AMERICAN MADE : Harley-Davidson Motorcycles

AMERICAN MADE

Say motorcycle and the first thing that comes to most mind is a great roaring Harley. I say roaring because Harley-Davidson owners like ‘em loud, even going as far as to change out parts or all of the exhaust system just to boost the noise level.

Motorcycles originated in Hermany in 1885 when Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach invented the first internal combustion engine and attached it to a bicycle frame. This creation went a whopping 6.8 mph. The HarleyDavidson models were totally American made, produced in a factory located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by William Harley and the Davidson brothers, Walter, Arthur, and William. Harley was messing around in his woodshed and came up with a small engine design that he fit to a bicycle body. It was 1903 when Harley and the Davidson boys joined their separate talents to create a motor-bicycle. It did pretty well on the flat roads but struggled on the hills requiring old-fashioned foot pedal power to help out. Soon enough, though, the guys developed the Harley-Davidson Model 1that could eat up the road at 35 mph. By 1907, they had a large factory, building 150 motorcycles that year, and began supplying the police force with a more modern way to beef up patrols.

The Harley-Davidson brand achieved wide recognition for publishing the first motorcycle catalog in the world. Their bikes showed up in races winning first place. The company designed the Bar & Shield Logo, patenting it as their trademark. The

Sources: lasvegasharleydavidson.com, Wikipedia, www.uti.edu https://unsplash.com/s/photos/harley-davidson, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Harley

Sources: lasvegasharleydavidson.com, Wikipedia, www.uti.edu https://unsplash.com/s/photos/harley-davidson, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_S._Harley logo was designed to represent strength and stability. The Harley was and still is a product that has proven its strength and stability.

The Harley-Davidson company survived the Great Depression (1929-1939). The debilitating depressed economy calvinized the industrial world, but the company made it through. Just the year before the Depression began Harley manufactured the JD series models with top speeds of 100 mph. Towards the end of the economic crisis a model called the Knucklehead set a new speed record on land of 136 mph. As President Roosevelt’s New Deal began to provide relief and recovery from the Depression, World War II was gearing up. In 1941 the Harley factory stopped production of all civilian motorcycles and restyled for military models. After the war ended the company continued to build better, more efficient, more powerful models, as well as modern designs to fir the many diverse lifestyles and users.

In 1983 a club strictly for Harley owners was formed. The Harley Owners Group (H.O.G.) expanded to 90,000 people from all over the world. In 1993, 90 years after the company began, Harley owners gathered in Milwaukee for the Family Reunion. There were an estimated 100,000 riders in a celebration parade. The parade of 1998 boasted some 140,000 riders. Let us go back to the noise so appreciated by Harley folks. Can you imagine the excitement and energy produced by 140,000 Harleys in full voice? Some ask why motorcycle riders rev their engines while stopped at a light. These motors certainly do not claim to stall out requiring this action to keep them going. No, it is simply for the attention. Vroom, Vroom is not just for children playing with models on the floor. Harley riders like the noise and the attention that comes from revving their engines. After all, that is the best part of owning one of these splendid machines. As for speed... The FXDR 114 model can zoom down the road at around 160 mph. Turn the page.

Written by: Janith Emm

LENGTH : 95.5 in. SEAT HEIGHT, LADEN : 27.7 in. GROUND CLEARANCE : 5.5 in. RAKE : 34 TRAIL : 4.7 in. WHEELBASE : 68.3 in. TIRES, FRONT SPECIFICATION : 120/70ZR-19 60W TIRES, REAR SPECIFICATION : 240/40R-18 79V FUEL CAPACITY : 4.4 gal. OIL CAPACITY (W/FILTER) : 5 qt. WEIGHT, AS SHIPPED : 637 lb. WEIGHT, IN RUNNING ORDER : 668 lb. EXHAUST : 2-into-1; catalyst in header ENGINE TORQUE TESTING METHOD : J1349 ENGINE TORQUE : 119 ft-lb ENGINE TORQUE (RPM) : 3500 LEAN ANGLE, RIGHT (DEG.) : 32.6 LEAN ANGLE, LEFT (DEG.) : 32.8 FUEL ECONOMY : 46 mpg

Drive Train

Engine

PRIMARY DRIVE : Chain, 34/46 ratio GEAR RATIOS (OVERALL) : 1ST 9.311 GEAR RATIOS (OVERALL) : 2ND 6.454 GEAR RATIOS (OVERALL) : 3RD 4.793 ENGINE : Milwaukee-Eight® 114 GEAR RATIOS (OVERALL) : 4TH 3.882 BORE : 4.016 in. GEAR RATIOS (OVERALL) : 5TH 3.307 STROKE : 4.5 in. GEAR RATIOS (OVERALL) : 6TH 2.79 DISPLACEMENT : 114 cu in COMPRESSION RATIO : 10.5:1 FUEL SYSTEM : 3 Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection Source: https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/ motorcycles/2020/fxdr-114.html

Harley- Davidson FXDR 114