America; friendship; speed; one-of-a-kind. It's all that, and more. When you talk to a Harley owner you'll rarely, if ever, get a ho-hum response. Harley riders love their bikes.

The funny thing is, Harley almost didn't make it.

The story behind the Harley is part lore, part to-the-brink-and-back, part made-for-tv heartwarming story of the "comeback kid." And it's absolutely true, and as inspiring as it sounds.

The Harley Davidson motorcycle began in a small garage in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Bicycles had been around for almost a century when they became a huge craze in the Gay 90s. Eighteen-nineties, that is.

In 1901, William Harley, at the ripe old age of 21, created a blueprint for a engine designed to fit on a bicycle. It was as simple as that - just add an engine on the very popular bicycle. By 1903, William and his friend Arthur Davidson had built, and released to the public, the first production Harley-Davidson motorcycle. As the history of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle tells us, "the bike was built to be a racer, with a 3-1/8 inch bore an 3 1/2 inch stroke."

Soon Arthur's brother, Walter, joined the fledgling company, and the team was turning out motorbikes - with an eye toward racing them - from their garage manufacturing facility. By 1904, the small company had its first dealer - a Mr. C. H. Lang of Chicago, and the next year, on July 4th, a Harley won a 15 mile motorcycle race in Chicago. Back in Milwaukee, almost by way of celebration, the little company hired its first full-time employee.

Things moved along rapidly, and in 1906 the company moved into larger quarters - a whopping 28 by 80 foot facility, and issued its first catalog, along with the nickname "Silent Gray Fellow," which Harley aficionados will recognize.

A year later William Davidson, brother to Walter and Arthur, made up the fourth in the management team of the newly incorporated Harley-Davidson Motor Company.

Dealers were being signed up, more employees were being hired, and the Harley-Davidson motorcycles were setting records and earning high marks as a quality, reliable product - so good in fact that the police department in Detroit, Michigan, took delivery on its first motorcycle. With the 1909 introduction of the first V-twin powered motorcycle, the Harley-Davidson was no longer just a bicycle with an engine, but a whole new vehicle that began to take on the lines of the motorcycle we know and love today.

In 1910, the company released its now famous logo, and a year later the F-head engine was introduced.

Each year it seems the company crossed another barrier, hit another milestone - introducing a new engine, building a new factory, shipping the motorcycles to countries as far away as Japan, setting new speed and endurance records.  The company even began publishing its own magazine - The Harley-Davidson Enthusiast. It seemed almost as if they could do no wrong. Harley's were the choice of the U.S. Army, and were used extensively in both World Wars, and by 1920, the Harley-Davidson was the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world with dealers in 67 countries worldwide. And if you were a racer - well, you wanted a Harley.

And then came the 50s, and motorcycle gangs, the 60s and a changing idea of what was cool, and in 1969, AMF (American Machine and Foundry) bought Harley-Davidson - and immediately set about ruining the brand. By slashing the workforce and "streamlining" production to keep pace with the Japanese - whose motorcycles were being introduced into the American market and gobbled up - Harley-Davidson soon became an poor quality, big old ugly bike that almost went bankrupt. Jokes about its poor performance abounded - the "Hardly Ableson," or "Hardly Driveable."

Harley limped along through the 70s, largely due to the pure love of its most devoted riders. They wanted their Harleys. Finally, in 1981, on the brink of ruin, Harley was bought from AMF by a group of investors led by Vaughn Beals and Will G. Davidson and 13 other employees and riders.

And they turned the company around.

They controlled inventory, were adamant about quality, and deliberately set out to make a bike that would emulate the look and feel of the "old" Harley, rather than trying to compete with the sleek "crotch rocket" styling of the Japanese imports. Essentially, if the Japanese manufacturers did this, Harley-Davidson did that, but always in keeping with the tradition of the original founders and motorcycles. They formed HOG organizations (the term "hog" had been used to describe big, high powered motorcycles since the 1920s when a team of farm boys who raced motorcycles - and consistently won - would take their victory lap with, literally, a hog sharing the saddle) to encourage enthusiasm among riders.

With the 1990 introduction of the "Fat Boy" (a name said to be derived from the two atomic bombs, Fat Man and Little Boy, of WWII, though this legend is contested), the Harley-Davidson had returned in full splendor to the motorcycle marketplace, and was once again on top. In 1994 the company attempted to trademark its iconic deep rumbling sound, but while that proved impossible, the sound is distinctively Harley-Davidson - and a rolling advertisement for the machines.

It hasn't all been smooth riding since then - a strike at the York plant in 2007 and a financial crisis in 2009 were just two crises the company has met and endured.

Today, buying a Harley-Davidson is something of an investment. A few years down the road and your bike will be worth about what you paid for it, even if you've ridden many miles. Harley-Davidson, and HOG groups, have sought to separate themselves (while also still enjoying) from the gang culture, though the gangs still prefer to ride a Harley. HOGs gather for rides to raise money for civic and charitable causes - while still enjoying a great party like the annual Sturgis, SD rally, where thousands of bikers gather for a week of bikes, beers and bonding in August.

The next Harley crisis is likely to be an aging ownership - the average rider is a bit older, though granted a bit richer, than he or she was a few years ago. But while it may face another difficult time or two, the brand is unlikely to disappear. Because when a Harley rumbles down the road, no matter who you are, how old, male or female, you can't help but look up, and watch, with a little envy, and imagine what it would feel like to Ride a Harley.