$ 1 MILLION HARLEY-DAVIDSON

                                             $ 1 MILLION HARLEY-DAVIDSON

At cool $1 million, this is the world's first and only million dollar Harley. Artist Jack Armstrong's "Cosmic Starship" Harley-Davidson motorcycle which he painted, has been unveiled at Bartels Harley-Davidson in Marina Del Rey, California (United States) October 21, 2010. Armstrong is renowned for his inimitable painting style called Cosmic Extensionalism and his paintings usually range from $300,000 to $3,000,000.

At cool $1 million, this is the world's first and only million dollar Harley. Artist Jack Armstrong's "Cosmic Starship" Harley-Davidson motorcycle which he painted, has been unveiled at Bartels Harley-Davidson in Marina Del Rey, California (United States) on October 21, 2010. Armstrong is renowned for his inimitable painting style called Cosmic Extensionalism and his paintings usually range from $300,000 to $3,000,000. (Photo: AFP)

The model is sure to attract both art and bike fans worldwide. In Armstrong's words "to paint a million dollar Harley is legendary, like the bike!"

Harley-Davidson, Inc. (H-D), or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer, founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1903.

As one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression (along with Indian) the company has survived numerous ownership arrangements, subsidiary arrangements (e.g., Aermacchi 1974-1978 and Buell 1987-2009), periods of poor economic health and product quality, as well as intense global competition — to become one of the world's largest motorcycle manufacturers and an iconic brand widely known for its loyal following — with owner clubs and events worldwide as well as a company sponsored brand-focused museum.

Noted for a style of customization that gave rise to the chopper motorcycle style, Harley-Davidson traditionally marketed heavyweight, air-cooled cruiser motorcycles with engine displacements greater than 700 cm³ — and has broadened its offerings to include its more contemporary VRSC (2002) and middle-weight Street (2015) platforms.

Harley-Davidson manufactures its motorcycles at factories in York, Pennsylvania; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Kansas City, Missouri; Manaus, Brazil; and Bawal, India — and markets its products worldwide.

Besides motorcycles, the company licenses and markets merchandise under the Harley-Davidson brand, among them being apparel, home decor and ornaments, accessories, toys, and scale figures of its motorcycles, and video games based on its motorcycle line and the community.

In 1901, 20-year-old William S. Harley drew up plans for a small engine with a displacement of 7.07 cubic inches (116 cc³) and four-inch (102 mm) flywheels The engine was designed for use in a regular pedal-bicycle frame. Over the next two years, Harley and his childhood friend Arthur Davidson worked on their motor-bicycle using the northside Milwaukee machine shop at the home of their friend, Henry Melk. It was finished in 1903 with the help of Arthur's brother, Walter Davidson. Upon testing their power-cycle, Harley and the Davidson brothers found it unable to climb the hills around Milwaukee without pedal assistance. They quickly wrote off their first motor-bicycle as a valuable learning experiment.

Work immediately began on a new and improved second-generation machine. This first "real" Harley-Davidson motorcycle had a bigger engine of 24.74 cubic inches (405 cc³) with 9.75 inches (25 cm) flywheels weighing 28 lb (13 kg). The machine's advanced loop-frame pattern was similar to the 1903 Milwaukee Merkel motorcycle (designed by Joseph Merkel, later of Flying Merkel fame). The bigger engine and loop-frame design took it out of the motorized bicycle category and marked the path to future motorcycle designs. The boys also received help with their bigger engine from outboard motor pioneer Ole Evinrude, who was then building gas engines of his own design for automotive use on Milwaukee's Lake Street.

Prototype

The prototype of the new loop-frame Harley-Davidson was assembled in a 10 ft × 15 ft (3.0 m × 4.6 m) shed in the Davidson family backyard.Most of the major parts, however, were made elsewhere, including some probably fabricated at the West Milwaukee railshops where oldest brother William A. Davidson was then toolroom foreman. This prototype machine was functional by September 8, 1904, when it competed in a Milwaukee motorcycle race held at State Fair Park. It was ridden by Edward Hildebrand and placed fourth. This is the first documented appearance of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle in the historical record.

In January 1905, small advertisements were placed in the Automobile and Cycle Trade Journal offering bare Harley-Davidson engines to the do-it-yourself trade. By April, complete motorcycles were in production on a very limited basis. That year, the first Harley-Davidson dealer, Carl H. Lang of Chicago, sold three bikes from the five built in the Davidson backyard shed. Years later the original shed was taken to the Juneau Avenue factory where it would stand for many decades as a tribute to the Motor Company's humble origins until it was accidentally destroyed by contractors cleaning the factory yard in the early 1970s.

In 1906, Harley and the Davidson brothers built their first factory on Chestnut Street (later Juneau Avenue),at the current location of Harley-Davidson's corporate headquarters. The first Juneau Avenue plant was a 40 ft × 60 ft (12 m × 18 m) single-story wooden structure. The company produced about 50 motorcycles that year.

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