((Sounds of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle))
VOICE ONE:
Many people around the world know exactly what that sound is.This is Mary Tillotson.
((Motorcycle sounds))
VOICE TWO:
And this is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English programEXPLORATIONS. The sound you just heard is the engine of aHarley-Davidson Motorcycle. Today, we tell about this famousAmerican company. And, we tell about the year-long party that iscelebrating the one-hundredth anniversary of the Harley-DavidsonMotor Company.
((THEME))
VOICE ONE:
The history of the Harley-DavidsonMotor Company began in nineteen-oh-three, in a small wooden buildingin Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Twenty-one-year-old William Harley and twenty-year-old ArthurDavidson built a machine that looked like a bicycle with a smallengine. A friend of the two men bought one of the first motorcyclesthey made. They only made three motorcycles that year.
On the door of the little woodenbuilding, they painted a small sign. The sign said, “Harley-DavidsonMotor Company.”
VOICE TWO:
The little company grew very quickly. In nineteen-oh-six, itopened a new factory on Juneau Avenue in Milwaukee. The company nowhad a total of six workers.
Two years later, in nineteen-oh-eight, the city of Detroit,Michigan bought the first motorcycle to be used by a policedepartment in the United States. It was a Harley-Davidson. Innineteen-twelve, Harley-Davidson exported a motorcycle to anothercountry for the first time. That country was Japan.
By nineteen-twenty,Harley-Davidson was the largest motorcycle company in the world.More than two-thousand dealers sold Harley-Davidson motorcycles.Most were in the United States. However, dealers sold theHarley-Davidson motorcycles in more than sixty-seven countriesaround the world.
The motorcycle Harley-Davidson produced in the nineteen-twentiesno longer looked like a bicycle with an engine. It was a fast,powerful machine that provided good transportation. Harley-Davidsonmotorcycle riders were winning races and setting speed recordsthroughout the United States.
VOICE ONE:
Something else happened in nineteen-twenty that would have alasting effect on the Harley-Davidson motorcycle. The motorcyclebecame known as a “Hog.” The company tells this story to explainwhy.
A motorcycle racer named Leslie Parkhurst broke twenty-threespeed records on his Harley-Davidson. Mister Parkhurst’s racing teamhad a pet animal they took with them to the races. That pet animalwas a small pig, also called a hog.
When a member of the team won a race, he would take the pig for aride around the racetrack. The racing fans loved the show. Theywould shout, “The Hog won again.” Today, if a motorcycle rider tellsyou he rides a Hog, you know he is talking about his Harley-Davidsonmotorcycle.
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE TWO:
Harley-Davidson has made other products besides their famousmotorcycle. Beginning in nineteen-twelve, the company began sellingclothing for motorcycle riders. Most of this clothing had the nameHarley-Davidson printed on it.
In nineteen thirty-eight,Harley-Davidson began making a special motorcycle jacket for the NewYork City Police Department. The jacket was made of heavy leathermaterial. Harley-Davidson still sells a very similar jacket today.It is still popular with motorcycle riders. It is also popular withpeople who just like leather jackets. Harley-Davidson also sellspants, shirts, shoes, boots and just about everything else amotorcycle rider might want.
VOICE ONE:
The Harley-Davidson Company has faced financial problems severaltimes in its history. The nineteen-thirties was a period of severeeconomic problems known as the Great Depression. In nineteen-twenty,Harley-Davidson sold twenty-seven-thousand motorcycles. However, innineteen-thirty-three, all of the American motorcycle companies soldonly six-thousand machines. About one-hundred other Americanmotorcycle companies failed during the Depression. Harley-Davidsonsurvived.
VOICE TWO:
During the nineteen-sixties, a new threat faced Harley-Davidson.Japanese motorcycle companies began selling their machines in theUnited States. Companies like Honda, Yamaha and Kawasaki becamepopular. These companies produced good motorcycles that were notvery costly.
At the same time, Harley-Davidson had tried to expand tooquickly. Their motorcycles were more costly than the others. Thefactory had production problems. Oil often leaked out of theengines. The engines often failed.
People told a joke about Harley-Davidson. They said you had tobuy two of their motorcycles — one to ride and one for the extraparts you would need to repair it.
VOICE ONE:
In nineteen-sixty-nine, Harley-Davidson officials sold control ofthe company to a much larger company. They planned to use the moneythey received in the sale to improve their products. Harley-Davidsonstruggled to stay in business during this time. The company sayspeople who loved their motorcycles continued to buy them and helpedkeep the company from failing.
In nineteen-eighty-one, thirteen top officials at Harley-Davidsonbought the company. They started making improvements. They begandeveloping a much better product. Two years later, Harley-Davidsonasked the International Trade Commission for help. The InternationalTrade Commission agreed and gave protection to Harley-Davidson forfive years. This protection added to the price of large Japanesemotorcycles.
Less than four years later, Harley-Davidson asked theInternational Trade Commission to end the protection. No company hadever done this before. By lifting the protection, Harley-Davidsonwas saying it could compete with any motorcycle company.
VOICE TWO:
Today, the Harley-Davidson MotorCompany is one of the most successful companies in the UnitedStates. It produces about two-hundred-forty-three-thousandmotorcycles each year. It sells all of them. The company has abouteight-thousand workers. About half of them ride Harley-Davidsonmotorcycles. These riders include the top official of the company,Jeffrey Bleustein. Harley-Davidson workers not only make theproduct, they use it. They also help the company by suggestingimprovements.
Forbes Magazine is a top financial and business publication inthe United States. Each year it lists the companies that itconsiders to be the most successful. Last year, Forbes Magazinenamed Harley-Davidson its Company of the Year. That same year,Harley-Davidson announced that the company had made arecord-breaking profit during the past fifteen years.
((MUSIC BRIDGE))
VOICE ONE:
Harley-Davidson and the people who ride their famous motorcyclesare busy celebrating the one-hundredth anniversary of the company.They are doing this by holding a year-long birthday party. The partybegan in July of this year and will end in August of next year. Thecelebrations this year are local birthday parties. Harley-Davidsonmotorcycle riders around the world are making plans to celebrate inmany cities next year.
For example, in March, the party will be held in Sydney,Australia. In April, the party will move to Tokyo, Japan. In June,riders in Europe will travel to Barcelona, Spain to celebrate. InJuly, Harley-Davidson owners will ride to Hamburg, Germany for theparty.
VOICE TWO:
In August of next year, Harley-Davidson riders will begin what iscalled the “Ride Home.” Harley-Davidson riders will cross the UnitedStates from four directions. Most of these riders will come from theUnited States. However, many will come from Europe and Asia.
There will be birthday parties held by Harley-Davidson dealers atseveral cities during the trip. Plans call for the “Ride Home” toend in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by August twenty-seventh.
A four-day celebration and birthday party will follow. More thantwo-hundred-thousand Harley-Davidson riders are expected to attendthe events. Top company official Jeffrey Bleustein saysHarley-Davidson is very excited about sharing the company’s historywith family and friends from around the world.
((Motorcycle sounds, fades to theme))
VOICE ONE:
This program was written by Paul Thompson. It was produced byCaty Weaver. I’m Mary Tillotson.
VOICE TWO:
And I’m Steve Ember. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS, aprogram in Special English on the Voice of America.