All language subtitles for The Machines That Built America s01e04 Motorcycle Kings.eng

‐ [Narrator] 50 Million
are sold every year,

creating a $10 billion
industry in the US alone

and feeding a primal
need for speed and power

but at the onset of
the 20th century,

it's a crazy and dangerous idea.

‐ Yes, there's danger.

If you want the fun, if
you want the freedom,

you're gonna have to exchange
a little bit of risk.

‐ [Narrator] But to rival
upstarts see a chance

to dominate the market.

‐ I'm Harley.

‐ I'm Davidson.

‐ The stakes couldn't be higher.

Everything was on the
line and they knew

that this was going
to make or break them.

(gun firing)

(engines roaring)

‐ [Narrator] From
their early setbacks.

‐ We bit off more
than we can chew.

‐ [Narrator] And
crucial breakthroughs.

They'll push each
other to the brink.

‐ It was horrendously dangerous

and the motorcycles will
start to break apart

and killed not only
the motorcyclist,

but also the people
in the stands.

It's crazy.

‐ [Narrator] But only
will reign supreme.

‐ These motorcycles did
truly help build America.

‐ [Narrator] This
is Motorcycle Kings.

(intense upbeat music)

(birds chirping)

(intense upbeat music)

(gun firing)

‐ [Narrator] It's
1908 and 63 riders are

in a grueling 350
mile two day race

from the Catskill
Mountains to New York City

riding a new invention
called the motorcycle.

These primitive machines are
more like glorified bicycles

with pedals, chains
and no front brakes.

There are entrants from
dozens of companies all eager

to prove they're the best in
this new untested industry

but most don't stand a chance.

The real contest is a
David and Goliath battle

between Indian, the most
popular motorcycle company

in the country, and a
plucky Midwestern upstart

called Harley‐Davidson.

The outcome will
have a major impact

on which companies will survive,

if the race doesn't
kill them first.

In the decades
following the civil war,

major innovations
in transportation

are allowing people to travel
further from home.

‐ Society is changing,

people, they know they
can get on a train

and go three states
away in an afternoon,

they know they can get on a
trolley car in a city and get

to the other side of town
easily but they want more,

they want more mobility.

‐ [Narrator] Cars
don't yet exist

and horses are
expensive to maintain.

People are desperate
for a personal form

of transportation and
they become obsessed

with the latest French
import, the bicycle.

‐ At the turn of the century,

the bicycle was democratizing
access to transportation.

It allows for Americans
to be able to have freedom

of movement at a
relatively affordable cost.

‐ [Narrator] As bicycles
become stronger, faster

and better built,
bicycle racing becomes

one of the most popular
spectator sports

in the country.

Racing fuels a massive boom in
sales and by the early 1890s,

there are 10 million
bicycles on the road

and innovators are
looking to get rich

on the multi‐million
dollar industry.

In Springfield, Massachusetts,

one of the country's
most successful racers

has just decided to retire

and risk his
reputation and winnings‐

‐ Looks good.

‐ [Narrator] By opening his
own manufacturing company.

His name is George Hendee.

‐ How are you?

‐ Hendee was kind of Lance
Armstrong of his day.

So he had kind of
that name recognition

when he started to
build his business.

‐ George Hendee entered
300 bicycle races

and won all but five.

How is that even possible?

You enter 300 events of any
type and you win them all

but five, that says
something about you.

‐ I mean, his record
was just tremendous.

He blew everybody away.

He was driven to design great
bicycles and market them.

(bike roaring)

‐ [Narrator] One day, Hendee's
bicycle company will lead

to one of the selling
motorcycles in the world,

set a land speed record
of 200 miles per hour

and become part of a global
powerhouse worth over $7 billion

but in 1898, Hendee is just
making bicycles

and he tries to capitalize on
America's love of the Wild West

by naming his new
model, The Indian.

‐ By the beginning
of the 20th century,

people could imagine, boy,

I would like to have the freedom
of the Indian on his pony,

a Comanche or a Lakota
racing across the plains.

That image was very appealing.

