New Sports bikes

XDL Stunt Riding Report - Chris TEACH McNeil - 10/19/07
Chris “Teach” McNeil gives you the inside scoop from his Individual Freestyle winning run at the XDL East Coast Eliminator held at Virginia International Raceway.
Erik Buell Interview - The liquid-cooled revolution
It’s a rare treat when one gets to sit down with the one clear leader of a motorcycle company, so come join MO and Erik Buell over a cup of coffee.
Work Safe Wallpapers
OCT07 wallpaper calendar is posted!. Check out the latest SportbikeS.com calendar wallpapers under the gallery section. Each month in 2007 we are releasing a stunning wallpaper for your desktop.
SportbikeS.com’s Named a 2007 Ektron All Star - 09/20/07
SportbikeS.com today announced it is a 2007 Ektron All Star. The organization’s website, www.SportbikeS.com, has been recognized as the best Online Community site.
AMA Roadracing Report - Cory West - 09/19/07
Check out privateer roadracer Cory West’s latest report from the final round of the AMA Supersport and Formula Xtreme Championships at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, CA.
AMA Roadracing Report - Cory West Road Atlanata
Privateer roadracer Cory West gives you the inside scoop from Round 10 of the AMA Supersport and Formula Xtreme Championships at Road Atlanta in Braselton, GA.
Racing Images - Road Atlanta 2007 by JBaz
Racing Action from Road Atlanta caught by our own Sportbike World member JBaz
Keep Your Ride Safe From Today's Professional Thieves - 05/07
LoJack For Motorcycles not only helps police track down and recover stolen bikes equipped with the system, but it often helps law enforcement discover chop shops and theft rings that typically involve other stolen bikes

New Sports bikes

XDL Stunt Riding Report - Chris TEACH McNeil - 10/19/07
Chris “Teach” McNeil gives you the inside scoop from his Individual Freestyle winning run at the XDL East Coast Eliminator held at Virginia International Raceway.
Erik Buell Interview - The liquid-cooled revolution
It’s a rare treat when one gets to sit down with the one clear leader of a motorcycle company, so come join MO and Erik Buell over a cup of coffee.
Work Safe Wallpapers
OCT07 wallpaper calendar is posted!. Check out the latest SportbikeS.com calendar wallpapers under the gallery section. Each month in 2007 we are releasing a stunning wallpaper for your desktop.
SportbikeS.com’s Named a 2007 Ektron All Star - 09/20/07
SportbikeS.com today announced it is a 2007 Ektron All Star. The organization’s website, www.SportbikeS.com, has been recognized as the best Online Community site.
AMA Roadracing Report - Cory West - 09/19/07
Check out privateer roadracer Cory West’s latest report from the final round of the AMA Supersport and Formula Xtreme Championships at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, CA.
AMA Roadracing Report - Cory West Road Atlanata
Privateer roadracer Cory West gives you the inside scoop from Round 10 of the AMA Supersport and Formula Xtreme Championships at Road Atlanta in Braselton, GA.
Racing Images - Road Atlanta 2007 by JBaz
Racing Action from Road Atlanta caught by our own Sportbike World member JBaz
Keep Your Ride Safe From Today's Professional Thieves - 05/07
LoJack For Motorcycles not only helps police track down and recover stolen bikes equipped with the system, but it often helps law enforcement discover chop shops and theft rings that typically involve other stolen bikes

Harley Davidson

The neutrality of this article is disputed.Please see the discussion on the talk page.(January 2008)Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved.
Harley-Davidson Motor Company

