The metal license plate is made with embossed aluminum - 12 inch x 6 inch - made in USA
| Sturgis Motorcycle Rally | |
|---|---|
Motorcycles lined up on Main Street during the Sturgis motorcycle rally. | |
| Genre | Motorcycle rally |
| Dates | First Friday in August for 10 days |
| Location(s) | Sturgis, South Dakota, United States |
| Founded | August 14, 1938 |
| Most recent | August 3–12, 2018 |
| Next event | August 2-11, 2019 |
| Attendance | highest: 739,000 (2015)[1] |
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is an American motorcycle rally held annually in Sturgis, South Dakota, for ten days[2] usually starting the first Friday in August. In 2015 the city of Sturgis officially expanded the dates to have the rally start on the Friday before the first full week of August and end on the second Sunday. In 2016, Sturgis City Council passed a resolution to begin the Rally on the first Friday in August every year. It was begun in 1938 by a group of Indian Motorcycle riders and was originally held for stunts and races. Attendance has historically been around 500,000 people, reaching a high of over 700,000 in 2015. The event generates around $800 million in revenue.[1][3]
The first rally was held by Indian Motorcycle riders on August 14, 1938, by the Jackpine Gypsies motorcycle club.[4] The club still owns and operates the tracks, hillclimb, and field areas where the rally is centered. The first event was called the "Black Hills Classic" and consisted of a single race with nine participants and a small audience. The founder is Clarence "Pappy" Hoel. He purchased an Indian motorcycle franchise in Sturgis in 1936 and formed the Jackpine Gypsies that same year.[4] The Jackpine Gypsies were inducted to the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 1997.[5] Hoel was inducted into the AMA Hall of Fame the following year, in 1998.[6]
The focus of a motorcycle rally was originally racing and stunts. In 1961, the rally was expanded to include the Hillclimb and Motocross races.[4] This could include half-mile track racing (the first year in Sturgis, there were 19 participants), intentional board wall crashes, ramp jumps and head-on collisions with automobiles.
The Sturgis Rally has been held every year, with exceptions during World War II. For instance, in 1942, the event was not held due to gasoline rationing.[4]
The Buffalo Chips Campground opened in '81. Its first concert for the Sturgis Rally was Jerry Lee Lewis in '82. In '87 it had Canned Heat. '89-Mitch Ryder, '90-Bachman-Turner Overdrive (from Winnipeg), Marshall Tucker Band, '90-Joe Walsh, 91-Kentucky Headhunters, 92-Stray Cats, 94-Blues Traveler, 97-The Guess Who (from Winnipeg), 98-Lynyrd Skynyrd, 99-Def Leppard (from UK),'00-Montgomery Gentry, Kenny Wayne Shepherd, Cheap Trick, Styx (from Chicago) with REO Speedwagon, Jonny Lang (from ND), and Cher, 01-Sheryl Crow, Grand Funk Railroad, 02-Smash Mouth, 03-Our Lady Peace, 3 Doors Down, Seether (from S. Africa), 04-Heart (from Seattle), Nickelback (from Alberta), '05-Shinedown, Tim McGraw, Steve Miller Band, 06-Keith Urban, Kid Rock, Tom Petty, 07-Buckcherry, Papa Roach, Velvet Revolver, Daughtry, 08-Staind, Puddle of Mudd, Theory of a Deadman, Saving Abel, 09-Hinder, Aerosmith, 10-Bob Dylan (from MN), Stone Sour (from Des Moines), Disturbed (from Chicago), Jason Aldean, 11-Pop Evil with Alice Cooper, 12-Zac Brown Band, Loverboy (from Calgary), 13-Sublime with Rome, 14-Florida Georgia Line, The Pretty Reckless, Train, Mötley Crüe, 15-Five Finger Death Punch, 16-Miranda Lambert, Willie Nelson, Weird Al Yankovic, '17-Alter Bridge, Trapt, Blink-182, Ozzy Osbourne. In 2018, Buffalo Chips hosted Yelawolf, Chevelle, and Eric Church for the Rally.[citation needed]
| Public | |
| Traded as | NYSE: HOG S&P 500 Component |
| Founded | 1903 |
| Founder | William S. Harley Arthur Davidson Walter Davidson William A. Davidson |
| Headquarters | Milwaukee, Wisconsin |
Key people | Matthew Levatich (President and CEO) |
| Products | Motorcycles |
Production output | |
| Revenue | |
| Total assets | |
| Total equity | |
Number of employees | ≈5,800 (December 2017)[1] |
| Subsidiaries | Harley-Davidson EMEA Harley-Davidson Brazil Harley-Davidson India Harley-Davidson Asia |
Coordinates: 43°02′46″N 87°57′36″W
Harley-Davidson, Inc., H-D, or Harley, is an American motorcycle manufacturer founded in 1903 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It was one of two major American motorcycle manufacturers to survive the Great Depression, along with Indian.[2] The company has survived numerous ownership arrangements, subsidiary arrangements, periods of poor economic health and product quality, and intense global competition[3] to become one of the world's largest motorcycle manufacturers and an iconic brand widely known for its loyal following. There are owner clubs and events worldwide, as well as a company-sponsored, brand-focused museum.