‐ [Narrator] Thanks to his
fame and master marketing,

Hendee's business is booming,

selling 4,000 bikes a year.

A 1,000 miles to the west,

two best friends are trying

to earn a living working
in a bike factory.

‐ You fixed it?

‐ Yeah, it was easy.

Your front wheel was
just bent out of shape.

‐ Hey, you ready to go?

Walter finally told me where
his secret fishing hole is.

‐ I have to finish up here.

‐ Billy?

‐ [Billy] I'll see you
outside in 15 minutes.

‐ [Narrator] One
day, their names will

be the best known motorcycle
brand on the planet.

They are William Harley
and Arthur Davidson.

‐ Bill Harley was a tinkerer.

I mean, that was his thing

and it's little surprise
that the motorcycle company

that would ultimately
bear his name,

he would become the
chief engineer there.

‐ Arthur Davidson
was an extrovert,

very personable and
genuinely liked people,

certainly in the
friendship between him

and William Harley,
he was the extrovert.

‐ [Narrator] They
love their jobs

but a decade after
the market takes off,

the bicycle business collapses

when consumers get frustrated
with the bikes limitations.

‐ Have you ever ridden
a bike on a dirt road?

It's not pretty if you don't
know what you're doing.

‐ The roads would have been
rutted, filled with dirt and mud

depending on the
time of the year.

So at the turn of the century,

bicycle market crashes and
bicycle sales drop

70% in that time.

‐ [Narrator] One day,
the two friends stumble

upon a demonstration that
stops them in their tracks.

‐ Gather around
ladies and gentlemen,

the motorcycle, the
most important invention

since the locomotive.

‐ At the turn of the century,

the combustion engine
is being attached

to a variety of devices,

boats, carriages and
the bicycle also proves

to be an ideal candidate
with the promise

of speeding up
transportation as well.

(engine clanking)

‐ [Narrator] The machine is
unwieldy and barely functional‐

(engine dying)

(crowd jeering)

But for a young William
Harley and Arthur Davidson,

it's a revelation.

(engine clanking)

They decide to go all in on
building their own motorcycle,

but they'll need to figure
out how to make it work.

By 1900, George Hendee's bicycle
business is on the ropes.

He also sees the motorcycle

as a possible lifeline
but there's a problem.

He doesn't know the first
thing about building one.

He heads to his
favorite racetrack

looking for a solution.

‐ Now George Hendee had been

on those bicycle racing
circuit for years,

knew the engineers, he
knew all of the community.

So it comes to reason that
he would reach out to some

of these people when
he started thinking

about putting a motor on
one of these bicycles.

‐ Mr. Hedstrom.

‐ Mr. Hendee, were
you at the race today?

‐ I was.

That is quite a machine.

‐ Oscar Hedstrom, he
was a Swedish immigrant

and a very brilliant engineer.

He developed this
motorized pacing bicycle

to pace the bicycle races.

The pacing vehicle leads
the bikes around the track

to set a speed for the bicycles

to run and Hendee
saw the potential

in Hedstrom's brilliance
in his design.

‐ I'm sure if we partnered up
we could build a motorcycle

that everyone would want to own.

‐ [Narrator] Hedstrom
knows that partnering

with a man of Hendee's
stature is a

once in a lifetime opportunity.

‐ Sounds great.

‐ Hendee becomes
the business side

of this new enterprise and
he knew his way around bikes.

He also knew what it
took to please a crowd.

Whereas Hedstrom is
very much the tinkerer,

he's the engineer, he's
the one making it happen.

‐ [Narrator] The
pair immediately

began designing
their new motorcycle,

which they name after
Hendee's popular bicycle,

the Indian Single.

Back in Milwaukee,

obsessed with building
a motorized bicycle,

Harley and Davidson
spend their nights

in a tiny shed trying to put
their first engine together

but with no money,

they're forced to
scavenge parts and tools

wherever they can find them.

‐ I think we bit off
more than we can chew.

‐ [Narrator] And
there's another problem,

they don't have the technical
know‐how to actually build it.

Oscar Hedstrom does

but he's having trouble
figuring out one major issue

with the new Indian prototype.

