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Harley Davidson History 1950-1960
1950 Larry Headrick wins the AMA Grand National
Championship for Harley-Davidson in dirt track racing.
Harley-Davidson riders win 18 of 24 National Championships and set six new
racing records.
1952 The side-valve K model is introduced with an integrated engine
& transmission to compete with smaller, sportier motorcycles coming mainly
from Great Britain. The K will eventually evolve into the Sportster.
1953 Harley-Davidson celebrates its 50th Anniversary in style. An
attractive logo is created, depicting a "V" in honor of the engine which
had brought the Company so far, with a bar overlaid reading
"Harley-Davidson" and the words, above and below, "50 years--American
made." A medallion version of this logo is placed on the front fenders of
the 1954 models.
Hendee Manufacturing, the creator of the Indian motorcycle, goes out of
business. Harley-Davidson would be the sole U.S. motorcycle manufacturer
for the next 46 years.
1954 Dirt track racer Joe Leonard wins the AMA Grand National
Championship. Over the next eight years, the Grand National Championship
will be won by Harley-Davidson racers.
1955 This year begins a seven-year consecutive run of victories at
the Daytona 200. The victories will be shared by racers Brad Andres,
Johnny Gibson, Joe Leonard and Roger Reiman. All ride Harley-Davidson KR
models. Reiman's victory in 1961 is on the new speedway course.
1956 The new young star Elvis Presley poses for the cover of the
May Enthusiast sitting on a 1956 model KH.
1957 The motorcycling public met a new motorcycle called the
Sportster®. It premiers as a 55 cubic inch overhead valve engine, and
within one year of its debut, becomes known as the first of the "Superbikes."
Another Harley-Davidson tradition and legend is born.
1958 The first rear brakes and hydraulic rear suspensions appear on
the Duo-Glide.
Racer Carroll Resweber wins the first of four AMA Grand National
Championships.
Return to the Harley
Davidson History Index
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