American Freedom Machines: The Story of Harley-Davidson

This is Lisa Beebe and this is our American stories we tell stories about everything during the show including your story. Seven now American stories.com. The sum of our favorites and our favorite storytelling here on the roof stories about American history are so important. If we don't know who we were and we know who we are in this next story is a history story is always brought to us by the great folks at Hillsdale College we learn all the things that are good in life and all the things that are beautiful in life.

If you take at Hillsdale Hillsdale will come to you with a free and terrific online courses go to Hillsdale.edu that's Hillsdale.edu. In 1777 George Washington pushed back against Gen. Cornwallis and Princeton, New Jersey gaining a small victory of the colonials here to bring you the story is Dr. Larry on Pres. of Hillsdale College is our own Monty Montgomery Hillsdale Brad himself help tell the story. George Washington was a beautiful man, according to many in the founding era. Here's Dr. Larry P on presidents of Hillsdale College with more on that and this all-important man.

The revolution Abigail Adams when she met him writer has been I have been told that he was handsome, but I did not know the hand that he was very striking. He was unusually tall for those agents probably 613 and then he was tremendous horse just ride his horse into and through a battle without using the and that was possible because you know I have met with Princeton in 1776. The question finishes gratified and then of course everything goes wrong for months.

They did take Boston because Henry Knox went got the Canon from Fort Ticonderoga which Ethan Allen liberated Dragon because when Arad got him up on a hell and they shoot down British ships had but after that everything was disaster. They went up to New York, is a bridge going up there in New York is complex place to be. Think about it there's an island and then there's populace areas above and below it left and right of it seagulls all around the British have these big ships. So at the battle of New York in the battle of Brooklyn. The British just simply completely outmaneuver amusing bears and he had run his army down New Jersey escaping with their lives to get across a bridge over the Philadelphia if they had made cross that bridge in Washington stood by the bridge by way calmly watched as people entered the bridge and there is order. Well now you know it's winter and he needs to do something is to be no getting our first year we can have only defeat selling Christmas night crosses the Delaware and attacks Trenton any hope to wake him up.

He had dad made man in his army organized all the bugs everybody over the course every three hours late tonight at 10 o'clock. There hope of surprise they think it's gone and I Washington says we gotta go anyway as if we don't win here were going to be dead by night.

I will get there and that Hessian soldier and they were from everything called Hessian soldiers were the main export of their country because they were really great soldiers in the country would rent them out get money to sustain the country so the soldiers were very good soldiers and they were fighting for their own countries. It was like they were just mercenaries fighting for himself anyway. They'd had a very nice Christmas night and they were drunk in bed when the Americans got in the took place and hardly casually on the American and then something bad happened.

The report comes the Cornwallis is coming down in relief in Washington doesn't think that's good enough. Victory is gotta stop Cornwallis of Princeton and he takes forces north this Trenton and when he gets there. The American troops are flight running and in this case, unlike later at the Battle of Monmouth Washington didn't say didn't wave his arms and shout just wrote his source directly through the true toward Washington adjutant Williamson. He writes about this and says when Washington got close to the British. He didn't have any way to know if anybody was with, but they had all turned around and fallen in line alongside Washington engine washing got close to the British and start giving the orders to fire 17 he pulled his sword out sources just walk instead. And there's a great in Washington is shrouded in Fitzwilliam's reports that he covered his eyes with his camp could not bear to see Washington fall then the smoke cleared, and there was a great cheer as he was just still on his in the same still go British.

They basically just turn around rent from him so if you see somebody do something you don't just a story to me was thrilling because Aristotle says that the highest thing we can see beauty Christian version that is beatitude seen God recognizing my sense percent just seen and you know what it is and that includes moral acts like great acts of courage and when people see things like that printed it makes them better as they aspire to such things and that was effective.

Washington special thanks to Monty great work as always. Special thanks to Dr. Larry on what storytelling Aristotle says the highest thing we can see is beauty.

We know it when we see and involves moral acts and ask of courage moves us the better versions of ourselves.

