It's 1901 and a guy named Harley has an idea. Put an engine on a bicycle. What? Outside his door, carts are still pulled by horses and autos are a rare sight, for goodness' sake. It's 1908 and a Harley-Davidson motorcycle sets a record by getting 188 miles to a gallon of gas. It's 1909 and the company introduces something new to its line: a V-Twin cylinder engine. Fast forward to the twenty-first century, and the technical innovation hasn't stopped. But there's a lot more than just choppers in the mix. Examples: The Harley-Davidson racing team adds a seventeen-year-old girl to the roster. 250,000 people help celebrate Harley's 100th anniversary in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. And a museum devoted to the company's products opens up. Clearly, this is a company unlike any other.

How did Harley do it? How did it go from making motorcycles to creating a Harley experience that puts hundreds of thousands of people aged sixteen to one hundred on the road traveling to events each year where they can meet company officials and other Harley riders? That's what this book is all about. Honda may match Harley-Davidson for quality and perhaps innovation, but no one has matched the company for its ability to create 'buzz marketing' and turn casual riders into unofficial sales people. Harley-Davidson, it turns out, isn't just in the motorcycle business. As its mission statement points out, it's in the business of fulfilling dreams. As author Missy Scott shows, Harley-Davidson is a rare company in other ways: Its loyal workforce, for one thing, is guided by principles like trust and respect for the individual. For another, the company has made a superb effort to keep jobs in the U.S., when it would be far cheaper and easier to use offshore labor. Teetering on the brink of bankruptcy in the early 1980s, Harley has roared back to capture the hearts of riders the world over, including the million-plus members of the Harley Owners Group (members are known, naturally, as HOGs). This book: -Explains the importance of the company and the essential disruptions that changed business forever. -Details Harley's origins and history. -Presents biographies of the founders and the historical context in which they launched the company. -Explains Harley's strategies and innovations. -Assesses Harley's impact on society, technology, processes, and work methods. -Details financial results over the years. -Predicts Harley's future prospects and successes. In addition, Scott offers special features that include a look at the colorful people associated with Harley, interesting trivia, a Harley-Davidson time line, a focus on products, a look at how the company treats its workers, what its detractors have to say, and where the company is headed. Harley-Davidson—a company that changed, and is changing, the world.

Harley-Davidson Motor Company (Corporations That Changed the World)

Relive the golden age of Milwaukee motorcycling with this unique book that goes beyond the rest. Read intimate accounts from company officials, dealers, and riders of classic Harley Davidson motorcyles of the 1930s. Hundreds of period photographs from private collections and massive text trace the development of the H-D Big Twin from the sidevalve VL to the '61 and '74 models, and the legendary Knucklehead. Experience the Milwaukee motorcycle scene from the men and women who lived it.

Harley-Davidson 1930-1941: Revolutionary Motorcycles & Those Who Rode Them

1930 Harley Davidson motorcycle

Harley aficionado Wolfgang Wiesner sorted through factory archives and personal collections from throughout the world to create this, the first photographic history of Harley-Davidsons. Wiesner provides a thorough development history of Harley-Davidson, following the riders, movie stars, folklore and, of course, the Milwaukee Iron itself.

Harley aficionado Wolfgang Wiesner sorted through factory archives and personal collections from throughout the world to create this, the first photographic history of Harley-Davidsons. Wiesner provides a thorough development history of Harley-Davidson, following the riders, movie stars, folklore and, of course, the Milwaukee Iron itself.

The quintessential American motorcycle celebrates its centennial in 2003. Readers are sure to get revved-up by the more than 120 full-color and historical photos that accompany the story of Harley-Davidson's ups-and-downs. A family affair, from the first model made in Milwaukee till the sale of the company to AMF in 1969, the saga continues with even greater success today. Check out the close-ups of bikes and riders (from Malcolm Forbes to rally HOGs), with bikes like the beautifully-restored early Silent Gray Fellow and the Peashooter, and the later Knucklehead and a customized Duo-Glide taking center stage. Closing with the great and still-growing annual rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, Harley fans will have a great ride through this chronicle of bikes and bikers--from the earliest bicycle-like machines to The Wild One rebels, cops, and custom jobs.

Backed by a decade of research, At the Creation documents for the first time the early and critical years of the Harley-Davidson motorcycle in its birthplace of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Herbert Wagner brings to life the human side of Harley-Davidson's quest to motorize the bicycle and then promote it as a powerful, fast, reliable, and thrilling means of personal transportation. This book examines the origins of two-wheeled transportation at a time when combining the gasoline engine with the bicycle was the province of dreamers and con men. This is the definitive account of the beginnings of the only American motorcycle brand to ultimately succeed and survive.

At the Creation: Myth, Reality, and the Origins of the Harley-Davidson Motorcycle, 1901-1909

A massive compendium covering all aspects of the Harley-Davidson phenomenon. Thousands of full-color, glossy photos grace the 528 pages of this ten pound, oversized volume.

This great book tells the story of the Milwaukee company through a catalog of the bikes that have brought Harley-Davidson success, right up to the most recent models, and also investigates the work of HD customizers who turn a mechanical wonder into a moving sculpture.

At first a convenient means of transport, the motorcycle became a cult object. In fat, a legend has grown up around Harley-Davison motorcycles. They have become a trophy, a monument on two wheels whose myth has transcended one hundred years of American history, attracting generations of motorcycling enthusiasts throughout the world.

This volume brings together the best of these two books about Harley-Davidson, with wonderful photographs and inside anecdotes on a trip that traces one of the 20th century's most vibrant myths.

The first part tells the story of the Milwaukee company through a catalog of the bikes that have brought Harley-Davidson success, right up to the most recent models, and describes and illustrates the production process and the highly original, innovative technological solutions the company has engineered.

The second part investigates the work of HD customizers like Arlen Ness, Cyril Huze, and their colleagues, who turn a mechanical wonder into a moving sculpture.