The engine doesn't
generate enough power.

Hendee and Hedstrom
are at an impasse

and if they can't
solve the problem,

they fear someone else will.

Coming up.

‐ Holy Moses.

‐ They're getting beat
up each and every day

and they just keep
going after it.

(intense upbeat music)

(gun firing)

‐ If they won, this would be a
game changer for their brand.

‐ There were really
two kings in town now.

(intense upbeat music)

(upbeat music)

‐ [Narrator] It's 1901 and
Oscar Hedstrom is desperate

to find a way to increase
the Indian Motorcycles power,

which will increase its speed.

The problem seems
to be the carburetor

and he's struggling to fix it.

‐ The job of a carburetor
is to take the air

and the fuel and
mix them properly

as they go through the
intake and into the engine.

That's what makes an engine run.

‐ [Narrator] Then, a
possible solution strikes him

in an unlikely place.

‐ In the tank you have this
float that when you flush it,

it raises the float
and lets water flow in

but in the carburetor,
it actually floats up,

lets fuel go into the
combustion chamber and boom,

that's how you get the power.

‐ [Narrator] Hedstrom
devises a new intake system

that allows the engine
to be throttled back

to a speed of just
four miles per hour

or up to 30 miles per hour,

three times faster
than a bicycle.

By spring, the two men
believe they are ready

to introduce their new
machine to the public.

A consummate showman, Hendee
stages a dramatic reveal

of the Indian
Single for the press

and potential investors

but the timing for drumming

up new capital
couldn't be worse.

‐ The 1901 Stock Market Crash
is actually the first collapse

of the New York Stock Exchange.

Investors become wary.

‐ [Narrator] The centerpiece

of the unveiling is
a live demonstration.

(intense upbeat music)

(crowd applauding)

It's a success but the question
is, will anyone invest?

Meanwhile, still struggling
to get their motorcycle built,

Harley and Davidson
need a new approach.

‐ I know what we can do.

I'm gonna write to the best
mechanic I've ever met.

‐ Arthur writes a
letter to his brother,

Walter, who was working
in Parsons, Kansas

for the the
Kansas‐Texas Railroad.

Walter was a bit
hoodwinked, he was told

that the motorcycle
was nearly finished and

that came to find
out that it wasn't.

‐ Oh, didn't I tell you?

We just have to
throw it all together

and it's ready to roll.

‐ We?

‐ Well, you.

‐ [Narrator] But
Walter is so convinced

that their onto something
big, he quits his job

and becomes the
third founding member

of this new company they
call Harley‐Davidson.

Almost immediately, it seems
like he's made a big mistake.

It looked like Harley‐Davidson,

even on the eve of its
incorporation was gonna go out

of business, it
wouldn't survive and

so they sent a pleading letter
to their uncle and said,

could you see fit to
maybe loan us some money?

‐ [Narrator] Back
in Springfield,

despite the stock
market collapse,

Hendee is able to line up
new investors

and later he forms a
board of directors

to oversee the company
and ramps up production

at a state‐of‐the‐art factory.

By the end of the year,

he'll sell nearly 150 Indian
Motorcycles at a price of $250.

Nearly one third of the average
Americans annual salary.

Motorcycles have
started to catch on.

‐ It provided transportation

that people 10 years earlier
could not have dreamed of.

It'd be like if we got
a flying car today,

like the Jetsons had.

‐ They were exciting,
they were dangerous,

they were thrilling but
they were also practical

for a lot of people.

If you lived on a farm
10 miles outside of town,

a motorcycle could get you
into town in 20 minutes.

‐ [Narrator] With the
success of the Indian Single,

dozens of motorbike
companies quickly form,

Thor, Merkel and Excelsior

and at Harley‐Davidson,

they're finally ready to
test their first model.

Their machine is still crude,

a small motor attached to
an ordinary bicycle frame

and it lacks the
carburetor refinement

that Hedstrom developed
for the Indian Single,

(engine revving)

but it works,

(engine dies)

at least for a little while.

The test reveals it's faults,

their new machine
needs better balance

and since it has trouble
making it uphill,

a lot more power.

