An iconic Hog motorcycle, scything its way across the USA down route 66 is one of the most memorable images there is. The Harley Davidson motorcycle company has overcome much in the way of hardship and misfortune, and some good luck as well, to retain its position as one of the premier bike manufacturers in the world. The care of a Harley is paramount; if you have one, you’ll want to keep it in a decent-sized and well-protected garage. One of the main features of a garage is its doors and a Garage Doors Taunton based service provider like www.upandoverdoorsltd.co.uk/garage-doors/garage-doors-taunton can give you the service that you need. How did this North American design classic make it?

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Firstly, it has a very loyal following. Owners clubs and bike meets are a regular fixture of owning a Harley and when you buy one, you are also joining a community. Its origins are somewhat humble. Working in a garage in 1901, a twenty-year-old William S Harley had a dream. He was sick of having to pedal his bike everywhere. Someone who shared this dislike was his friend Arthur Davidson, and both of them resolved to fit an engine to their bikes so that they wouldn’t need to pedal anymore. They worked on the project with help from Arthur’s brother Walter and the use of a machine shop owned by another friend, Henry Melk.

After two years, the design was ready for a practical tryout. Sadly, although the engine was fine with flat-level roads, as soon as it came across hills and mountains common around the Milwaukee area, they started to have to pedal. This rather defeated the object of the whole exercise, but the two friends had learnt some valuable and practical lessons along the way.

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Now the three friends began to create a larger engine and designed a loop frame to incorporate it. This moved the vehicle out of the “pedal bike with an assistance motor” category to being a proper Motorbike. Working out of a shed and using a rail shop out of hours that the older Davidson worked in, they created the first framework for the Harley Davidson bike that people know and love today.

Within the next 20 years, Harley Davidson had become the largest producer of Motorcycles in the world. Way ahead of the manufacturers, Indian, who was their greatest North American rival.