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BIOGRAPHY WRITTEN BY
Becky Marburger, PBS Wisconsin Education
EDITED BY�Beth Thayer, Hillsboro Elementary School, Hillsboro, WI
Christina Venn, Sheboygan Falls Elementary School, Sheboygan Falls, WI�
First edition ©2014. Revised edition ©2021 Wisconsin Educational Communications Board and The Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System
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Introduction | 4 |
Boyhood Friends | 5 |
Working Together | 7 |
Making It Better | 10 |
Harley-Davidson Motor Company | 12 |
Conclusion | 14 |
Map | 17 |
Have you ever needed to innovate, or find a new way to do something? If you have, you have something in common with two Wisconsinites named Bill Harley and Arthur Davidson. They wanted to find an answer to a problem they were having, and what they came up with made history in Wisconsin, and around the world!
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A 1961 Harley-Davidson Duo-Glide - Piero. 2006. Image from Wikimedia Commons.
innovate (v): to improve something that already exists
Bill Harley and Arthur Davidson became friends when they were young boys. Both were born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Bill was born on December 29, 1880, and Arthur was born on February 11, 1881. Bill was a quiet, tall boy, and Arthur was talkative and short.�
They liked to ride their bicycles to a nearby lake to go fishing. But, there was a problem: in order to get to the lake and back home again, they had to pedal up hills, which was hard for them to do (and not much fun). They wanted to make their bike rides easier, and wondered how they might do that…
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When they saw an inventor ride his motorcycle in Milwaukee in 1895, they thought: ‘this could be the answer to our problem!’ A machine like that could help make traveling easier for them, and other people. The boys wanted to learn more about the motorcycle so they could make their own.�
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A drawing of Edward Pennington’s motorcycle (1896). Image from the United States Patent Office. 1896.�
motorcycle (n): a two-wheel vehicle that has an engine; can also be called a bike or motorbike
Bill and Arthur moved apart from each other in 1896. Bill lived on the north side of Milwaukee, and Arthur lived on a farm in Cambridge, Wisconsin. Living in different cities did not end their friendship. They often wrote each other letters, telling about their lives and new jobs.
Bill worked as a designer drawing new plans, or designs, for making bicycles in a factory. Arthur was a pattern maker for machine parts. He used saws to cut wood into shapes that looked like parts of a machine. These patterns were used to form molds. To make a machine part, hot melted metal was poured inside the mold. This was a very fast and easy way to make new parts and tools.�
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design (n): a plan or a pattern used to make something��mold (n): a hollow form that a substance like sand or metal is poured into to make a specific shape or tool
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Arthur met a new friend named Ole Evinrude while living in Cambridge. Ole and Arthur started to go fishing together, just like Arthur and Bill used to do. Ole and Arthur’s boat did not have a motor, and their arms would get tired from rowing. So, in 1907 Ole invented a motor for a boat to help make water travel easier. This ‘outboard motor’ was a great success! This innovation would go on to inspire the work Arthur would later do with Bill to improve their motorcycle engine to make land travel easier.�
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outboard motor (n): a way to power small boats that is made up of an engine, tiller, and propeller��
A drawing of the outboard motor �from Ole Evinrude’s patent application. Image from Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
In 1900, Arthur and his family moved back to Milwaukee. Living in the same city again, Arthur and Bill saw each other more often and began working at making a motorcycle.
Arthur and Bill worked at it for long hours in Arthur’s parents’ basement, but they needed help. They asked their friend Ole for advice. He told them how to build a better engine.
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Ole made an important contribution, and then Bill, Arthur, �and Arthur's brother, Walter, went on to become a team. �They made their first motorcycle in 1903.
The first motorcycle was not very reliable. It did not have �a lot of horsepower or go very fast. Arthur, Bill, and Walter wanted to make it better.
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reliable (adj): able to be trusted
A man with his Harley (1910). Image courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-3252.
So Bill went to college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to become an engineer. He learned as much as he could about gas engines so that he could improve the motorcycle. Arthur and Walter stayed in Milwaukee. They worked on the motorcycle in a wooden shed in their parents’ backyard.��The men made and sold about seven motorcycles in 1905. �They wanted to make even more motorcycles, but they needed more space to build them. The team bought a new factory in Milwaukee in 1906. That year, they built 50 machines!
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A winter-time snapshot of the original shop in the Davidson family backyard where the first Harley-Davidson motorcycles were assembled. The Davidsons’ little sister painted the name “Harley Davidson Motor Company” on the family’s shed door. The name stuck, and it became the official company name! Image courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-43394.
engineer (n): a person trained to design and build things like engines, machines, and buildings
Bill graduated from college in 1907. That same year, they made Harley-Davidson an official company. Walter became the company president because he was a good businessman. Bill was the company’s chief engineer, and Arthur was the top salesman. Arthur and Walter’s brother, William, also began working at the company. He managed the company’s staff. �
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From left to right: William Davidson, Walter Davidson, Arthur Davidson, Bill Harley. Grant, L. (1920) from The North Shore Bulletin, vol 4. Page 9.�
The four men worked long hours trying to make and sell as many motorcycles as they could. Walter and several other riders often rode Harley-Davidson machines in races to show people how well-built the motorcycles were. This worked, and in 1914, over 20,000 motorcycles were sold!
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Walter with one of the Harley-Davidson motorcycles in 1908. Image courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society. Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-2546.
The Harley-Davidson Motor Company made more and more motorcycles. The United States and Great Britain even used Harleys during World War I and World War II. The bikes became known around the world for being well-built and reliable.
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A calf riding on the back of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle (1912). Image courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-5499.
Police officers with their Harleys (1931). Image courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-19219.
Bill Harley and the Davidson brothers were very good business leaders. They treated their workers fairly and had a reputation for building high-quality machines, which is why they were inducted into the Labor Hall of Fame in 2004. They believed that their sons would be strong business leaders as well, and in 1942, they made their sons the new company leaders.�
Both Bill and Arthur continued to work for the Harley-Davidson Motor Company even after their sons took charge. Bill enjoyed designing new and better motorcycle engines including the “Knucklehead” which became a very popular Harley. He also liked to hunt, fish, and make art. He died on September 18, 1943.
Arthur was very active in supporting the American Motorcycle Association. He raised dairy cattle on his farm, and he also enjoyed donating money to groups like the Boy Scouts. He passed away on December 30, 1950.
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Bill and Arthur’s problem riding their bicycles to and from the lake led them to build a better motorcycle, and then to keep making even better motorcycles. Their innovations didn’t just make their lives better, they changed the ways people travel all around the world. The Harley-Davidson Motor Company continues to make and sell motorcycles, and you can see their bikes on the roads today!
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Wisconsin politician, Tommy Thompson, riding his Harley in Madison, Wisconsin. Image courtesy of the Wisconsin Historical Society. WHi-70998.
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