In 1906 Harley-Davidson Motor Company was incorporated and the stock split four ways between the four founders and the staff size increased to fifteen. The target market was the New England region and dealerships were established.

AMF, Inc. acquired Harley-Davidson in 1969 and production was expanded from 15,000 in 1969 to 40,000 in 1974. AMF liked the idea of short-term profits instead of investing in research and development and retooling. During this time the Japanese competitors were improving the quality of their motorcycles. Harley was not doing the improvement to its own bikes and began to turn out inferior equipment. AMF chose to ignore the competition and when in 1975 Honda introduced its Gold Wing they became the leader of the touring bike industry, something that Harley controlled for years.

Sales continued to be high during the ownership of AMF but profits were

During 1993, the company acquired 49% interest in Buell Motorcycle Company, a manufacturer of sport/performance motorcycles. And then in 1995 the company purchased all of the common stock and common stock equivalents of Eaglemark Financial Services Inc. Eaglemark provided credit to leisure product manufacturers, their dealers, and customers in the United States and Canada. Then in 1996 the company announced that it would discontinue the operations of the Transportation Vehicles segment so that it could concentrate on its core motorcycle business. The end of the 1990’s found Harley looking at the younger market for their product and how they were going to attract this buying market.

Some topics in this essay:
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