Harley-Davidson - Everything You Need to Know | Up to Speed

(engine revving) (wheels screeching) - Hello brother, good cut. See you in Sturgis or was it Daytona? What chapter are you from Bakersfield, Flagstaff, Cheyenne, Jasper, Oshkosh? What do you have there, brother, Super glide, Hydra glide, Street glide, Wide glide, Duo glide Electra glide, Tour glide, Low glide, Tri glide? Oh, V-Rod? (scratching record) Just kidding, it's been me the whole time. An American tradition, like apple pie or James Caan's. Harley Davidson has survived two world wars, the Great Depression, the Great Recession, an AMF purchase, and one of the funniest episodes of South Park. - What did you say. -A Harley is the ultimate symbol of freedom and its history is the quintessential American dream.

This is

everything

you

need

to

know

to get up to

speed

on Harley, vroom, Davidson. If you have never ridden a motorcycle before, let us

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if we beep you. (fun electronic music) Harley Davidson was founded by friends William S. Harley and Arthur P. Davidson on Milwaukee's north side in 1901. Their first production motorcycle, the Model Zero, was built after Arthur's brother, Walter, to join the mix. It had a 24 cubic inch single cylinder engine that wasn't very powerful but was apparently fun. It had no clutch, no front brake, no suspension, it was not chain or shaft transmission.

He ran on a leather belt. Kind of like how I used to run after hearing my dad's leather belt. (belt beat) A couple of years later, a third Davidson brother joined the team and they moved their operation from a 10-by-15-foot backyard shed to a large storefront on Chestnut Street in Milwaukee, which is still where It is currently the headquarters of Harley Davidson. 116 years later, until 1907, Harley had to install single-cylinder F-head engines in his bikes, but William Harley was looking to change it up a bit. A recent mechanical engineering graduate, he returned to Milwaukee with a brain full of engineering topics and a revolutionary idea.

Everyone was standing around the bubbler. That's what Milwaukeeans call water fountains. - Hello guys, I have an idea for a new engine. - Oh yeah. - Oh, you have an idea, right? - What have you got there? - Oh, yeah, you bet. It has two cylinders in the shape of a 45-degree V-twin, I call it V-twin. - Oh wow, rest assured, yes, it seems like a good idea. - Oh, yes, that seems like a good idea. This requires some girls and some lined coogals. - Yes, you put the girls in the beer, cook them and then brown them on the grill.

You don't cook them completely on the grill, no. - Let's get some cheese curds, make sure they squeak, if they don't squeak they aren't very good cheese curds. - Of course I'm going to make them squeak. - Oh, go pack, go pack. -What are the Packers? - Oh, they're our soccer team. It will be invented in a few years. We'll love Brett Favre. - In 1909, Harley launched its first production model with its legendary Mopowa 45-degree V-twin. The 5D model. It wasn't a huge success, but they saw a lot of potential in their new V-twin engine design.

Oh, and it was also the first time his motorcycles started to sound like Harley's. (motorcycle engine revving) The 45 degree offset of the cylinders and the cut crankshaft pin meant that the firing sequence alternated between 315 and 405 degrees. That strange firing pattern created the plop plop sound that is such a big part of the Harley Davidson brand. Ironically, at the time Harley Davidson was marketing its motorcycles to the sane and safe rider who uses this machine for both business and pleasure and enjoys his motorcycle as it was designed to be used. Two years later, in 1911, they released their first successful V-twin.

On a Model 70. Harley prided itself on making quiet motorcycles. That tradition has not been maintained. Harley wasn't marketing to agitators, they were selling their bikes to businessmen like me. Oh yes, and also the young and intrepid track runners. The first form of popular motorcycle racing took place in the Motordromes. Wooden tracks that featured banked turns and 50-degree axles To put that in perspective, the highest banked track in NASCAR today is Talladega at 33 degrees. At a 50-degree inclined angle with a radius of 25 meters, you would have to maintain a

speed

of more than 116 miles per hour to avoid sliding. 160 miles per motorcycle without brakes.

No, thanks. It was very, very dangerous for the runners and the spectators. Many riders were killed and many spectators were hit in the face with motorcycles. The Motordrome tracks would soon receive the nickname Murderdrome. Yeah. (lightning) And Harley didn't want to be a part of that. So they chose to run on flat tracks. They immediately began to dominate even earning the nickname The Wrecking Crew. Not only did they sell motorcycles to kids racing around the track, they also sold motorcycles to the police, mailmen, and the military. That's when Harley started making a lot of money from authentic Wisconsin Cheddar cheese.

