Owning a Harley-Davidson means owning a piece of American history. The proper name contains the hyphen since it is actually a combination of the last names of the original designers/owners, William S. Harley (who drew up the plans for the original engine in 1901 at the age of 22) and his childhood friend Arthur Davidson.
After working for the next 2 years to finish their "motor-bicycle", they realized that this first motor was not powerful enough to climb the hills around Milwaukee without assistance. Without being discouraged, they quickly wrote it off as a valuable learning experiment.
The new and improved model was the first real Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The "boys" received help with the bigger engine (a 405cc) from Ole Evinrude. This bigger engine took their design out of the motorized-bicycle category and helped to define what a motorcycle should contain.
Their work space at the time was a 10 x 15 ft shed located in the Davidson family's backyard. The new prototype was used to compete in a Milwaukee motorcycle race at State Fair Park on September 8, 1904, where they finished fourth. This was the first historically documented appearance of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
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