Type
Public (NYSE: HOG)
Founded
1903
Founder
William S. HarleyArthur DavidsonWalter DavidsonWilliam A. Davidson
Headquarters
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA
Key people
James L. Ziemer (CEO)Thomas E. Bergmann (CFO)James A. McCaslin (div. President & div. COO)Sy Naqvi (President, Harley-Davidson Financial Services)
Industry
Recreational vehicles
Products
Motorcycles
Revenue
▲ 8.8 billion (USD) (2008)
Employees
9,700 (2006)[1]
Subsidiaries
Buell
Website
http://harley-davidson.com/
Harley-Davidson Motor Company (NYSE: HOG) is an American manufacturer of motorcycles based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The company sells heavyweight (over 750 cc) motorcycles designed for cruising on the highway. Harley-Davidson motorcycles (popularly known as "Harleys") have a distinctive design and exhaust note. They are especially noted for the tradition of heavy customization that gave rise to the chopper-style of motorcycle.
Harley-Davidson attracts a loyal brand community,[2] with licensing of the Harley-Davidson logo accounting for almost 5% of the company's net revenue ($41 million in 2004).[3] In 2003, the Buell Motorcycle Company became a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harley-Davidson,[4] the same year that the Motor Company celebrated its 100th birthday. The Motor Company supplies many American police forces with their motorcycle fleets.[5]
Contents[hide]
1 History
1.1 The beginning
1.2 World War I
1.3 The 1920s
1.4 The Depression
1.5 World War II
1.6 Small Harleys - Hummers and Aermacchis
1.7 Tarnished reputation
1.8 Leadership regained
1.9 Claims of stock price manipulation
1.10 2007 workers' strike
1.11 Agreement in India
2 Harley-Davidson engines
2.1 The Big V-Twins
2.2 The Small V-Twins
2.3 The Revolution engine
3 Model designations
3.1 Current model designations
4 Model families
4.1 Touring
4.2 Softail
4.3 Dyna
4.4 Sportster
4.5 VRSC
5 Harley-Davidson culture
5.1 Origin of "Hog" nickname
5.2 Harley-Davidson Riders Club of Great Britain
5.3 Harley Owners Group
6 See also
7 Notes
8 References
9 External links
//

[edit] History

[edit] The beginning
The company considers 1903 to be its year of founding, though the Harley-Davidson enterprise could be considered to have started in 1901 when William S. Harley, age 21, drew up plans for a small engine that displaced 7.07 cubic inches (116 cc) and had four-inch flywheels. The engine was designed for use in a regular pedal-bicycle frame.
Over the next two years Harley and his boyhood friend Arthur Davidson labored on their motor-bicycle using the northside 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 completion the boys found their power-cycle unable to conquer Milwaukee's modest hills without pedal assistance. Will Harley and the Davidsons quickly wrote off their first motor-bicycle as a valuable learning experiment. [6]
Work was immediately begun on a new and improved second-generation machine. This first "real" Harley-Davidson motorcycle had a bigger engine of 24.74 cubic inches (405 cc) with 9-3/4 inch flywheels weighing 28 pounds. 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 would help define what a modern motorcycle should contain in the years to come. 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.
The prototype of the new loop-frame Harley-Davidson was assembled in a 10- by 15-foot (3 by 5 meter) 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 8 September 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. [7]
In January 1905, small advertisements were placed in the "Automobile and Cycle Trade Journal" that offered 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 dozen or so built in the Davidson backyard shed. (Some 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. Unfortunately, the first shed was accidentally destroyed by contractors in the early 1970s during a clean-up of the factory yard.)
In 1906, Harley and the Davidsons built their first factory on Chestnut Street (later Juneau Avenue). This location remains the Motor Company's corporate headquarters today. The first Juneau Avenue plant was a modest 40 by 60-foot single-story wooden structure. That year around 50 motorcycles were produced.

