William Harley Arthur Davidson Articles

Kings of the Road: The Beginnings of the Harley-Davidson Empire - Click To Read Article
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.

Revving its Engines: Harley-Davidson Goes Hog Wild - Click To Read Article
After the success of their first three models of motorbikes, Harley and the Davidson boys all plunged themselves wholeheartedly into the newly formed company. Walter Davidson became the company’s first president, while his brother William handled much of the human resources, and Arthur handled sales and the establishment of a dealer network. William Harley served as the company’s chief engineer and treasurer. Together, the four worked day and night to get their business off the ground and running. “We worked every day, Sunday included, until at least ten o’clock at night,” recalled Walter Davidson. “I remember it was an event when we quit work on Christmas night at eight o’clock to attend a family reunion.”

Lesson #1: The Innovative Process Can Help You Reinvent the Wheel - Click To Read Article
Today, Harley-Davidson isn’t one of the largest manufacturers of motorcycles in the U.S. just because their bikes worked well or they looked particularly fashionable with their Bar & Shield logos. Harley-Davidson motorcycles were unlike any others at the time; they had parts and engines that had never been seen before, and they were able to go up to speeds that were unheard of for a motorbike. Indeed, it was by engaging in a constant process of innovation that the Harley-Davidson Motor Co. was able to stay at the front of the pack.

Lesson #2: The Proof is in the Product that Works - Click To Read Article
In 1910, Harley-Davidson motorcycles captured at least seven different first place finishes in races and endurance contests across America. The four boyhood friends who founded the company began racing their motorbikes because they loved it. But soon after they began sweeping races across the country, Harley and the Davidson brothers realized that they were now racing for something even more valuable than a trophy or prize money: they were racing for sales.

Lesson #3: Develop A Habit Of Hard Work That Works - Click To Read Article
When Walter Davidson first heard about the attempts of his younger brother and his friend to build a motorcycle, he was intrigued with the possibilities. After helping the two youngsters assemble the parts they had fashioned, Davidson knew there was wealth of opportunities that lay ahead. He immediately quit his railroad job and moved back to Milwaukee, finding work as a machinist, in order to help build the business. However, in its early days, the Harley-Davidson Motor Co. did not have enough funds to pay the four founders. So dedicated was Davidson to the new company, that he continued to work as a machinist during the day, while assembling the motorcycles at night. This dedication and hard work was a trend that would become ingrained in the corporate culture of Harley-Davidson.

Lesson #4: In Following Your Passion, You Become Your Own Best Customer - Click To Read Article
How were they able to devote themselves day and night to manufacturing their mighty machines? Why were they so hell bent on ensuring the highest standards of quality? And what drove them to dedicate themselves to the same business for the majority of their adult lives? William Harley and the Davidson brothers didn’t just make motorcycles – they lived and breathed them. They were, in fact, their own biggest fans. It was in pursuing the one thing they were passionate about that they were able to create such a classic tale of entrepreneurial success in America.

Lesson #5: From Sight to Sound, Create a Signature Brand - Click To Read Article
It has been described as a “throaty pounding and off-centered drumming beat,” but everyone who owns a Harley-Davidson motorcycle knows what it is to hear one. In fact, the adept ear can pick a Harley out of a crowd before the eyes are even able to see it; every bike the company produces sounds the same when you turn the keys, and yet completely different from any other bike manufacturer. Attaching a unique sound to Harley-Davidson engines was just one of many deliberate steps the company’s four founders took to build a strong brand and a loyal following.

The Seats of Success: How Harley-Davidson Powered Itself to the Top - Click To Read Article
Harley-Davidson fans are known for the overt pride they take in their machines. A T-shirt that one devotee made reads: “Put your ass on some class.” Whether that motto has been officially sanctioned by the company or not, that is exactly what hundreds of thousands of bike riders around the world have done. With more than 33 models of touring and custom Harleys, which are sold by over 1,300 dealers, Harley-Davidson remains the only major American manufacturer of motorcycles, and dominates sales of the more heavyweight bikes. How did four young boys from Milwaukee turn their shed-bound experiments into a thriving enterprise and a cultural icon of America?

Harley-Davidson Quotes - Click To Read Article
Harley-Davidson Quotes


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