|
|
Like this article? PLEASE +1 it! |  |
|
Kings of the Road: The Beginnings of the Harley-Davidson Empire
Article Overview: They were simply two young boys fooling around with motors in their garage; William Harley and Arthur Davidson were childhood friends who loved fishing, but hated the amount of time it took to get to their favourite fishing spots. And so, they decided to create a motorized bicycle that would help them get to where they wanted to go faster. Their youthful experiments laid the foundation for what would later become one of the largest and last remaining mass producers of motorcycles in the U.S. Today, with over $1.5 billion in annual sales last year, Harley-Davidson remains an American icon and an example of entrepreneurship at its finest.
 |
Free Download - Harley-Davidson Quotes By William Harley Arthur Davidson |
Kings of the Road: The Beginnings of the Harley-Davidson Empire
They were simply two young boys fooling around with motors in their garage; William Harley and Arthur Davidson were childhood friends who loved fishing, but hated the amount of time it took to get to their favourite fishing spots. And so, they decided to create a motorized bicycle that would help them get to where they wanted to go faster. Their youthful experiments laid the foundation for what would later become one of the largest and last remaining mass producers of motorcycles in the U.S. Today, with over $1.5 billion in annual sales last year, Harley-Davidson remains an American icon and an example of entrepreneurship at its finest.
William S. Harley was born on December 29, 1880 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. When he was 15 years old, he went to work in a bicycle factory, learning as much as he could about bicycles and motorized bikes. The only one of the founders to have a college degree, Harley went to work as a draftsman after graduating from the University of Wisconsin with a degree in mechanical engineering. However, after finding it hard to leave behind his hands-on learning, he became increasingly interested in experimenting with bikes, specifically how to rig them with gasoline engines.
Arthur Davidson was born in 1881 and was the youngest of the three Davidson brothers, Walter and William. Davidson had been close friends with Harley since they were little boys. Now, at ages 20 and 21 respectively, Davidson and Harley began spending a lot of time together trying to figure out how to build their ultimate dream – a single cylinder motorcycle. Over the next two years, the pair of friends devoted themselves to drawing up plans for a small engine that could be placed in the frame of a regular bicycle. They had created all the parts they thought were necessary but still couldn’t figure out how to assemble them.
Finally, after two years of hard work, Davidson decided to bring in the help of his older brother, Walter. At the time, Walter was working a railroad job in the southwest. In 1903, the three young friends had built their first prototype. Walter was so inspired by the possibilities of what they had done that he immediately quit his job and found work as a machinist in Milwaukee, closer to the family so that he could continue assembling bikes.
The first bike the trio created had worked, but not well enough for the hills of Milwaukee. They wrote it off as a learning experience and soon after, began working on a second machine. Oldest Davidson brother William was also brought in to help this time around. Like his brother, Walter, William was also working at a well-paying job with the Milwaukee Road railroad company. It wasn’t long before William had also quit this job.
The second bike that these four friends created is now considered the first ‘real’ Harley-Davidson motorcycle. With a larger engine and a loop-frame, the machine was up and running by September 1904. After a strong performance at a local motorcycle race, the boys were convinced there was a future for their bikes. They built an 8 x 10 shed in the backyard of the Davidson house and hung a sign that read, “HARLEY DAVIDSON MOTOR CO.”, which one of their sister’s had painted. That year, they produced and sold three more motorbikes. They were on top of the world and would only keep going up from there.
It\'s good to be king
Cox & Kings eyes overseas acquisitions to strengthen franchise operations in India
Is the student ready?
The Real Road to Wealth in Real Estate
Lesson #5: Be Ready to Fail
Related Forum Posts
Re: Who is doing CPA marketing here?
- [quote="Trent Brownrigg":3n71pzcm]I've dabbled in it but not really enough to say that I "do it" or know much about it. CPA marketing seems to be majorly on the rise though and a lot more people are starting to do it. I plan to look more into it this year and actually started doing a little research yesterday. What CPA network are you using?[/quote:3n71pzcm]
Commission Empire and Adnetwork
Re: Who inspired you to start?
- Hi Evan,
I was inspired by Mr. Bill Gates ever since I was a student learning Computers. But I was motivated for Internet as my Business, when I read his book "The Road Ahead" in 1995. It was in this book that Gates laid out his vision of an interconnected world built around the Internet.
