William Harley and Arthur Davidson: Men Behind the Iconic Motorcycle

In 1901, Harley was promoted to full-time draftsman at the Barth Mfg. Co. This is where he met and became best friends with Arthur Davidson, a pattern-maker for the company.

Harley had already been considering ways to mount an engine on an ordinary bicycle. But it was only after the two men attended the performance of Vaudevillian performer Miss Held, that Harley and Davidson began working on their own design in a small wooden shed in the Davidson family’s backyard.

Over the next few years, Harley and Davidson worked on their motor-bicycle. They had the help of Davidson’s brothers.

Also, a man named Henry Melk, who was a lathe operator, owned a machine shop in north-side Milwaukee. And later, a machinist named Ole Evinrude (later known as the inventor of the outboard boat motor).

Harley and Davidson succeeded in building their first successful motorized bicycle prototype in 1903. It featured a looped frame and gasoline-powered engine driven by a leather belt.

Later that same year, the two men founded Harley-Davidson–despite having not yet built a fully functional motorized two-wheeler.

For the next three years, the two men tested and refined their “motorcycle,” making improvements to the engine, frame, and transmission. By 1906, they finally produced the reliable, road-worthy motorcycle they’d envisioned.