The Downs in Harley-Davidson History

Over the years, the Harley, as it is so popularly called, has become the very image of adventure and daredevilry. Aggression and violence as necessary attributes have been tagged to it. This is also due to the reason that throughout time, in movies and literature the bike has always been associated with violence and aggression. It has been mostly portrayed as a gangster bike. However, as a result, in spite of its overwhelming popularity, the Harley-Davidson image has been tarnished to a great extent. And often, this has been unfairly so, because there has been a point when it had often been the target of unjust vilification in the public forum.

In 1952, the Harley-Davidson company had applied to the US Tariff Commission for a 40 per cent tax on imported motorcycles. This was followed by an immediate governmental backlash when the company was charged as being the abettor to many unlawful and disturbing activities. Hollywood had a lot to do with this, because, this backlash was preceded by a slew of Hollywood movies which were produced from the 1950s till the 1970s. These were the typical biker gangster movies which had liberal quantities of blood and gore. As a result the image of the motorbike was vilified to a great extent and therefore a huge public outcry against the bike which was said to encourage violence and aggression. These movies were made after the 1947 Hollister, CA biker riot on the 4th of July. Also, Harley-Davidson motorbikes were used by the famous or rather infamous outlaw gang, otherwise known as the Hells Angels. It was popular among other biker gangs as well.

In 1969, American Machinery and Foundry (AMF) bought the company and brought about a lot of administrative changes. The production was curtailed and even the number of employees was slashed. As a result there were a lot of problems within the company and the employees struck. The quality of the bikes fell and also became more expensive. With such a fall in quality, sales went down and subsequently the Harley-Davidson Company almost crashed financially. The once famous Harley-Davidson name now became distorted into a variety of derogatory nicknames. The most famous ones were “Hardly Ableson”, “hardly Drivable” and “Hogly Ferguson”.

Thus, the company underwent a complete turnaround in its fortune, in the worst way possible. The image garnishment was followed by the AMF takeover which could not have taken place at a worse time. Things just went from bad to worse after that. At a time, when proper management would have ensured that the company’s continuing success, the labor strike almost sealed the fate of the company. But luckily, a sea change was just waiting in the wings.

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