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History of motorcycles essay
History of motorcycles essay
History of the motorcycle
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Introduction
The 1900s, a remarkable year when William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson made history by revealing to the public the first production of Harley Davidson motorcycle. In the year 1901, William S. Harley, sketched several plans for a small engine with a displacement of 116 cc and 102 mm flywheels. This engine was designed to fit in a regular pedal-bicycle frame.
Over the next two years, Harley and his childhood friend Arthur Davidson worked on their motor-bicycle. It was completed in the year 1903 with the help of Arthur's brother, Walter Davidson. Harley and the Davidson brothers found it was difficult or it couldn’t climb the hills around Milwaukee without manually pedaling across when they decided to test their product.
This paved way to improvise on their design and creating a platform to recreate their invention. Work immediately began on a new and improved on a second-phased machine. This first "real" Harley-Davidson motorcycle had a bigger engine of 405 cc with 25cm flywheels weighing about 13kg. The larger engine and hollow-frame design took off immensely and marked the path to future motorcycle designs.
Harley and the Davidson Brothers built many prototypes and launched them over the years. Modern Harley-branded motorcycles now fall into one of six model families: Touring, Softail, Dyna, Sportster, Vrod and Street. These model families are distinguished by the frame, engine, suspension, and many other distinct characteristics. They are more often knows as heavy weight motorcycle producers with a loyal network of consumers all around the world.
It (Headquarters) now stays in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S. with 6000 employees and a net income of US599.1 million as of 2011.
Target Market Profile
Harley-Davidson, as a...
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...at these people.
We need to understand and analyze these problems and aim at becoming the most sought after Bike Company.
Questionnaire 1 - Name: Age: Occupation:
1. Do you own a bike?
2. The purpose of owning a bike?
3. Name the company/brand of the bike that you possess?
4. What made you choose this brand over the others?
5. What was your first impression of this brand?
6. Briefly explain your first experience with the bike/brand?
7. If you do not own a bike or from this brand, what would be the buying factor to make an initial purchase?
8. Briefly explain your post purchase experience, satisfying, pleased or dissatisfying?
9. Would you recommend this brand to other consumers?
10. What sort of improvements or marketing measures do you expect from this brand?
Needless to say, that experience has changed over time. It began from a simplistic design in 1904 as a motorized bike. However, as time progressed it brought about the introduction of the biker gang era. These were the bad asses image riding their heavy bikes down the highway, rebels who refused to give in to society’s pressures. It was the time of the Hell’s Angels, with their patches, long hair, and untidy beards that became the symbol of freedom on the road. They created the mantra of the bad ass dude on a bad ass American bike and no one was gonna tell him what to
In this biography, it goes from 1871-1948 talking about wright brothers: Wilbur and Orville and the steps to creating the plane, etc. It proves my thesis because after the success at Kitty Hawk they later used their airplane as a business enterprise. This is a secondary source because it was not written by either Wilbur or
Harley Davidson has built a brand that is more than just the spread eagle on a load rumbling motorcycle, but for those who purchase a Harley they are purchasing a lifestyle, an experience, or piece of American culture if you will. Due to this differentiating factor Harley has been able to charge a premium for its products and still be successful against its lower priced competition. Harley built upon this lifestyle when it created the Harley Owners’ Group (HOG). Harley would promote shows, rallies and rides through HOG in the US and even in other countries. This helped to build its coveted image into more of an exclusive club.
Harley-Davidson states their mission as “We fulfill dreams through the experiences of motorcycling by providing to motorcyclists and to the general public an expanding line of motorcycles, branded products and services in selected market segments.” They have performed wonderfully over the past hundred years, and have not forgotten their mission or where they came from. Over the years they have stuck with the things they know, and also expanded into related services and products. Out of the 151 motorcycle manufacturers, Harley-Davidson and Indian were the only two companies to survive the Great Depression. Harley-Davidson was the only one in America after Indian dropped out in 1953, but face Indian again now since they re-entered the market in 1999.
...es how powerful of a symbol it has become. You wouldn’t consider the fact that someone drives a Honda Accord a defining characteristic of his or her identity but somehow that changes when it becomes a Harley Davidson Heritage Softtail. "Four wheels move the body two wheels move the sole" (Harley Davidson Ad/ 1992). It becomes clear that the motorcycle is much more than a vehicle; it is a manifestation of American values. When you break it down nothing seems more American that freedom, and brotherhood. Film has fully capitalized on these characteristics helping make the motorcycle a powerful image that has had a defining impact on American culture.