Stories of Trenton and Princeton. In the end stories of America's fearlessly George Washington here on our American story books. If you love the stories we tell about this great country and especially the stories of America's rich past. Know that all of our stories about American history or the intervention culture and faith brought to us by the great folks at Hillsdale College place for students studying all the things that are beautiful in life. All the things in life if you can get the Hillsdale bills that will come to you with their free and terrific online courses go to Hillsdale.edu to learn more and we continue with our American stories. When Margie Siegel was a teenager he had a boyfriend with a motorcycle boyfriend. It was forgettable motorcycle wasn't since that time. She's written about motorcycle history.

The classic bike for motorcyclist motorcycle collector American iron and motorcycle classics is also vintage editor for ironworks motorcycle magazine here she is with the story of Harley-Davidson motorcyclist to namebrand motorcycle motorcycle motorcycle. The first name that comes to mind, and probably the only name is Davidson Harleys are not only well known inspire a lot of passion.

How many other companies.

Logos are captured on people's motorcycles. There is something about motorcycle the experience of moving to the inherent speed and attracts people and if there is something about motorcycles in general. There is more than a mere something about Harley-Davidson motorcycles. Harley-Davidson has been building motorcycles for well over a century and in that time it's products have acquired aura. People who ride Harleys are seen as bad and antisocial and a lot of other things even though they in real life, their accountants when most people look at Harley, they are just vehicle cultural icon was always like this. Wendy Davidson Brothers and their friend William Harley started out to build motorcycles at the turn of the 20th century they were only one of over 100 small American motorcycle factories all skimping and competing and trying to make out of all those aspiring US businesses only. Harley-Davidson has continuously made motorcycles, William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson were the two friends.Harley-Davidson off the ground, grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and maybe had been in the crowd when Pennington confidence man. I mean a real crock and shuttle between USA in England depending on which country was getting a little hot for him and he demonstrated a motor powered cycle in Milwaukee in 1895. This was a huge, although no one has ever out how Pennington's motorcycle ran because the design violated several basic laws. This event may have sparked the idea of building a motorcycle in William and Arthur's minds well. In 1900. It was very possible to build a motorcycle without violating several laws of physics. Many of these necessities for successful motorcycle had been invented by the 1890s, the French did the company was manufacturing lightweight and relatively reliable inlet over exhaust engine that could be adapted for use in the two wheeler and at this time. A lot of people riding bicycles and were getting very tired of writing, bicycles, uphill and were looking for something that would help get from point A to point B and have you arrive totally. They did the motor was being imported into the United States where it was dissected incompetent by 1902 E. 13 different companies were building motorcycles in United States and they were all using variations of the day on motor. Either they were using the principles that they did. The motor was built or they were just simply copying now along Harley-Davidson motor use the same valve configuration of the did the motor. It wasn't a copy they were doing their own effort. Arthur Davidson had three brothers and got joined in his effort by his brothers, and by 1903 prototype was built tried out found to not have enough horsepower and scrap paper of the second prototype which was a success didn't get you up and they were something else in the locket. The first bike was sold in 1904. Within a few years the enterprise was selling motorcycle hiring employees and very important if you want to stay in business making money now. What distinguished Harley Davidson's effort numerous other backyard motorcycle factories that were springing up at this time. Harley-Davidson has a lot of advantages. First, location, location and location and location is very important in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was the center of the American Industrial Revolution along with nearby sources for the raw materials needed to build motorcycles. Milwaukee was well served by both railroads and Great Lakes steamers bringing in iron tires and sending out product was not difficult were really expense.

Milwaukee boasted a skilled workforce they needed little training to produce quality goods and lastly Vesely Milwaukee produced beer and beer has always been important to motorcycle the second thing that Harley-Davidson had going for it was quality control due to the factories competent workforce. The Harley-Davidson was well-built and Forex time reliable.

It had more cubic capacity and more horsepower than competing efforts. Although Harley-Davidson's were not particularly innovative, nobody cared at this point, but people wanted to do was get to work or get to wherever they're going now you may ask why they just jump in their cars well.