If they want to
compete with Hendee,

they'll need to do much better.

(intense upbeat music)

(intense upbeat music)

‐ [Narrtor] By 1903, the first
automobiles are rumbling down

city streets

and in Milwaukee,

William Harley and the
Davidson brothers have cobbled

together their version
of a nimble alternative

to the car, their
first motorcycle

but to make it operational,
they need a new idea.

‐ Invention isn't for
the weak at heart,

they're getting beat
up each and every day

and they just keep
going after it.

(intense upbeat music)

‐ Holy Moses.

‐ [Narrator] Harley realizes
that sitting the engine

four to five inches closer
to the ground

could increased stability.

So he tries a new design.

‐ You want everything to be low.

You want your weight
to be low on the bike.

You want your center of
gravity to be down low.

‐ [Narrator] If it works,

this would also solve
another problem.

‐ Their own frames
allowed for larger engines

which allowed for
much more displacement

and much more power.

(intense upbeat music)

(bike revving)

(intense upbeat music)

‐ [Narrator] The Harley‐Davidson
Model 1 Motorcycle

is born.

As 1903 draws to a close,

they sell their first
motorcycle for $200.

The equivalent of
about $6,000 today.

‐ In Harley's first
production year,

they only built three bikes

so these essentially
our hand‐built bikes

and it just climbs
from that point onward.

‐ [Narrator] Harley and
the Davidson brothers

are convinced they
can make a big splash

in the motorcycle business
but will it be big enough

to compete with Hendee
and Hedstroms Indian?

The growing team moves its
operation to a real factory.

Arthur begins recruiting
new Harley‐Davidson dealers.

‐ Arthur Davidson
wanted somebody

with a passion and a knowledge
for all things automotive,

all things motion and somebody

with a proven track
record in business.

‐ [Narrator] Within a year,
Harley‐Davidson Motorcycles are

on sale in cities
around the country

and they're beginning
to make a small dent

in Indian's dominance.

‐ Harley‐Davidson.

What do you make of it?

‐ I can't tell much from that
picture but I'm not worried.

‐ [Narrator] Hendee and
Hedstrom know to stay

on top they must
continue to innovate,

that means upping the power.

‐ When you look at us as humans,

at our core we are
competitive beings and

so that competitiveness
definitely is a major driver

for innovation
throughout history.

‐ [Narrator] They think a
revolutionary new engine,

developed in Europe may be
the key and they

become the first American
company to put it to use.

It's called the V‐twin Engine.

‐ V‐twins rock!

(laughing)

V‐twins are still used today
and are my personal favorite.

The early motorcycles,
they were one cylinder.

Now you've got two
cylinders and they're set up

in a V formation.

If one cylinder is good, two
cylinders have gotta be great.

Double the power, nothing
feels like a V‐twin,

nothing sounds like a V‐twin,
it's absolutely fantastic.

‐ [Narrator] The bike
reaches a blistering 60 miles

per hour, faster than any car,

twice as fast as fledgling
Harley‐Davidson's Model 1.

‐ This is gonna be an
amazing paradigm shift

of change for people to
think, wow, this is scary.

It's an adrenaline rush,
I want one of these.

‐ [Narrator] Thanks to
the power of the V‐twin,

Indian is dominating the market

and Harley‐Davidson needs
a miracle to catch up.

‐ [Narrator] It's the first
decade of the 20th century

and the country is at the height

of a transportation revolution.

‐ Previously, people
could only go as fast

as the wind or their feet

or maybe their horse
would take them.

Now, the fact that you
could put an engine

on almost anything
meant Americans

in particular had a whole lot

of space they could
cover a whole lot faster.

‐ [Narrator] And the
red hot motorcycle is

at the forefront of
innovations in speed and power.

By 1907, Indians
showstopping V‐twin engine

has raised the bar for
the entire industry.

‐ Competition is generally
just a good thing.

It's a good thing for consumers,
it tends to lower prices.

It's also a good thing when
it comes to innovation.

‐ [Narrator] Harley‐Davidson
knows they can't compete

with Indian on speed.

