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A Name That Will Never Be Forgotten : Harley Davidson
Harley Davidson the american legend.
Founded by William Harley and brothers Walter and Authur Davidson. Which had competiters which most were backyard enterprises but Indian Motorcycle Company founded in 1901 was alter there biggest competitor.

1903 - 1928
In 1903 AHrley Davidson boys pieced together there first motorcycle. The First motorcycle differed from others being and bicycle powered by a single cyclinder motor, that drove the rear wheel through a leather belt. The normal pedal in chain was still there so riders could pedal up to speed before starting the motor. Even though the 10.2 cubic inch motor was already patened after an existing design the harley pieces were made by hand. That motor gave the speed of a brisk walk. The second motor was larger and rpoduced more speed. There were 3 motorcycles built that year Harley Davidson was officially in business. Production rose to 8 units the 1904 and 16 the following year. They were up to 50 by 1906. With this they wanted more speed and introduced the V- Twin in late 1907 but the first model didnt come out til 1909. With vacuum intake valves and belt drive both normal for Harley Davidson. Problems occured and it was taken off the market.

The V twin returned in 1911 mechanically actuted intake over exhaust (IOE) valves and belt tensioning system. Nowing that the legemd was born.

With the rapid rate of technology Harley Davidson introduced one of the industries first clutches in 1912. The chain drive became avaliable in 1913. The 2 speed rear hub surfaced 1914 followed by the 3 speed transmission in 1915. The V-Twin was still being sold also but will come and go in the future years. An odd 35.6 cubic in and a half flat twin was introduced in mid - 1919 but only lasted til 1923. The V-Twin which grew 50 cubic inches to 61 for 1912 joined by a 74 cubic inch version in 1921. Known as the first famed " Seventy Fours" Moderations were made to the V-Twin and the IOE design over the years but in the late 1920's they still have exposed vavles trains and were messy and difficult to maintain. They were also highly susceptible to wear. There was a flathead design by the rival Indian company that was designed for its V-Twin, even though it was less affective but was refined to produce resonable power while being easier to maintain.. With that Harley Davidson decided it was time to develop there own type of flathead.to hit the streets in the closing of the 1920's..

1929 - 1935

The first flathead VTwin which was 45 cubic inch used in the new bike called the Model D. Which was to compete with the Indian Scout. The 45 would be versatile and long alsting which it did staying in production til 1973. The falthead seved as diiferent things a street bike, a 3 wheeled Sevi Cars , military WLAs in the 40's, WR raing bikes in the 50's. The larger 74 and 80 incj Big twin flat heads followed but neither were reliable and lived as long as the 45.

The flat model appeared on the market just before the crash of October 23 1929. During the Great Depression. Harleys sells fell to a fifth of what they were before the crash. But they were able to stay a float while others were sinking. In 1931 would start working on the knucklehead which would be introduced in 1936. The 74 - 80 cubic inch were still in the running though the 80 would drop after 1942. While the 74 followed in 1947. Harley Davidson offered a smaller flathead VTwin until the mid 1950's. The Servi Car carried the flathead til 1973.

1936 - 1947

It wasnt long after the VTwin that HD started working on a new over head valve version. It was manurfactured and developed in the darkest days of depression. They werent breaking new ground since they produced them for many years.The name for the over head valve VTwin was the 61 OHV but riders named it Knucklehead. cos the vavle covers looked like fists with 2 knuckels sticking out.

The knucklehead was used during world war 2. They were only around for a dozen years and the war took up alot of that time.

The V twin returned in 1911 mechanically actuted intake over exhaust (IOE) valves and belt tensioning system. Nowing that the legemd was born