The Harley-Davidson Company or HD has been around for just over 100 years, it all began with two friends in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1903. Arthur Davidson and William Harley began the ground work of the company’s first project, later recruits drew upon Arthur’s family, as his brothers Walter and William joined the company efforts. Walter was a skilled mechanic, William was an experienced toolmaker and together they group formed the HD Company, which was later incorporated.

During the first year of the Harley-Davidson company, they manufactured three motorcycles and all three were paid for before manufacturing was finished. Gray was the standard color of the first motorcycles, which were often referred to as the ?Silent Gray Fellows?. Within two years, the company added motorcycle and marine motors, reversible propellers, and float feed carburetors to their stock of sellable items.

Harley-Davidson motorcycles gained even more notoriety and popularity as the next decade progressed. Among the biggest fans of the company was the United States Postal service, who in 1914 used 4,800 of the company’s bikes but nine departments in total used the company’s products in the federal government in that year. As the government fought against Pancho Villa in 1916, they utilized HD’s that were outfitted with machine guns. In World War I, the military expanded their usage of HD equipment when half of all of the HD Company’s products during that time went to military overseas.

Though the 1920s brought an end to the war, HD’s entered the world of racing where they were quite prosperous. The Great Depression did have a toll on Harley-Davidson, but it was not a strong enough one to stop the expansion and prosperity of the company. Repeating their government service in the 1940s, the HD bikes were a valuable tool during the Second World War.

The 1950s continued to be a period of immense growth for HD, the company strengthened their marketing campaigns during this decade as well. The Jeep was favored by the government over the motorcycles when war once again was declared during the 1950s in Korea. Harley-Davidson focused their efforts on consumers instead.

The next ten years, the 1960s, brought sweeping change to all of America, and the HD Company reflected that. Change can be seen through the company’s decision to produce the 3-wheeled golfing cart. Cornering a third of the market by the end of the decade, these carts were also sold in other countries. Keeping a little closer to their original business, Harley-Davidson began producing a motorcycle accessories line during this decade.

During the seventies, many additions to the motorcycles allowed the Harley-Davidson bikes to experience continued success in the racing world. Following a buyback in the 1980s, HD became a private enterprise again. Also during the decade, the company’s increase devotion to better machines paid off in the form of many years’ worth of contract deals with the California Highway Patrol, from 184 to 1985, and again from 1987 to 1989.

In the decade of the 1990s, the Harley-Davidson Company began producing of the FLSTF Fat Boy, their most customized factory custom motorcycle yet. While keeping up with contemporary trends in motorcycle production, the bike also draws on the past. The company continues to be in great shape in the first part of the twenty-first century. There are a number of lines of bikes made by the HD company, and these include the Sporster, the Dyna, the Softail, the VRSC, and a Touring line, the amount of models that branch off from those lines are numerous.

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