So they tackle another
issue plaguing motorcycles

of the day,

the bone jarring turbulence.

‐ I personally cannot
imagine that it was a lot

of fun riding
first‐generation motorcycles.

‐ It would have been
driving 35, 40 miles an hour

on a road that was inconsistent,
that was unpredictable.

‐ [Narrator] After
negotiating a rough patch

of Wisconsin road, Harley
has a moment of clarity.

He's not sure how he is
going to fix the problem.

It turns out
somebody already has.

Harley is able to buy
the parts he needs

through another company
and integrates them

into the frame to improve
the motorcycle's suspension.

‐ So as you hit bumps,

that front wheel would absorb
some things a little bit,

made it a little
bit more comfortable

for the rider, made it a
little more stable and safer

on the road as well.

‐ Look here.

Catskills to New York
City, endurance race.

‐ Biggest race of the year?

All of New York press
is gonna be there.

‐ Since Harley had
started out as trying

to build a more rugged
bike for everyone,

it only made sense not to
enter in some speed trial

but instead they would enter
it into an endurance race.

‐ Indian is sponsoring one
of riders, I guarantee it.

‐ Not one of them, 16 of them.

‐ And what can we afford?

‐ We can probably
afford to finance one.

‐ Well, that rider

is gonna be me.

‐ Indian was the top dog.

No one knew what
Harley‐Davidson was.

If they won, this would be a
game changer for their brand.

‐ The new Indian Motorcycle

will revolutionize the
motorcycle industry.

There's a lot of new
things were coming out

with at the moment.

The number one thing is that‐

‐ Mr. Hendee?

‐ Yes.

‐ I wanted to introduce myself.

My name is Davidson,
Arthur Davidson.

‐ Oh, Harley‐Davidson.

Glad you boys made it out.

How many riders do you have?

‐ Well, one.

(crowd laughing)

‐ Listen son,

my advice, it's not
whether you win or lose,

it's about showing
up and having fun.

‐ With all due respect, sir,
we plan to win this race.

(intense upbeat music)

(motorcycles revving)

‐ Racers ready.

(gun firing)

(engines revving)

‐ Imagine riding this
motorcycle over uneven terrain,

rugged terrain, uphills,
downhills through backwoods.

(engine revving)

That's a Testament
to the quality

of this particular vehicle.

‐ [Narrator] It's
two days of hell.

Over 350 grueling miles,
Walter Davidson battles back

and forth with the other riders.

His sturdy workhorse
with upgraded suspension

has kept pace with the
faster, flashier Indian.

Down the final stretch,
battered and exhausted,

it's gonna be close.

(intense upbeat music)

(intense upbeat music)

‐ [Narrator] After a grueling
two day, 350 mile endurance race

from the Catskill
Mountains to New York City,

Walter Davidson crosses
the finish line

in first place.

For George Hendee and
Indian, it's a wake‐up call.

Harley‐Davidson has arrived.

Their business
starts to take off.

They double the size
of their factory,

hire 35 new employees
and increase production

to 1,000 motorcycles
a year

and in a stroke of genius,

Davidson talks his way
into an untapped market

that will fortify their
business even more.

‐ Police forces
embrace the motorcycle

because of its handling.

‐ And the city of
Detroit, Michigan

becomes the first municipality

to place a larger scale
order for police motorcycles.

‐ [Narrator] But while
Harley‐Davidson may

be growing rapidly,

they're still far behind
industry titan, Indian

and it's not long before a
revolutionary new machine

will become a huge threat
to both of their businesses.

‐ The Model T came out in 1908,

it was a lot cheaper
than the other cars

of the day and that
was a challenge

to the motorcycle industry.

A car was much safer,
more practical.

You could put your
whole family in it.

‐ [Narrator] As the
assembly line ramps up,

the price of a Model T plummets.

It's now about the same cost
as a top of the line motorcycle

but Harley‐Davidson has a plan

to stay competitive
and it has nothing

to do with bike technology.

‐ Harley Davidson
created a product line

of things like gloves and hats
and jackets and saddlebags,

a lifestyle around
their motorcycle.

It's a brilliant marketing move.