In 1903 there were cars and they were expensive and they were complicated and they needed constant maintenance and motorcycles were actually faster and you needed some place to keep a car and if you live in the city. You had no place to keep a car and the people who had cars were rich and had enough money to hire a chauffeur and the chauffeur would spend all day basically maintaining the car when the chauffeur was not driving me lady about Tio wherever she felt she was going. Harleys at this point were transportation. It was no more involved. The major thing. The people looked at for Harley was.

This is cheaper than a horse and buggy and I can get where I'm going this everything that Harley-Davidson had going for it. Was it accorded investors and avoided borrowing money Indian the largest motorcycle manufacturer of the pre-World War I.

Borrowed huge sums of money in order to build a foundry. The banks interfered with the operation of Indian to the point where Hendy and Hedstrom. The founders both retired. In contrast, Harleys investors either didn't meddle with the business or offered good advice switch to the brothers in Harley's credit was listened to and acted so here you have a well and efficiently run company making quality goods and the last thing that Harley-Davidson had going for it was that it marketed these quality goods in a cost-effective manner. Arthur Davidson wrote hundreds of miles to demonstrate his motorcycle and sign up dealers while Indian in several other manufacturers supported usually expensive and total bloodbath sport of board track racing Harley-Davidson entered into euros, which are a form of motorcycle competition. Crispy does not count but arriving at a checkpoint at a precise time does early dural competitions emphasized reliability and inability to cope with varying road conditions.

This is exactly what person of the time was interested in one of the brothers Walter Walter Davidson enter these endurance races on a regular basis very well and you're listening to Margie story of Harley-Davidson when we come back more story here on our American stores that we continue with our American stories Harley Davidson Brothers began competing with their motorcycles and endurance competitions were speed didn't count but ruggedness and reliability. Jim Marge's playing 1908, Harley-Davidson was well known in the upper Midwest but pretty obscure nation here, everything changed. Walter Davidson won a national Endura. This one win was widely reported on it put the company on the map and sales letter from 150 bikes for the year of 1907 to 1140 bikes sold in the year 1909 and 3852 motorcycles sold in 1912, so here you have an American motorcycle industry which is humming along, which is producing motorcycles that are bought by an average person who can't afford a car and then 1913 appears, which is the watershed year for the American motorcycle industry. The first thing that happened was that Henry Ford came out with the model T the model T Ford offered weather protection load carrying the ability for little more than the price of the two wheeler so instead of buying a motorcycle which couldn't carry a whole lot and one passenger could actually afford and maintain, which was important. A car which could carry goods to market a lot of goods and three or four passengers. So the motorcycle industry shrank about by reason of that the motorcycle industry. Also Frank because war broke out in Europe, many motorcycle companies had imported bearings and magneto's Germany. World War I ended the availability of these components, but opened up new opportunities for production so one door opens one door closes, and a lot of people who had been building motorcycles stop what they were doing and did on more country. The number of US motorcycle manufacturers shrank to about a dozen and one of those dozen, of course, was Harley-Davidson.

The data tends in. Harley decided that their business was going to expand. They needed to enter road racing for the publicity value careful planning and training of trackside crew along with newly designed ESL racers produce winds and prestigious races in 19 now you look at what Harley-Davidson is doing at this point they don't just decide well were going to go racing. Let's hire some racers.

They carefully plan they carefully train the Side crew.

They spent a lot of time with stopwatches. Everything is tested out and they want a bunch races and when the US entered World War I, which was shortly after they started winning races. Harley cell, every motorcycle he produced to the government.

It provided about 15,000 motorcycles for the war effort continue to supply and Steelers, and at this point Harley had quite a few dealers all over the United States.

Indian then the largest American motorcycle company shipped every motorcycle made during World War I to the US government started to dealers. People couldn't get Indians and they brought Harleys instead. So between good publicity from weight race wins in support to its dealers throughout the war. Harley-Davidson entered the 1920s in an excellent position very good position and except for one little problem. The eclipse machine company which is now Bendix was suing Harley for infringement. The eclipse suit did have some validity and Harley-Davidson kept the litigation going for years until the four founders had enough money to arrange a settlement. The case settled in early 1929 and Harley immediately paid off the settlement.