The year was 1916. Poncho Villa was causing a lot of problems on the border between the United States and Mexico. An American general named Blackjack Pershing was sent on an expedition to New Mexico to capture him. It was difficult to catch the bandits there with their horses and Pershing wanted an advantage. He then went up to Harley Davidson and ordered some bikes. Harley said, okay and they sent 12 Hogs equipped with sidecars and full machine gun turrets. They never captured Poncho but they had a lot of fun. Yeah, shoot that tree. Well. Okay, shoot that cactus, okay. The United States entered World War I in 1917 and Harley Davidson emerged victorious.

Send more than 1/3 of all your motorcycles to the troops. At the end of the war, it was estimated that the army used about 20,000 motorcycles and the majority of them were Harley Davidsons. I can go on and on about Harley's military history, but back to civilian life. Over the next two decades, Harley Davidson grew and expanded beyond its wildest expectations. They continue to supply bicycles to government agencies. They adopted their infamous Hog mascot and dabbled in racing, which we'll talk more about in a moment. (engine revving) Harley designed some memorable motorcycles during this era, starting with the Flathead in '29, but it was their first overhead valve engine in 1936 that really brought Harley into the next era.

This Flathead is pretty, don't you know? But I want some more power. - More power? - Oh oh. - More power, don't you know? - Here it comes. - Yes, more power, darling. - Yes, more power, darling. - More power baby. Harley Davidson's first overhead valve Big Twin. The Knucklehead gets its name from the valve covers that resemble the knuckles of a fist. The original Knucklehead was a 61 cubic inch V-Twin with pushrod activated overhead valves that actuated for a whopping 40 hours. It was a huge step forward from any engine Harley had ever made. It was also the first Harley Davidson-designed engine to have an oil recirculation system, but with new technology comes new problems, and Knucklehead had some pretty bad oil leaks, mostly from the rocker boxes.

In 1941 they were finding their Knucklehead when America entered Dub Dub Two. Harley Davidson virtually stopped production of all civilian bicycles to make the bike specifically for the US military. The WLA also known as the Liberator. Going. The Liberator uses its flathead engine, abandoning the overhead valve design in favor of the tried and true side valve engine. These engines were easier to work on and did not have the complex parts like pushrods or rocker arms that were necessary on the Knucklehead. They were painted olive green or black and even came with darkened headlights to reduce visibility when performing night missions.

Nice. The bikes also featured Springer front suspension, while the rear had no suspension, giving this type of motorcycle the hardtail nickname. World War II ended and after all was said and done, there were plenty of Harley Liberators that could be purchased by cheap, cheap soldiers who came back from the war and suddenly had some free time and a lot of pent-up aggression. , they bought the same bikes they had ridden in the war, customized them, and chopped them up or cut off unnecessary parts. This is where the term Choppers comes from. (soft music) The rowdy soldiers took their army bikes and met up with other soldiers and soon motorcycle clubs were formed.

One of the most famous clubs of that era was the Hell's Angels. Formed in 1948 as a social club, the Hells Angels have become known for terrorizing communities with their loud bicycles and outlaw tendencies. (fun music) The funny thing about the Hells Angels motorcycle gang is that they are now a corporation. You can buy shares in Hells Angels. (guy screaming) The case that really came under the outlaw biker image occurred when the American Gypsy Tour Motorcycle Association took over the town of Hollister, California. It started with a little drinking and by the end of the weekend there was destruction, chaos, arrests and a full-blown riot.

The media exaggerated it, but it didn't matter, the general view of motorcyclists changed forever, brother. (crowd applauding) The 1953 film The Wild One, starring a man strikingly similar to me, Mr. Marlon Brando, brought the image of bad boy bikers to the masses and it was this outlaw advertising that really He helped sell Harley motorcycles. (engine rumbling) It also didn't hurt that superstars like Clark Gable and Elvis Presley started riding them too. Around the same time, Harley Davidson launched its middleweight K model. It featured a 45 cubic inch aluminum engine that had a speed of 30 hours and a top speed of 100 miles per hour.

This was the first Harley to have hydraulic suspension on both wheels and was built to compete with faster and more agile imported motorcycles like the 500cc Triumph Speed ​​Twin. (engine revving) And the BSA A7. (engine revving) You see, Harley was feeling the pressure from European competitors, not only in the commercial market, but also in racing. Those guys' bikes were lighter, faster, and had better technology in the engine and suspension department. Don't be left behind. Harley Davidson launched its new production racing motorcycle, the KR-750. (engine revving) The latest side-valve design, the KR-750, was a 45 cubic inch V-twin that made 50 hsprs and could reach a top speed of 120 miles per hour.