‐ This was this type
of man rides a car,

this type of man
rides a motorcycle.

So the man that drove the car

was a family man very
often but the guy

that rode a motorcycle
was the cool guy

in the motorcycle jacket.

‐ [Narrator] And thanks in part
to its vast dealer network,

motorcycle clubs spring
up all over the country.

‐ People love a vibe
and they love an image

and you become a
band of brothers

when you've got this
love for a motorcycle

and everybody shares
that same passion.

‐ Harley‐Davidson was
really ahead of its time.

Creating a whole
subculture around it,

creating a certain
kind of vibe around it.

Harley‐Davidson did
that way back in the day

before there was a
playbook and the internet

to really bring that forward.

‐ The motorcycle
becomes a kind of symbol

of something more
raw and elemental

and it's riders are
seen as more rebellious

and living life to its fullest.

‐ [Narrator] By 1913, while
Harley‐Davidson is tapping

into leisure and comradery
to sell their product,

Hendee and Hedstrom double down

on speed and thrill seekers
to keep their business afloat.

They enter a team

in a dangerous new competition
called Board Track Racing.

‐ These people are like
going 116 miles an hour

around a track that's
at a 50 degree incline

with no brakes as fast
as they possibly can

and the motorcycles will
start to break apart

and kill not only
the motorcyclist,

but also the people
in the stands.

It's crazy.

‐ [Narrator] As the popularity
of the sport continues

to grow, Indian's success
on the track translates

into sales in the showroom.

‐ If your dad could afford
an Indian, holy cow,

your dad was a celebrity man

and if you're a teenager and
you've saved up enough money

from your newspaper route to
get yourself an Indian Scout,

you're a rock star.

‐ Billy.

‐ [Narrator] Indians cache
catches the attention

of Harley‐Davidson.

‐ You know, they just realize

that everybody else is doing it.

So they finally gave it up
and put a team together.

‐ [Narrator] Thanks
to their stellar group

of riders and well‐built
machines, it isn't long

before they start to beat
Indian at their own game.

When Harley racer,

Ray Weishaar starts bringing
his pet piglet along

on victory laps,
the motorcycle gets

its now famous nickname.

‐ That's possibly when
people started to think

of hog being associated
with Harley‐Davidson

and we also know that

one motorcycle
journalist had referred

to the Harley‐Davidson
team having done

so well that he said that
they were hogging all

of the racetrack glory.

‐ [Narrator] By 1913,
Indian and Harley‐Davidson

have become locked

in an ever increasing
battle of one upmanship.

Harley‐Davidson releases
its own V‐twin engine

and both companies adapt the
latest English invention,

kickstarters, to replace pedals.

Desperate to put some distance

between their company
and Harley‐Davidson,

Indian's board of directors
demands innovation.

‐ A full electrical system?

A push button starter?

Honestly, I don't know if that
is technically possible yet.

‐ Just do it.

‐ [Narrator] After
Hedstrom works tirelessly

on the electrical system,

it's released on a new model
called the Hendee Special.

‐ If you're in the
innovation business,

it's riskier to be
risk averse, you know,

by definition if
you're trying something

that has a big upside,

guess what?

There's gravity, it
has a big downside.

‐ [Narrator] Hendee and Hedstrom

have bet their
company's reputation

on an untested idea

that doesn't pay off.

‐ People had paid a lot of money

for an electric starter
and it didn't work

so they couldn't
have been too happy.

‐ The battery
technology of the time

wasn't powerful
enough to turn the motor

over and continually
start it many times

because as the battery would
sit there, it would drain.

‐ [Narrator] It would
be almost 50 years

before a motorcycle

with a reliable push
button starter rolls

off an assembly line.

‐ I knew the batteries
weren't strong enough.

‐ The board wants a
full electrical system.

‐ I'm tired.

It's never good enough.

It's time for me to leave.

Good luck.

‐ [Narrator] Two years
later, without his partner,

Oscar Hedstrom by his
side and the board

of the Indian Corporation
questioning his every decision

and every expense, George
Hendee also resigns,

leaving the company he founded

to fight an uncertain
future without him.

