They kept making them faster. Harley-Davidsons were the first motorbike to clock speeds at 100 miles per hour. In 1913, the first Racing Department was formed. William Ottaway was its first racer, as well as its assistant engineer to lead engineer, William Harley. This was Harley-Davidson’s chance to directly challenge Indian’s dominance. The next year, in 1914, the company formally entered racing. Team Harley-Davidson precipitously earned themselves a nickname, the “Wrecking Crew,” referring to their overwhelming supremacy on the track.
The first race tracks were offroad courses on extremely rough terrain. The first Harley that ever raced broke completely in half when it hit a deep pit. Leslie “Red” Parkhurst broke several speed records in 1920. After the races, Parkhurst would showboat by taking a pig, his team’s mascot, around the track on the victory laps. By 1922, all eight national championship races were swept by Harley-Davidson’s riders. The bike became synonymous with total domination.
How Harley-Davidson Survived the Great Depression
When the Great Depression hit, H-D motorbike sales plummeted from 21,000 to 3,700 per year. Unfazed, the company demonstrated its commitment to innovation by introducing the Model D Flathead, a new sleek and modern-looking model which became so popular it stayed in production until 1970. They also introduced the revolutionary, three-wheeled Servi-Car. In order to boost production levels, Harley-Davidson made a bold move. In the 1930s they built a production line in Japan by teaming up with the Sankyo Seiyako Corporation.
It went well until WWII tensions prompted Sankyo to cut ties. The Japanese company continued to produce Harley-like bikes under the Rikuo name. Almost every American motorcycle company went belly-up during the Great Depression. Only Harley-Davidson and its original competitor, Indian Motorcycle, rode out of the Depression Era intact.
The Iconic V-Twin Engine
It was the Indian company that unwittingly helped build Harley-Davidson. When Harley engineered the V-Twin engine, he used Indian Motorcycle's bike as a model. He basically copied their engine exactly, but today it’s his engine that is considered a Harley-Davidson’s trademark design. So, what the heck is a V-Twin engine? The V-Twin engine is characterized by its v-shaped design which, essentially, connects two single cylinders at their lower ends, giving it a distinctive v-formation and doubling the power of a single-cylinder engine.
In 1907, Harley-Davidson’s first V-Twin engine was introduced. Its internal combustion cranked out a 7-horsepower motor. It could zip along at top speeds of 60 miles per hour. In 1908, they manufactured 450 of the V-Twins. About this time, Harleys began to dominate the motorcycle racing circuit.
The Police Department
The motorcycle has a long history with America’s police departments, and it all goes back to the HOG. Naturally, Harley-Davidson’s rugged reputation for offroad supremacy caught the attention of police departments. During that time in America, only 144 miles of paved roads existed. The Harley was faster and handled better than both the horse and the automobile. Affordability was also an advantage.
In 1908 the first H-D motorcycle was sold to the Detroit Police Department. It was the perfect solution to patrolling rural areas. This makes H-D the longest-serving motorcycle of any police force. The city of Milwaukee added the bikes to their force in 1910. In 1911, Chief August Vollmer set up an H-D motorcycle patrol unit in Berkeley, California. By the 1920s, Harley-Davidsons were used by 3,000 police departments across the United States.
The Trademark Harley-Davidson Sound
The grumbling rumble of these bikes is, technically, not a trademark sound. However, the company did try to trademark it. In 1994 they filed a lawsuit, but many competing motorcycle companies fought it. H-D dropped the suit. The sound is definitely unique. It comes from the exhaust of the distinctive V-Twin engine. The crankshaft inside the engine works off a single pin so that both pistons are connected. The atypical rhythm of those pistons firing causes the choppy sound some call “potato potato.”
The real reason for the distinctive sound has nothing to do with engines and parts if you ask riders. They will tell you that the loud, ground-vibrating sound is not only a cherished H-D characteristic but also a safety feature. It’s true. Well, it’s a genuine belief in HOG culture, at least. Since motorcycles cruise down between lanes, cars are less likely to accidentally take out a bike while changing lanes—if they hear them coming.