1907 model.
In 1907, William S. Harley graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Madison with a degree in mechanical engineering. That year additional factory expansion came with a second floor and later with facings and additions of Milwaukee pale yellow ("cream") brick. With the new facilities production increased to 150 motorcycles in 1907. That September a milestone was reached when the fledgling company was officially incorporated. They also began selling their motorcycles to police departments around this time, a tradition that continues today. [8]
Production in 1905 and 1906 were all single-cylinder models with 26.84 cubic inch (440 cc) engines but as early as February of 1907 a prototype model with a 45-degree V-Twin engine was displayed at the Chicago Automobile Show. Although shown and advertised, very few dual cylinder V-Twin models were built between 1907 and 1910. These first V-Twins displaced 53.68 cubic inches (880 cc) and produced about 7 horsepower (5 kW). This gave about double the hill-climbing power of the first singles. Top speed was about 60 mph (97 km/h). Production jumped from 450 motorcycles in 1908 to 1,149 machines in 1909. [9]
The success of Harley-Davidson (along with Indian's success) had attracted many imitators. By 1911 some 150 makes of motorcycles had already been built in the United States -- although just a handful would survive the 1910s.
In 1911, an improved V-Twin model with mechanically operated intake valves was introduced. (Earlier V-Twins had used "automatic" intake valves that opened by engine vacuum). Displacing 49.48 cubic inches (810 cc), the 1911 V-Twin was actually smaller than earlier twins, but gave better performance. After 1913 the majority of bikes produced by Harley-Davidson would be V-Twin models.
By 1913, the yellow brick factory had been demolished and on the site a new 5-story structure of reinforced concrete and red brick had been built. Begun in 1910, the red brick factory with its many additions would take up two blocks along Juneau Avenue and around the corner on 38th Street. Despite the competition, Harley-Davidson was already pulling ahead of Indian and would dominate motorcycle racing after 1914. Production that year swelled to 16,284 machines.

Ralph Hepburn on his Harley racing bike in this 1919 photo.

[edit] World War I
In 1917, the United States entered World War I and the military demanded motorcycles for the war effort. Harleys had already been used by the military in border skirmishes with Pancho Villa but World War I was the first time the motorcycle had been adopted for combat service. Harley-Davidson provided over 20,000 machines to the military forces during World War I.

[edit] The 1920s
By 1920, Harley-Davidson was the largest motorcycle manufacturer in the world. Their motorcycles were sold by dealers in 67 countries. Production was 28,189 machines.
In 1921, a milestone was reached in motorcycle racing. A Harley-Davidson was the first to win a race at an average speed of over 100 mph (160 km/h).
During the 1920s, several improvements were put in place, such as a new 74 cubic inch (1200cc) V-Twin, introduced in 1922, and the "Teardrop" gas tank, still seen today, in 1925. A front brake was added in 1928.
In the late summer of 1929, Harley-Davidson introduced its 45 cubic inch flathead V-Twin to compete with the Indian 101 Scout and the Excelsior Super X.[10]

[edit] The Depression

Harley-Davidson WL
The Great Depression began a few months after the introduction of their 45 cubic inch model. Harley-Davidson's sales plummeted from 21,000 in 1929 to less than 4,000 in 1933. In order to survive, the company manufactured industrial powerplants based on their motorcycle engines. They also designed and built a three-wheeled delivery vehicle called the Servi-Car, which remained in production until 1973.[10]
In the mid-'30s, Alfred Child opened a production line in Japan with the 74ci VL, which became Rikuo after Harley employees were expelled.[citation needed]
An 80 cubic inch flathead engine was added to the line in 1935, by which time the single cylinder motorcycles had been discontinued.[11]
By 1937, all the flathead engines were equipped with the dry-sump oil recirculation system that had been introduced with the 61E and 61EL "Knucklehead" OHV models. This caused the 74 cubic inch V and VL models to be renamed U and UL, the 80 cubic inch VH and VLH to be renamed UL and ULH, and the 45 cubic inch RL to be renamed WL.[12]
In 1941, the 74 cubic inch "Knucklehead" was introduced as the F and the FL, replacing the 80 cubic inch flathead UH and ULH models.[citation neede

