Well, let me tell you a thing or two about them Harley-Davidson bikes, yeah, the ones they used in that big war, World War I, they called it. I ain’t no scholar, but I heard folks talkin’.
Harley-Davidson, yeah, that’s the name. Sounds fancy, don’t it? Like somethin’ a city slicker would say. But them bikes, they weren’t just for show. They were tough, real tough, like an old mule, you know? They had to be, with all that fightin’ goin’ on.
See, back in them days, this fella, William somethin’-or-other Harley, he was just a young whippersnapper, barely twenty years old. He drew up this here motorcycle on a piece of paper. Just a little single-cylinder thing at first. Imagine that! From a doodle on a desk to somethin’ big, real big.
- Started with just one cylinder
- Then they got bigger and stronger
- Used ’em in the war, they did
This war, it was a mess, a real bad mess. But them Harley bikes, they helped out. The army, they needed somethin’ to get around quick, somethin’ tougher than a horse, maybe. So, they went and got a whole bunch of them Harleys. Thousands of ’em, I heard.
I reckon half of all the bikes they made durin’ the war went straight to the army boys. Twenty thousand, that’s what they say. Twenty thousand bikes! That’s a lot of metal, a lot of noise, a lot of gettin’ around, I tell you what.
Them soldiers, they rode them Harleys all over the place. Through mud, through rain, maybe even through snow, I don’t know. They used ’em to carry messages, to scout around, maybe even to chase after the bad guys. I ain’t sure about all that fightin’ stuff, but I know them bikes were important.
And you know what? After the war, things changed for Harley-Davidson. All them bikes they made for the army, well, that made folks notice ’em. More folks wanted to buy ’em, ride ’em around, show ’em off. It was good for business, real good.
Now, I ain’t never ridden one of them Harleys myself. I’m too old for that kind of ruckus. But I seen ’em around, heard ’em rumblin’ down the road. They got that sound, you know? Like a big ol’ animal growlin’. You can hear ’em comin’ from a mile away.
Folks say Harley-Davidson means freedom and all that. Rebellion, they call it. Ridin’ the open road, wind in your hair, that kinda thing. Maybe it’s true, maybe it ain’t. But one thing’s for sure: them bikes, they’re tough, they’re loud, and they got a story to tell, a story that started way back in that big war, World War I.
William Sylvester Harley, born in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, he started it all. Just a young fella with a pencil and paper. And now, look at it. Harley-Davidson, a name everybody knows, even an old woman like me. It just goes to show you, don’t it? Sometimes the smallest things can turn into somethin’ mighty big.
So, that’s the story, as best as I can tell it. Harley-Davidson, World War I, and a whole lot of bikes. It ain’t perfect, but it’s the truth, as far as I know. And that’s all that matters, ain’t it?
And if you ever see one of them Harleys, take a good look. Think about all them soldiers, all that fightin’, and that young fella who drew up a bike on a piece of paper. It’s more than just a motorcycle, you know? It’s a piece of history.
Tags: [Harley-Davidson, World War I, Military Motorcycles, William S. Harley, American History, Motorcycle History]