‐ [Narrator] It's 1917 and the
United States has been dragged

into a conflict a world
away fought in trenches,

the sea and sky.

It's a new kind of war
with machines never

before seen on a battlefield.

‐ The countries that went
to war at the beginning

of World War I went to
war on horseback still,

but they came out
driving trucks and tanks,

wars have that effect.

‐ Indian sees a
giant opportunity

to stay ahead of Harley

by taking on government
contracts to build motorcycles

for the war effort and
deliver them overseas.

‐ [Narrator] The new management
at Indian goes all in,

shipping 50,000 of their
Powerplus Big Twins

to the European front.

‐ The motorcycle shows up
and allows the transportation

of information in ways that
hadn't been done before.

‐ It can maneuver
in tight spaces.

They can traverse
all types of terrain.

They're fast, much faster
than any other method

of transportation available
on the battlefield.

‐ [Narrator] The war effort
demands more motorcycles

than Indian can supply
and Harley‐Davidson

sells the army 20,000 of
their new J‐Series bikes

but at home,

Arthur Davidson
continues to focus

on his customers and
vital network of dealers.

‐ During World War
One, they knew they had

to keep the dealers as healthy

as they possibly could and

that might've just been
service work of existing bikes,

parts and accessories sales,

apparel sales and of course,
some new vehicle sales.

‐ [Narrator] During the war,

Indian is so focused on
fulfilling military orders,

they have no inventory left
for their American dealers.

‐ If there were a weakness
in Indians strategy,

an Achilles heel, it
might be that Indian

often took a more short term
outlook toward its own success.

‐ [Narrator] With Indian
dealers left scrambling

to fill empty showrooms,

they're forced to turn to
a more reliable supplier.

‐ When you have store owners,

they're gonna fill their shelves

with stuff they can
sell, you know, and yes,

if the thing that got them there

and it's making money,
they're gonna stick with it

but if all of a sudden they
can't put it on their shelves,

they're gonna find something
else to put on their shelves.

‐ [Narrator] By 1918,

Harley‐Davidson sales have
gone through the roof.

‐ Today, you work in the
number one motorcycle company

in America.

(cork popping)

Harley‐Davidson!

(employees cheering)

‐ [Narrator] After chasing
Indian for almost 15 years,

Harley‐Davidson hits
their ultimate milestone,

they pass Indian in sales.

‐ This was a real
moment in the history

of Harley‐Davidson and
for the motorcycle.

It put all of the
other smaller makers

on notice that there were
really two kings in town now.

‐ [Narrator] But
Harley‐Davidson's

loyal customer base,

popular merchandise line

and Arthur Davidson's
brilliant marketing,

helped them maintain their lead

in sales and they
never look back.

‐ I think the question
that consumers

end up asking themselves is not

what that product
does functionally,

but how does that
product make you feel?

How does that product make
others feel about you?

Building that brand,
developing a story

around that marketing
is so, so important.

‐ [Narrator] Indian
can't keep up,

in 1953, they stop production

of all motorcycles and
file for bankruptcy

ceding the title of America's
undisputed motorcycle king

to Harley‐Davidson.

‐ Harley was one of
the early great brands

in all of commerce.

They understood they didn't
have the better mouse trap

at that time but we
can build an ethos.

A brand that has a set of values

and we can connect
to people in a way of

that kind of great
American motorcycle and,

you know, reach their hearts.

‐ One of the coolest things

about motorcycles is the
freedom that it gives anyone.

Once they get on the motorcycle

and they're riding
across this great country

and they see all
the amazing sights,

feel the wind in their face,

it's an amazing feeling,
I highly recommend it.

‐ [Narrator] George Hendee
spends his golden years

as a farmer in Connecticut

and would occasionally
host an unlikely visitor

from his past.

‐ Catch you on the
next one Hendee.

‐ I'm not so sure
about that, son.

(upbeat music)

‐ I love motorcycles.

I understand the passion.

Love to get out in the wind,

be it by yourself or be
it with your brothers.

If you haven't done it,
get out and take a ride.

It just might change your life.

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