Based on the premise that life will be transformed by the convergence of inexpensive computing and inexpensive communications, Gates drew from his experience at the center of the personal computer revolution to give insights on the growth, evolution and impact of technology.
I had always looked up to Bill Gates as my idol. When I read this book, it made me more focussed on Microsoft and Internet, The Internet was one of the upcoming things in this time. So I took over to the Internet as my primary business.
Regards,
New member here to help!
- Hello everyone! My name is Steven and I am from Texas. I started my own Time Trial racing series called the Chrono-X. (i.e. a competitive race in the automotive industry)
Here's a little info about me:
Graduated from Mcoy Business School, degree in management with an entrepreneurial focus covering marketing, finance, economics, public relations, and business plan development.
Before switching to business I majored in graphics design and 3d animation. I also have had jobs where I was trained in digital portrait retouching, mailer card designs, photo album layout design, and graphical arts. More recently I was trained in next generation graphics design and advertising arts. I also do website design and have a few websites out there of my own.
I currently am the VP of Marketing in charge of promotions, collateral material, and public relations at Harris Hill Road.
In my last job, I was trained in website traffic generation and promotion.
I am currently working on a new type of business plan for the future, one that gets the information across quickly, efficiently, and without pain. I'm working on getting it official by the end of 2010.
BLAH BLAH! I know, I'm not trying to make anyone fall asleep but I didn't think you would read the whole thing anyway!
So ask me any questions, I'd love to try and help with anything! I also love to photoshop stuff for fun, so if you have anything you want help with let me know!
Books for Women Entrepreneurs
- There's a thread for good books in the Resources folder, but it doesn't target books for businesswomen particularly, so I figured I'd start such a thread here.
It doesn't matter how successful you are in your business - it's always possible to learn something new.
In subsequent posts I give Table of Contents and brief descriptions for various titles - most of them devoted to the businesswoman - and sometimes a review. If anyone else has read a review, or has read the book and found it useful, please comment!
1. The Old Girl's Network
2. Mother's Work
3. The 7 Greatest Truths About Successful Women
4. Pitch Like A Girl
5. Workplace Warrior
6. Treasure Hunt: Inside the Mind of the Modern Consumer
7. Contingency Planning & Disaster Recovery
8. She Wins, You Win
9. Napoleon On Project Management
10. Why Good Girls Dont' Get Ahead, But Gutsy Girls Do
11. Comeback Moms: How to Leave Work, Raise Children, and Restart your Career even If you Haven't Had a Job in Years
12. The One Minute Millionaire
13. Talking From 9 to 5
14. Soloing: Realizing Your Life's Ambitions
15. 101 Best Home Based Businesses for Women: Everything You Need to Know About Getting Started on the Road To Success
16. Work With Passion: How to Do What You Love for a Living. Revised and Expanded
17. Fail-Proof Your Business: Beat the Odds and be Successful
18. Confidence: How Winning Streaks and Losing Streaks Begin and End
19. Women Don't Ask: Negotiation and the Gender Divide
20. Millionaire Women Next Door: The Many Journeys of Successful American Businesswomen
21. Start Small, Finish Big: Fifteen Key Lessons to Start - and Run - Your Own Successful Business
22. Rewired, Rehired or Retired: A Global Guide for the Experienced Worker
23. The Martha Rules: 10 essentials for achieving success as you start, build or manage a business
24. The Essentials of Entrepreneurship: What it takes to create Successful Enterprises
25. Net Ready: Strategies for Success in the E-conomy
26. The Promotable Woman
27. Leave The Office Earlier: The Productivity Pro shows you how to do more in less time and feel great about it
28. The Work At Home Balancing Act: The professional resource guide for managing yourself, your work, and your family at home
29. Secrets of Six-Figure Women
Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.
Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.
by: Kim Castle, Business Brand Creation
Lesson #3: “Tell ‘em quick and tell ‘em often”
Searching for the Stars: How Yang and Filo Took Their Business to New Heights
Salesperson Wimp-Out: I Need Help 
February 2012 Top 100 Leadership Experts to Follow on Twitter
Please Stop Calling it Coaching!
Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!
TOP Level Selling
The OLD Way of Advertising, May Not be so OLD
Track Your Time for Increased Productivity
Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.