It copied some of the technology from European bicycles, such as front suspension with hydraulic fork, rear swing arm, and foot-controlled gear shifting. The Model-K showed the world that Harley could produce a smaller, more agile motorcycle that could compete with British two-wheeled motorcycles. (engine revving) Harley Davidson was winning races, but the future of engines and racing bikes began to favor the overhead valve design. And in 1957 Harley Davidson responded with the Sportster. Have you ever heard of it? Perhaps the most important bicycle to come out of Milwaukee in the 1950s. The Sportster is considered the grandmother of the modern Superbike.

It's also probably the best Hill Climber, Drag Racer, Land Speed ​​Racer, Ice Racer, and Road Racer Flat Track Racer bike Harley has ever made. (engine revving) Like many first-year Harley bikes, the Sportster wasn't perfect. Dealers wanted a sportier Sportster. This is how the XLCH was born in 1958. CH stands for Hot Competition. (soft dance music) If the original Sportster was an underpowered Stang, the XLCH was a fire-breathing workhorse. (engine revving) Early XLCHs came with no lights, a nine-to-one compression ratio, magneto ignition, straight pipes, Bob fenders, and a 2.25-gallon tank from a dirt track racer. Finally the athletes had the motorcycle they always wanted.

Congratulations, athletes, you have worked hard to achieve this. Harley Davidson was still the king of Big Boy motorcycles, but this was the 1960s and the tides were a changing man. Emerging from the East was a new challenge for the American brand. Honda, Honda had a nifty little 50cc bike called the Super Cub and they wanted to sell 200,000 units. And to sell so many bikes, Honda

need

ed to change public perception of the outlaw motorcycle image that Harley had created, so Honda came up with the campaign so cleverly, you'd think I came up with it. - You meet the nicest people in a Honda.

You meet the nicest people in a Honda. - Instead of drunk and rowdy Hong boys, Honda had posters with housewives, children, young couples and other respectable members of society. Oh my goodness, the campaign worked. Harley Davidson was faced with the difficult decision of disproving his reputation and starting marketing to college students and future accountants named Doug, or staying true to his brother's fans. So what did they do? Well,Harley doubled down on his bad boy image and stayed true, of course. But it wasn't enough to fight off the Japanese brands, and by the late '60s, Harley Davidson was in desperate need of capital.

They needed to expand their manufacturing capacity and diversify to remain relevant. 1969 was a year of firsts for the United States: we supposedly landed on the moon. Woodstock supposedly happened and Harley Davidson received financial help for an angel descending from heaven, America Machine Foundry. AMF was one of the largest recreational equipment companies in the United States and was best known for manufacturing bowling pins. (ball rumbling) (pins hitting) - Game. - AMF was used to mass manufacturing, but this didn't translate very well to the high-quality processes Harley was known for. They streamlined production and laid off a ton of workers.

Which isn't great my friend. Sales and quality were declining and Harley Davidson was struggling to stay afloat. Now people say they are difficult to drive. Ah roast. But the '70s produced some iconic motorcycles for Harley: the 1977 FXS Lowrider, the XLCR Cafe Racer, and the 79 Tourglide. But no other bike comes close to the success of the XR-750. (engine revving) Built in 1970, Harley spent the next two years refining it specifically for winning races on dirt and pavement. XR-750 riders have won 29 of the 37 AMA Grand National Championships from 1972 to 2008 and have more wins than any other bike in AMA racing.

The XR-750 also became famous thanks to this type. Have you ever heard of him? Oops, I forgot to say his name. His name is Evil Knievel, have you ever heard of him? - I don't ask for your respect, I demand it. s The motorcycle specialist of the 70s and probably the motorcycle specialist of all time. - The king of daredevils of all time, Evil Knievel. -He jumped over cars, vans, Greyhound buses, school buses, canyons, water fountains and would have jumped over some sharks if he hadn't crashed his XR-750 and broken his collarbone, Nolan. The '70s were coming to an end and the deal with the AMF simply wasn't working.

They didn't see Harley fit into their high-revenue portfolio of bowling equipment and were looking to sell. The only problem was that they practically bankrupted the company and no one wanted to buy it. - You're breaking up with me. - Listen, we do things to bowl. We tried the whole motorcycle thing and we're not very good at it. - Wait, I didn't want to be the one who had to do it. I've been thinking the same thing you guys suck at this. - That makes it different for me, maybe we can try to solve it. - No, no, no, no, it's not me, it's you, goodbye. -Harley bought back his company for $80 million.

