<p>This illustrated guide is packed with interesting facts and follows the history of the famous Harley-Davidson company and the developmentof its famous bikes, which have earned a special place in the hearts of enthusiasts everywhere. The story dates from 1903 when Bill Harley andthe Davidson brothers, with no thought of fame or fortune, decided to build a motorcycle that really worked. So successful was it, that it led to the gradual formation of a company that has survived through good times and bad.</p><p>Building on the Founder's original idea of producing reliable and sturdy bikes, Harley-Davidson initially resisted racing, but was eventually faced with competition from outside the United States, which left it no alternative but to join the fray.</p><p>Through good times and bad, losing and winning back police contracts, as well as weathering various other vicissitudes, the company has achieved lasting success. In the end, Harley-Davidson came to the ultimate decision of giving its customers what they really wanted, not by providing year-on-year innovations, but by remaining true to the Founders' original concept. The result, as everyone knows, are bikes of mythic status, imbued with a mysterious quality of their own and generating a passion in enthusiasts amounting almost to a love affair. The name has come to personify America and is up there alongside Coca-Cola, Ford and McDonald's.</p><p>The bikes are described in detail, not only in mechanical terms, but also with glorious photographs, and will be of interest to everyone who loves motorbikes: even aficionados of Japanese and European bikes, who have never even ridden an Harley-Davidson, will be able to recognize the unique marriage of style and nostalgia and the fact that there are no other bikes quite like them.</p>