The Harley Davidson Success Story

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 favorite 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 $5.7 billion in annual sales last year, Harley-Davidson remains an American icon and an example of entrepreneurship at its finest.

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? Check out my latest Modeling The Masters video for the answers!