The rocky road to success

A brief history of the Harley Davidson:

The Harley-Davidson legend began in 1903 in a garden shed in Milwaukee, Winsconsin.

School friends William S Harley, 20, and Arthur Davidson, 19, realised many a young man's dream of building a motorcycle.

Two bikes were produced in 1903 and another three the following year.

Janet Davidson, Arthur's aunt, painted on the red pinstriping and the red and black badge which remains the company emblem.

By 1907 production had reached 150.

HD suffered at the hands of the Model T Ford car (1921) but it 'hung on in there'.

In the 1980s Harley was in weak state: the end of family ownership, going public and a merger with American Machine and Foundry which was turning out bikes too quickly and of a lower quality.

It was no surprise then when Harley began to lose out to the zappy and cheap Japanese competitors.

In 1981 AMF put Harley up for sale. No one was interested.

At the eleventh hour, 13 Harley-Davidson managers bought the company.

In 1983, Harley successfully pushed for a 45% tariff on large imported motorcycles claiming that Japanese manufacturers were dumping them on the US market in large numbers.

The same year, Harley signed up 33, 00 Harley loyalists to spread the word that Harley was coming back.

Narrowly escaping bankruptcy in 1985, Harley began to recover.

Since then, it's been a tale of boom and bust. Now it can't keep up with demand, with a two-year waiting list on some models.

International 95th Anniversary events include rallies in Austria and Milwaukee.

Celebrity Harley riders

Endorsement from the stars has undoubtedly played a big part in Harley's success. They include:

Elvis

Clark Gable

Marlon Brando

Peter Fonda

Arnold Schwarzenegger

Cher

Mickey Rourke

Sylester Stallone

Chris Eubanks

Elvis Costello

Jasper Conran

And many more.