He looked through hundreds of books on bicycles and books on horse and buggies. Ford decided to use wheels from a bicycle, and the same steel framing. From the horse and buggy, he took the idea of the shape of the actual frame. He also made a handlebar that was in the same place as horse rider for a buggy. When Henry For opened his first automobile plant, not only did it bring much attention to the industry, but it also made people want to own a car so that they looked “cool”. People knew that this was going to be a successful industry so they wanted to work in it. Even though most people think that the first true car ever made by Henry Ford was the Model A; they are actually being deceived. Henry Ford’s first actual cars were made for racing. Only a year or so later did Ford start making Model A’s.
External Opportunities • More people (94%) have new requirements for bicycles; the customers need bikes in different fields. • The popularity of Lance Armstrong has increased the interest on road bike, which represent 5% of the market. • The growing interest in cycling this is result in magazine coverage and the using of bikes and accessories in window displays that related to cycling.
There are many ways in which Harley-Davidson can improve its operations, all of which can be found through conducting a thorough analysis of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats the company is presently facing. The executives of Harley-Davidson considered the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses by completing an internal factor analysis summary (IFAS). Next, the external opportunities and threats were analyzed by completing an external factor analysis summary (EFAS). The analysis of these two summaries in turn produced the viable strategic alternatives outlined in the company’s strategic factor analysis summary (SFAS). The resources, capabilities and diverse leadership team of Harley-Davidson have provided the foundation for the company’s continuing ability to be both versatile in its product offerings as well as adaptive to consumer desires. The strategies of adjusting pricing, refocusing the company’s corporate culture and targeting a new consumer market will assist the company in fine tuning its operations over the next several years to ensure Harley-Davidson maintains its position as the leader in the motorcycle industry.
This was soon to change. The president of Harley-Davidson at the time, William E. Davidson, was the son of the founder. He believed the lightweight motorcycles were no threat to Harley's business. By the middle of the 1960's HD realized its mistake and tried to compete in this segment by bringing motorcycles from Italy. These were of no better quality than the motorcycles Harley was producing in its plants, and nowhere near the quality of the Hondas, the market leader at the time.
A Harley-Davidson motorcycle is more than just a mode of transportation or ordinary product. It's
Young males, and females are buying HD motorcycles over any other competitor. This thought was accomplished through the introduction of the VRSC’S, and the lower and narrow Sportsters, Dyna’s, Softail’s and positioning them in the market to a younger demographic. Secondly, HD needs to position the VRSC’S, Sporster, Dyna and Softail to also appeal to first time buyers of motorcycles.
There are three separate market segments: road bikes, mountain bikes, and youth bikes. Each of these segments range in differences such as size, price, product sensitivity, product preferences, and consumer viewing habits. Frequently, customers were interested in finding the lowest price to fulfill their needs. Our firm speculated the upgrading the mountain bike would encourage our customers to spend more money for a better quality bike; however, we discovered that customers were not interested in paying the extra money for an improved bike.
Since Harley-Davidson is already a big player in cruise market, to be profitable in this sector might be time consuming and difficult for Ducati. Also, Harley-Davidson has a loyal customer base which might make it tougher for Ducati to attract more customers towards its side.
Italian manufacturer Piaggio ranks as one of the world’s top four players in its core business. It has consolidated leadership in the European 2-wheeler market. Piaggio should not miscalculate its competitors. Competition in the industry is very powerful, not only nationally but internationally as well. This is due to two well-established companies in this sector which are the Japanese Yamaha and Honda. Yamaha and Honda strengths are their long-run experience in the sector and the high quality image of products. Due to participations to the motorcycle championships, these two companies constantly receive positive feedbacks to their efforts in researching for first class products. In the future, other kinds of competitors are expected to arise: Chinese companies whose ability to imitate and create similar products at highly competitive prices is getting more and more dangerous (Piaggio, 2008)
"We fulfill dreams through the experience of motorcycling, by providing to motorcyclists and to the general public an expanding line of motorcycles and branded products and services in selected market segments."