Harley Davidson Has Cult Following

American Motorcycle Manufacturer Creates Legendary Loud Cruisers

Oct 11, 2007

The unique sound and design of Harley Davidson Motorcycles has created almost a cult following.

Harley Davidson is an American motorcycle manufacturer. They have a long history of producing motorcycles that are big, heavy cruisers that have loud, unique engine and exhaust sounds.

Hard Core Bikers

Many people that ride Harleys are very particular about their choice of motorcycle. There is a strong loyalty by those who buy them which puts Harley Davidson motorcycles and their owners in a class by themselves.

People that buy Harley Davidson motorcycles used to be somewhat offended by other bikers that did not buy "American Iron". That attitude has changed much over the last decade or two, and there is much more acceptance by the Harley Davidson community of those who choose to ride a different style or type of motorcycle.

The unique sound that Harley Davidson makes comes from the engine’s 45 degree “V-Twin” cylinder design. The design was originally just a matter of simplification and reducing cost than of necessity.

The ignition is designed to run with only one set of points and does not have a distributor. The twin cylinders fire simultaneously, and the crankshaft has a single pin to which both pistons' connector rods attach to. It’s that combination which creates the unique “potato potato” sound. After the invention of electronic ignition, it was more a matter of principal to keep the unique and deliberate sound of a misfiring engine.

So unique are the sounds of the Harley Davidson motorcycle that there are several US Patents protecting them, and there has been litigation involving another motorcycle company who developed a motorcycle that sounded too much like the sound of Harley Davidson.

Honda created a 45 degree V-Twin that used more advanced engineering techniques which created more power. Sales for the Honda “Shadow” were lacking because it didn’t “sound like a Harley”, so Honda regressed and made a similar single crank-pin design that sounded more like a Harley, but had reduced horsepower than the original Shadow engine. They called it the Shadow American Classic Edition (ACE).

Sporsters:

Dynas:

Softail:

VRSC:

Touring:

One of the oldest and most unique motorcycle manufacturers, Harley Davidson continues to hold a large share of the over-all motorcycle market, and continues to have a strong, loyal following of very diverse people from all walks of life.

The copyright of the article Harley Davidson Has Cult Following in Motorcycles/Off-Road is owned by Matt Finley. Permission to republish Harley Davidson Has Cult Following in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.