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| Title | Harley-Davidson Sport Model |
| Coverage / Year | 1919 |
| Description | The Harley-Davidson 1919 Sport Model is a one-passenger motorcycle with a storage rack behind the seat. The gasoline tank is positioned between the chrome handlebars and seat. The cycle's engine is two-cylinder and its rubber tires are chain driven. The Sport Model is painted flat army green. The rider's seat is black. |
| Interpretation | In a small shed behind the Davidson family home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, William S. Harley (1876-1943) and Arthur Davidson (1881-1950) started experimenting with bicycles in 1901. By 1903 the Harley-Davidson Motor Co. was founded. Its first commercial motorcycle was the "Silent Gray Fellow, " a single-cylinder vehicle. The company sold just 150 cycles in 1907, but that same year it also had its first sales to police departments. Harley-Davidson's trademark forty-five degree V-Twin engine, introduced in 1909, became a customer favorite and sold 1, 149 vehicles that year. Harley motorcycles with this engine type could reach top speeds of sixty miles-per-hour. Step-starters and internal expanding brakes were introduced in 1914. The following year, three-speed transmissions were added to the motorcycles for the first time. The U.S. Army ordered its first motorcycles for military duty in 1916. By 1920 Harley-Davidson had become the largest manufacturer of motorcycles in the world. The company had dealerships in sixty-seven countries. Harley-Davidson has continued to expand and evolve in both design and production to this day. |
| Lesson Plans / Themes | How we learn about communities; |
| Learning Standards | 16 History; 10-12 Science; 13 Science, Technology and Society; |
| Author or Creator | Harley, William S., 1876-1943; Davidson, Arthur, 1881-1950 |
| Other Contributors | Harley-Davidson Motor Company
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| Source | Wise, David Burgess. Historic Motor Cycles, New York: Hamlyn Publishing Inc., 1973. Harley-Davidson Motor Co. Archives; Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago, Accession File #47.13 |
| Subject / Keywords | Motorcycles; Land transportation; Transportation; |
| Collection Publisher | Museum of Science and Industry, Chicago
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| Further Information | For any further information related to this record, please contact the Collection Publisher. See http://images.library.uiuc.edu/projects/tdc for more information about this project. |
| Rights Management Statement | http://images.library.uiuc.edu/projects/tdc/conditions.htm |
| Resource Identifier | 47.13 |
| CONTENTdm file name | 17134151982002_HARLEYDA.jpg |