This was a big disappointment to eclipse eclipse and pursue the litigation with the idea taking over Harley and the settlement payment was this huge disappointment.

Harleys mainstay from World War I to the 1920s were inlet over exhaust F-series, NJ series. The twins these were simple, ragged motorcycles that could be repaired by anybody with some mechanical skill and a lot of them were hitched to a amazing variety of commercial sidecar so you don't see commercial side cars these days. But in the 1920s and 1930s.

It was a big deal.

You had some very narrow streets that in cities.

They were very crowded and a four wheeler, couldn't get through, but a package truck and that's what they call these commercial side cars could sell Baker way have a delivery vehicle which would be Harley-Davidson hitched to a sidecar that was model to look like a loaf of bread and people who were delivering candy would show up in a with a package truck and it would look like a little cottage with lace curtains and they were all sorts of different inventive side effects which could not only hold goods around crowded cities, but also advertising on the families were not content just to sell bikes for commercial use.

They became concerned about the low number of motorcycle sulfur sport they decided to revive motorcycle clubs so these. They also decided that to be a boon to dealers is well as Harleys factory the clubs would now be run at dealerships which is a good thing for the dealers and also gave people a place to meet. Clubs were really good thing in a few years because they got Harley-Davidson in its dealers and also a lot of writers through the depression we really do gotta have friends and then it summer of 1929.

A lot of bad things happen in 1929 Harley introduced a 74 inch twin.

The V the early these were a total disaster. Every single bike cell between August and October 1929 had to be rebuilt with the factory issuing parts and instructions in the dealer supplying the labor and it says a lot for the relationship between Harley and Steelers dealers were willing to do this for free Harley didn't pay Andrew Marjorie Siegel told the story of Harley-Davidson my goodness what a series of transformations they survived being hit sideways in 1913 by the model to the comes in at about the same price as your motorcycle, and it's covered and it can carry stuff, but they survive they survived by acumen and short business and marketing strategies going into the performance and of the business and ultimately to close in other words, how to build a brand when we come back more of this remarkable story story Harley-Davidson the Milwaukee story. Location location location.

Well, it's true, Chicago, Milwaukee, at the heart of the Industrial Revolution, the Great Lakes access to railroads access to goods and supplies. Harley-Davidson took advantage of all of it when we come back more of this remarkable story. On our American stores.

We returned to our American stories of the 1929 model year, Harley-Davidson introduced their first side velvety twin-engine motorcycle was a disaster because Harley built a great relationship with its dealers to dealers pledge to provide the labor for free with the factory providing parts and instructions for rebuilding the engines.

Then Marjorie Siegel now this Seidel disaster got straightened out. People started buying motorcycles again in then they stop buying motorcycles because the depression starts to take the factory had to lay off a lot of workers. Dealers had to cut their operations to the bone, but the goodwill Harley had built up over the past 30 years, got the company Harley collaborated with Indian by this time mag Excelsior Henderson had gone out of business through the depression I had to encourage club racing under new classy rules. Classy was another good thing that happened during the depression. This was amateur racing and people would go out and race in their club would come out in support them in. People would have fun and enjoy themselves and not base quite so depressed and the companies were encouraging this because they were to provoke to higher factory team in 1936 Harley produced the knucklehead which was its overhead valve twin and then you knucklehead stirred interest sales so Harley is doing better by now it's facing a new challenge for things go up, things go down and were looking at World War II.