Harley-Davidson is noted for a style of customization that gave rise to the chopper motorcycle style.[4] The company traditionally marketed heavyweight, air-cooled cruiser motorcycles with engine displacements greater than 700 cc, but it has broadened its offerings to include more contemporary VRSC (2002) and middle-weight Street (2015) platforms.
Harley-Davidson manufactures its motorcycles at factories in York, Pennsylvania; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; Kansas City, Missouri (closing); Manaus, Brazil; and Bawal, India. Construction of a new plant in Thailand is scheduled to begin in late 2018.[5] The company markets its products worldwide, and also licenses and markets merchandise under the Harley-Davidson brand, among them apparel, home decor and ornaments, accessories, toys, scale figures of its motorcycles, and video games based on its motorcycle line and the community.
The Revolution engine is based on the VR-1000 Superbike race program, co-developed by Harley-Davidson's Powertrain Engineering team and Porsche Engineering in Stuttgart, Germany. It is a liquid cooled, dual overhead cam, internally counterbalanced 60 degree V-twin engine with a displacement of 69 cubic inch (1,130 cc), producing 115 hp (86 kW) at 8,250 rpm at the crank, with a redline of 9,000 rpm.[117][118] It was introduced for the new VRSC (V-Rod) line in 2001 for the 2002 model year, starting with the single VRSCA (V-Twin Racing Street Custom) model.[119][120] The Revolution marks Harley's first collaboration with Porsche since the V4 Nova project, which, like the V-Rod, was a radical departure from Harley's traditional lineup until it was cancelled by AMF in 1981 in favor of the Evolution engine.[121]
A 1,250 cc Screamin' Eagle version of the Revolution engine was made available for 2005 and 2006, and was present thereafter in a single production model from 2005 to 2007. In 2008, the 1,250 cc Revolution Engine became standard for the entire VRSC line. Harley-Davidson claims 123 hp (92 kW) at the crank for the 2008 VRSCAW model. The VRXSE Destroyer is equipped with a stroker (75 mm crank) Screamin' Eagle 79 cubic inch (1,300 cc) Revolution Engine, producing more than 165 hp (123 kW).
750 cc and 500 cc versions of the Revolution engine are used in Harley-Davidson's Street line of light cruisers.[122] These motors, named the Revolution X, use a single overhead cam, screw and locknut valve adjustment, a single internal counterbalancer, and vertically split crankcases; all of these changes making it different from the original Revolution design.[123]
An extreme endurance test of the Revolution engine was performed in a dynometer installation, simulating the German Autobahn (highways without general speed limit) between the Porsche research and development center in Weissach, near Stuttgart to Düsseldorf. Uncounted samples of engines failed, until an engine successfully passed the 500 hour nonstop run. This was the benchmark for the engineers to approve the start of production for the Revolution engine, which was documented in the Discovery channel special Harley-Davidson: Birth of the V-Rod, October 14, 2001.[124]
The first Harley-Davidson motorcycles were powered by single-cylinder IOE engines with the inlet valve operated by engine vacuum, based on the DeDion-Bouton pattern.[125] Singles of this type continued to be made until 1913, when a pushrod and rocker system was used to operate the overhead inlet valve on the single, a similar system having been used on their V-twins since 1911.[126] Single-cylinder motorcycle engines were discontinued in 1918.[127]
Single-cylinder engines were reintroduced in 1925 as 1926 models.[128] These singles were available either as flathead engines or as overhead valve engines[129] until 1930, after which they were only available as flatheads.[128] The flathead single-cylinder motorcycles were designated Model A for engines with magneto systems only and Model B for engines with battery and coil systems, while overhead valve versions were designated Model AA and Model BA respectively, and a magneto-only racing version was designated Model S.[129] This line of single-cylinder motorcycles ended production in 1934.[128]