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Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128208
Harley-Davidson Historical Timeline 1946 1949 • Hydraulic front forks first appear on the new Hydra-Glide models. • Harley-Davidson introduces the 45-cubic-inch flathead WR racing motorcycle. It proves to be one of the most successful racing motorcycles ever built. Company so far, with a bar overlaid, reading "Harley-Davidson" and the words, above and below: "50 years American made." A medallion version of this logo is placed on the front fenders of the 1954 models. • Hendee Manufacturing, the creator of the Indian motorcycle, goes out of business. Harley-Davidson will be the sole U.S. motorcycle manufacturer for the next 46 years. 1947 • Joe Petra Ii and his Harley-Davidson peashooter win all 13 of the AMA National Championship dirt track races. Petra Ii breaks four records in the process. 1936 • Harley-Davidson introduces the EL, an overhead valve, 61-cubic-inch-powered bike. With increased horsepower and bold styling changes, the motorcycle quickly earns the nickname "Knucklehead" due to the shape of its rocker boxes. The sarne year, the Harley-Davidson Motor Company introduces an 80cubic-inch, side-valve engine. 1940 • Babe Tancrede is the winner at the Daytona 200, riding a WLDR model. 1941 • America is plunged into World War II. Production of civilian motorcycles is almost entirely suspended in favor of military production. The Service School is converted back to the Quartermasters School for the training of military mechanics. • The FL series premieres. • Attendees at the year's Dealers Convention in Milwaukee are given a train ride to a "secret destination," which turns out to be the newly purchased plant on Capitol Drive in Wauwatosa, a suburb of Milwaukee. The plant was formerly the A.O. Smith Propeller Plant, created during the war. Harley-Davidson uses the plant as a large machine shop, shipping the new parts to Juneau Avenue for final assembly. • Harley-Davidson begins selling what will become the classic black leather motorcycle jacket. • Harley-Davidson dirt track racer Jimmy Chann wins the first of three consecutive AMA Grand National Championships. 1948 • New features are added to the 61and 74-inch overhead-valve engines, including aluminum heads and hydraulic valve lifters. Also new are the one-piece, chrome-plated rocker covers shaped like cake pans. The nickname "Panhead" only seems logical. • Production of American-made lightweight motorcycles begins with the model S. Various versions will be sold until 1966. 1950 1942 1937 • The first WL models are produced. Joe Petra Ii sets a new land speed record of 136.183 rnph on a modified Harley-Davidson 61-cubicinch, overhead-valve motorcycle. The same day, he also breaks the record for 45-cubic-inch motorcycles. 1938 • The Jack Pine Gypsies Motorcycle Club holds the first Black Hills Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. • On the 3.2-mile beach course at Daytona, Florida, Ben Campanale wins the first of two consecutive Daytona 200 victories on a Harley-Davidson WLDR. 34 APRIL 9, 2003' cue I e • Among other motorcycles made for the Army, Harley-Davidson produces the unique XA750, a motorcycle with horizontally opposed cylinders and shaft drive, designed for desert use. The contract is canceled early due to war combat moving out of North Africa. Only 10II XAs are built. 1943 • Harley-Davidson receives the first of its four Army-Navy "E" Awards for excellence in wartime production. Overseas, many American servicemen get their first exposure to Harley-Davidson motorcycles, something they will not forget when they retum stateside. 1945 • World War II ends, and HarleyDavidson has produced 90,000 WLA models for military use. Production of civilian motorcycles resumes in November. n e _ os • Larry Headrick wins the AMA Grand National Championship for Harley-Davidson in dirt track racing. • Harley-Davidson riders win 18 of 24 National Championships and set six new racing records. 1954 • Dirt track racer Joe Leonard wins the AMA Grand National Championship. Over the next eight years, the Grand National Championship will be won by Harley-Davidson racers. 1955 • This year begins a seven-year consecutive run of victories at the Daytona 200. The victories will be shared by racers Brad Andres, Johnny Gibson, Joe Leonard and Roger Reiman. All ride HarleyDavidson KR models. Reiman's victory in 1961 is on the new Daytona International Speedway course. 1956 • The new young star, Elvis Presley, poses for the cover of the May Enthusiast. He is sitting on a 1956 model KH. 1952 • The side-valve K model is introduced with an integrated engine and transmission to compete with smaller, sportier motorcycles coming mainly from Great Britain. The K will eventually evolve into the Sportster. 1953 • HarleyDavidson celebrates its 50th Anniversary in style. An attractive logo is created, depicting a "V" in honor of the engine that had brought the Motor 1957 • The motorcycling public meets a new motorcycle called the Sportster. It premiers as a 55-cubic-inch, overhead-valve engine and, within one year of its debut, becomes known as the first of the "Superbikes." Another Harley- Davidson tradition is born.