Honda in auto expo

You meet the nicest people on a Honda they say and perhaps that was exactly what i did experience at the Honda pavilion. The sales people at the stands were really very kind to lead me to the senior most official there Mr Gupta who actually was heading the design department. A lot of companies were actually putting a lot of emphasis on design aspect in the field of motorcycling trying to put the message across that it takes a lot to make any motorcycle look like what the rider wants or feels it to look like. The basic shape may perhaps be the same but the versatility of accessories and graphics play an important role, more so on the mind of the Indian rider whose knowledge of ergonomics is pretty poor and whose body can actually somehow mould itself to any shape the contraption that vehicle takes over. From personal experience i can say that i would rather endure the “once in a blue moon” pain in the shoulder than notice that my handle is slightly bent by a few degrees and opt for a perfectly straight handle.
The STAR of the show however was the newly launched AVIATOR scooter, a poor excuse for a revolutionary design, it just looked like a Karolbagh version of the activa. There were definitely some advancements but somehow not very evident to my visually observant but technically ignorant Indian mind. It did have unique headlamp assembly, perhaps a brighter bulb. Indicators had moved form the handlebars to the side aprons and a dual tone colour scheme created a classique appeal. It had a different front suspension set up and a front disc brake along with a stylish integrated grab rail at the rear as innovations but over all had the same Scooter like look and feel.
As soon as we entered the Honda stall, we noticed the Honda Rider Trainer, a computer simulated riding platform which helped increase rider response on roads by understanding how random traffic moved and predicting the moves accordingly. basically a unique device to teach plain riding. I would love to see the complex algorithm which would go into creation of such a simulation for the average Indian traffic situation. Millions and millions of complex mathematical permutations and combinations which i doubt the processor shall ever be able to comprehend and accordingly re-produce.
The most obvious ATTRACTION of the show however pretty much down played was the RC 212V, the MOTO GP legend. IT featured an 800 cc liquid cooled DOHC engine. The model for 2008 had the all new chassis built with mass centralization thus improving race dynamics to a large extent. This bike was in the livery of Ace Rider No1 Nicky Hayden.
The other 2 beauties from the the CBRrrrrrrrrr Family were the 1000 RR and the 600 RR. The 1 litre power plant as well as some other structural parts were basically race derived and added to the overall enhancements featured for the 2008 model. It was also done up in a fine wine red - black and beige livery. Looked real classy. It looked more Julia Roberts than Britney spears..Guys..those who cant relate to the comparison..please forgive. The 600 CC beauty was in classic BLACK. somehow Black is the only colour which is EVERGREEN. The Yamaha had a black bike, Suzuki’s had a black bike, TVS too and now Honda also.
The only Bike which actually was a sight from a Touring and motorcycling perspective was the Hornet CB 600F Hornet. Shining in Gold livery this lean mean machine seemed poised for newer conquests. Its however a sad truth that most of the naked bikes somehow are never considered as Superbikes despite them delivering quite impressive performance figures.
Besides these there were two concepts based on the oh so famous single horned (MONOSHOCK) Unicorn. The first one was a repsol Honda coloured CBF Sports concept which looked quite close to a Karizma and had conventional twin shocks at the rear. This was a true blue 2 seater with an integrated headlamp assembly.
The other Unicorn derivative was the CBF racing concept painted in Honda racing red colours and striking graphics this had disc brakes both front and rear and was a single seater. The CBF sports concept could be a Unicorn upgrade and with Yamaha also coming into the 150 segment seriously, this could already have a lucrative competitive market to launch itself.
Besides this the standard Unicorn, Shine and the new graphically jazzed up Dio dlx were there along with the veterans Activa and Eterno.
At the extreme end of the pavilion was the Honda Design Corner where in people could interact with the Honda designers and conjure up the dream bike of their choice by providing inputs while the designers would immediately just add small touches to the concept as it took shape. Kudos to Honda for this. We would now like to see this translate into the actual bikes that are expected from Honda in the coming months.