After numerous tests Harley won the U.S. Army contract for motorcycles in large part due to what Harley has always traded rugged construction larger motor and quality control the other candidates for that contract is probed to homework after the war was over, the company ramped up civilian production and upgraded the product. Many ex-GIs rode in the rest of the 1940s were good times for Harley. However, within a few years veterans were settling down, raising families trading motorcycle in for a washing machine and the good times kinda ran out in the 1950s. Sales dropped to the point where Harley-Davidson sometimes took on some contract work for General Motors. They were bright spots in the 1950s, the introduction of the sportster in 1957 stirred interest in sales like the knucklehead had 20 years earlier and people did keep writing. Some people did the number of people who rode, I dropped a lot. The people who did fried were outside the mainstream different date dressed differently and they seem half and they seem antisocial and these were very attractive qualities to teenagers growing up in a conformist culture now here we have the aura starting Harley is becoming synonymous with toughness, attitude, and some people really like that idea but it wasn't enough people so there weren't a lot of Harley sold when the good times would be restarted. Though it was in large part due to a most unlikely cause a Japanese company. Yes, a Japanese company established an important depot in Los Angeles in 1959 and spent a lot of money making motorcycle popular in mainstream in the 1950s motorcycling was kind of social but now people could ride bikes and not be thrown out of their apartments, which happen to one woman I talked kids learn to ride on the new imported many cycles, and this is they can get necessary together, bought a Harley because Harleys were bad tough in the editing or the impact that the imports didn't young people wanted to buy into that now resurgence in writing came a new interest in motorcycle events. The American motorcycle Association had been sponsoring gypsy tours which were rising campouts, often with entertainment and racing since the 1920s to 1949 Hollister event was part of a gypsy tour. This is the event that ended up on the cover of life magazine now for the record, nothing happened. I'm sorry nothing at all happened. I talked to several people who were there all bunch of people showed up. This was a family event their wives and girlfriends showed up. This was an invasion force and people drank some beer enjoy themselves. The cops closed off a couple of streets are dragracing. There were some bar fights. People got busted for drinking too much and I mean what's different than the normal Saturday night the photo with the guy on the bike surrounded by bottles was staged by a board life. It magazine photographer who was tired of standing around there and not seeing anything to photograph in the 1960s. These events Laughlin Daytona Beach Loudoun in the granddaddy of all Sturgis's bloated thousands of people showed up for the experience of hanging out with his fellow bikers and watching some racing and drinking these events and many smaller local events have continued to the present day. There's a myth that bikers are loners, in reality much motorcycling disparity. Social all these events are social so here we have Harley-Davidson motorcycling is becoming real popular and the company is trying to expand, catch the wave of motorcycle interest, but years of low sales said that the capital reserves and can't do it at the end of 1968 American machine and foundry bought out Harley-Davidson now people are really unhappy with American machine and foundry American machine and foundry is bad. It's caused all sorts of problems. Anything that bad that happened to Harley is because of American machine and foundry not trip the AMF by now had good points and bad points. AMF pumped a lot of money into Harley-Davidson allowing the factory to modernize how Amber AMF also demanded that the assembly lines be speeded up past anyone's ability to put out a quality product and selling an unreliable motorcycle to some large guys who are not really patients in understanding is kinda not a good idea, irate customers and unhappy dealers demanded that something be done in 1981, a group of Harley executives by a friendly bank arranged by Harley was its own company again and after a few rocky years and it was really rocky for a few years started to regain customer trust and respect.

Harley also started his own company club.

Harley owners group, which is mostly and it continues to be a social Center for writers based on local dealership see how all these ideas just get recycled but they get recycled because they were and people like them so successful that is studied in business administration program so you after the buyout times for Harley. Once the got over the hump there waitlist for new bikes.

Harley-Davidson fielded a flat track racing team sponsored different road racing efforts and even built its own road racer also upgraded the product.

The evolution motor of the 19 Eighties Gave Way to the twin cam also known as preaching of the 21st century, and later Milwaukee 88 so used to Harley-Davidson Harley-Davidson has weathered changing taste environmental protection legislation economic ups economic downs and ups and downs in the business environment. The company has successfully dealt with all challenges in the last hundred and 18 and is coming up with new stuff just introduced electric motorcycle LiveWire and a new adventure bike with a new engine so crack open a beer and drink a toast used to Harley-Davidson in the next hundred years, rate motorcycles, Margie Siegel, signing off grid drama grid framework special funds to margins telling the story of Harley-Davidson by the word order book Harley-Davidson history of the world's most famous motorcycle, but Amazon.com for the usual suspects it's a terrific group demand Road chronicles the shooter fun and love of writing, and you haven't done it. By the way, you don't know what you're missing. This is what convinces our American stores