They were on a mission to return their brands to their former glory days, but it turns out this wasn't the most opportune time. Middleweight bikes like the Honda 750, Yamaha 650, and Kawasaki Mach 3 were gaining popularity, but Harley primarily sold its larger, higher-end 1,000+ cc bikes. Harley Davidson remained the best-selling heavy motorcycle brand, but saw that it would need a response to Eastern competitors or it would meet the same fate as all other American motorcycle brands. That is, the grave. So they went to the one person every intelligent person turns to for help. Ronald Reagan, the gipper boy. Harley Davidson asks the president to impose tariffs on motorcycles 700 cc or larger.

And in 1983, President Reagan forced import taxes to be raised by 4% by how many, guess? I don't know, 7%. No. 15, 15%. No. It cannot be 30%. 49%. Wow, that seems absolutely unfair, Mr. President Ronald Reagan. - They are betting against the United States itself and that is a bet that no one will ever win. - Although it was quite unfair to the Japanese, it gave Harley Davidson a little breathing room. They retooled their factories and, more importantly, implemented a revolutionary new just-in-time inventory system. To give you an idea of ​​how bad AMF made motorcycles. The number of motorcycles with defective parts that Harley produced was 50%.

Half their bikes broke under the new system which dropped to 2% and they continue to improve their tarnished images from the AMF days. And in 1985 they launched their new Evolution Motor. Some believe this engine is the saving grace of the Harley brand. The evolution of the Big Twin that has been at Harley Davidson for 15 years is with Dyna FXR and Touring frames. And they still use it today on the Sportster, 34 years later. It's reliable, powerful, and put Harley Davidson back on the map. Another bike that rose from the ashes of the AMF HD was the Softail. Harley Davidson owners are purists, they love the old school rough riding and the hard rear suspension of the past.

It's a macho thing, okay, you understand it or you don't. But their old-school cabooses didn't mind being macho, and Harley Davidson engineers develop the Softail, a bike that appears to have a rigid rear suspension but places the shock absorbers under the transmission. - I still look good, don't I? - Yeah, how's your butt, honey? It's good. And in the 90s another feature of classic motorcycles was added. The fat boy. (growls) The Fat Boy was designed by Willie G Davidson, grandson of the founder, William A Davidson, who you remember from before. The Fat Boy uses Softail suspension, Solid Cast Disc front and rear wheels, Shotgun exhaust, and slightly flared fenders.

It was ridden by Arnold Schwarzenegger in Terminator 2 Doomsday. Hasta la vista baby. Come with me if you want to live. Lower. Cover yourself, cover yourself. Basically, Harley's was the coolest thing about the '90s. After the year 2000, Harley released a completely new bike, the V-Rod. (engine revving) And what made the V-Rod so unique was that the engine was co-developed with Porsche. MMM yes. The Revolution was a liquid-cooled, dual overhead camshaft, internally counterbalanced, 60-degree V-Twin engine that produced 115 hsprs with a redline of 9000 RPM. (engine revving) Was this the Honda? It was bulletproof. You get a sweet muscle bike with an awesome engine that Harley enthusiasts didn't buy.

Which brings me to my final point. Harley has long relied on traditionalists for its sales success. And while they might be one of the few companies that actually listen to their customers' wishes when doing so, they failed to reach other potential buyers. In 1987, half of all Harley riders were under 35 years old. Less than 20 years later, that figure dropped to 15%, and in 2008 Harley Davidson stopped reporting the average age of drivers because its average customer was 48 years old. But Harley has fallen on tougher times and the company is taking steps to attract a younger, more diverse audience. In 2020 Harley will launch the Pan America.

Their first adventure touring bike, they will also launch their Street Fighter with the aim of fighting with Ducati and KTM in the middleweight market. And later this year they will launch the least Harley bike in the company's history. The all-electric Livewire. (engine revving) Thanks to fix for sponsoring this episode of Up To Speed. Look, Father's Day is right around the corner and I know you haven't bought your dear dad anything, you fool. Don't stress, just get him a Fixd OBD2 center. It plugs directly into any car made after 1996, that's what OBD2 is. And it sends all kinds of interesting real-time diagnostics right to your phone, when that confusing check engine light comes on.

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Jeremiah, one of our new writers, knows a lot about them. He broke his arm riding one. Tel Jeremiah to improve in the comments. Thanks for watching again guys, this is the best thing ever. If you want to get some cool Donut gear, just restock all the OG logo items, it's @donutmedia.com, in our store. I love you, goodbye Oh.