Edited by Darwin Holmstrom. Get ready to rock, roll, and rumble through 100 years of Harley-Davidson history. Hit the highway with acknowledged authorities as you travel through a full century of Panheads, Shovelheads, Knuckleheads, Cafe Racers, and Evolutions.Cruise through the history of power and speed with Cycle World columnist Kevin Cameron as he documents the Motor Company's delicate balance between technology and tradition. Go hog wild with Hunter S. Thompson and Brock Yates as they outline the evolution of the outlaw image and the culture spawned by Harley-Davidson. Peter Egan sheds light on the XLCR Cafe Racer and best-selling authors Girdler, Field and Anderson add their expertise to deliver the most comprehensive history ever published on the Company and its highly sought-after motorcycles. Filled with hundreds of stunning new color photographs."One hundred years of Harleys are detailed and lavishly photographed in this oversized (seven pounds!) edition that is sure to send any motorcycle enthusiast to hog-heaven."- Business Review, December 13-26, 2002"This photo-rich celebration of Harley-Davidson's first 100 years will delight fans and illuminate for others the vehicle's enduring appeal."- San Francisco Chronicle, November 2002Features multiple contributing authors including Hunter S. Thompson, Brock Yates, Kevin Cameron, and Peter Egan.

Who knew, one hundred years ago, that the freedom-loving, speed-hungry, cutting-edge motorcycle fanatics who founded Harley-Davidson were making history along with bikes?  The Harley-Davidson Collection, showcasing a century of bikes that shaped motorcycle history, brings that history to gleaming life in page after page of motorcycles beyond compare.  On the eve of the opening of the historic Harley-Davidson Museum, this book gives motorcycle enthusiasts an opportunity to pore over the bikes in the collection, and to linger over every detail that made Harley-Davidson such an icon of American open-road power and performance.  With exquisite, detailed photographs and histories of the hundred motorcycles in Harley’s collection, from serial number one built in 1903 to the latest low-slung Softail, high-revving VRSC, and touring models, the book captures the excitement of the best-known motorcycles in the world.  All that’s missing is the patented roar, which readers are invited to supply.

Harley-Davidson is probably the most famous name in motorcycling history. Over the last 100 years, the company has earned a truly legendary reputation. And Harley-Davidson is more than simply a motorcycle maker - it represents an approach to engineering and styling that is essentially American.

In this pictorial history of the first decades of the world-famous motorcycle manufacturer, John Carroll uses rare archive photographs to show the evolution of the Harley-Davidson from the pioneering machines of the early 1900s to the end of the Panhead era. His book is a sympathetic and expert guide for all Harley-Davidson owners and enthusiasts and for everyone who enjoys motorcycling history.

The author describes how the Harley-Davidson company survived and prospered despite the Depression, two world wars, technical challenges and changes and fundamental shifts in the motorcycle market. He recalls the conception of the robust V-twin engine which has been at the heart of Harley-Davidson motorcycles for almost a century. The company has always favoured consistent improvement over radical redesign, and the much-refined V-twin still powers the Harley-Davidsons of the present day.

The book illustrates the wide variety of types of Harley-Davidson that have been produced - military and sidecar versions, machines for police patrol work and escort duty and for racing, including on American dirt tracks, where Harley has dominated for decades - and the first customized Harleys of the mid-1960s. But the author concentrates on telling the story of the long line of strong, simple, powerful street bikes that are the mainstay of Harley-Davidson's reputation.