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50 free Harley-Davidson trivia questions with answers — trivia quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
Harley-Davidson started in a 10-by-15-foot shed in a Milwaukee backyard in 1903 and became one of only two American motorcycle makers to survive the Great Depression. Along the way it built army bikes for two world wars, nearly died under AMF ownership, and came roaring back on retro style and the loyalty of its owners. This quiz covers the founders, the engine nicknames from Knucklehead to Milwaukee-Eight, the model families, the Harley Owners Group, the failed sound trademark and the real origin of the name Fat Boy. Every answer is sourced and explained, so you can settle the debate at your next ride.
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Q 01In which city is Harley-Davidson headquartered?
Milwaukee
Its corporate headquarters still sits on Juneau Avenue, where the founders built their first wooden factory in 1906.
Q 02In what year was Harley-Davidson founded?
1903
William S. Harley had drawn up plans for a small bicycle engine in 1901; the first finished motor-bicycle could not climb Milwaukee's hills without pedaling.
Q 03Which rival was the only other major US motorcycle maker to survive the Great Depression?
Indian
Harley sales had collapsed from 21,000 in 1929 to 3,703 in 1933; the company got by building industrial engines and a three-wheeled delivery trike.
Q 04The first loop-frame Harley-Davidson prototype was assembled where?
A backyard shed
The 10-by-15-foot shed in the Davidson family yard was later moved to the Juneau Avenue factory and kept for decades as a tribute.
Q 05Which outboard-motor pioneer helped the founders with their bigger early engine?
Ole Evinrude
Evinrude was then building gas engines for automotive use on Milwaukee's Lake Street, not far from the Davidson home.
Q 06How many Davidson brothers were involved alongside William S. Harley in the early company?
Three
Arthur worked on the first engine, Walter helped finish it, and oldest brother William A. left his railroad toolroom job to join in 1907.
Q 07William S. Harley earned a mechanical engineering degree in 1907 from which school?
Wisconsin–Madison
The same year, the company incorporated, added a second floor to its factory and started selling bikes to police departments.
Q 08Roughly how many motorcycles did Harley-Davidson build in 1906, its first factory year?
About 50
Output hit 150 the next year and 1,149 by 1909 as the V-twin arrived.
Q 09What angle separates the cylinders on a classic Harley-Davidson V-twin?
45 degrees
Both pistons share a single crankpin, so the cylinders fire at uneven intervals, which creates the trademark choppy sound.
Q 10The uneven firing of a Harley V-twin is often described as sounding like what?
Potato-potato
The company tried to register that exhaust note as a sound trademark in 1994 but gave up in 2000 after nine rivals objected.
Q 11What happened to Harley-Davidson's 1994 application to trademark its engine sound?
It was dropped in 2000
Competitors argued that any single-crankpin V-twin cruiser makes a similar noise, and litigation followed the objections.
Q 12Which war was the first in which Harley-Davidson motorcycles were adopted for US military issue?
World War I
Harleys had already chased Pancho Villa in Mexico; the US military then bought more than 20,000 for the 1917–18 war effort.
Q 13In the World War II military model name WLA, what did the "A" stand for?
Army
About 90,000 military bikes were built, and at least 30,000 went to the Soviet Union under Lend-Lease.
Q 21Which company bought Harley-Davidson in 1969, ushering in an era of quality problems?
AMF
American Machine and Foundry slashed the workforce, triggered a strike and turned out bikes mocked as "Hardly Ableson" and "Hardly Driveable".
Q 22For how much did 13 investors buy Harley-Davidson back from AMF in 1981?
$80 million
The group, led by Vaughn Beals and Willie G. Davidson, improved quality, adopted just-in-time inventory and lobbied for tariffs on big Japanese bikes.
Q 23Which Japanese maker was NOT one of the "big four" that nearly bankrupted Harley in the 1970s?
Mitsubishi
Honda, Kawasaki, Suzuki and Yamaha introduced what the press called the Universal Japanese Motorcycle: cheaper, faster and better built.
Q 14The wartime Harley-Davidson XA largely copied the shaft-driven engine and drivetrain of which brand?
BMW
The Army wanted a bike with the features of BMW's R71; the XA shared almost nothing with any previous Harley.
Q 15What was the three-wheeled delivery vehicle Harley built from 1932 to 1973?
Servi-Car
Designed to help the company survive the Depression, it was the last three-wheeler until the Tri-Glide Ultra Classic arrived for 2009.
Q 16Which nickname belongs to the overhead-valve engine introduced in 1936?
Knucklehead
Early valvetrain problems forced a redesign halfway through its first year; the name comes from the rocker boxes' resemblance to knuckles.
Q 17Which Big Twin engine nickname covers the years 1948 to 1965?
Panhead
It was followed by the engine built from 1966 to 1984, whose rocker covers looked like upturned coal shovels.
Q 18The 1984–1999 Big Twin engine, nicknamed "Blockhead", was officially called what?
Evolution
It powered the company's turnaround after the 1981 buyout and still lives on in 883 and 1,200 cc Sportster form.
Q 19Which engine family replaced the Twin Cam on touring models in 2017?
Milwaukee-Eight
The standard 107-cubic-inch version reached Softail models in 2018; the name refers to its eight valves.
Q 20Which German sports-car maker helped develop the liquid-cooled Revolution engine for the V-Rod?
Porsche
The 60-degree, dual-overhead-cam engine grew out of the VR-1000 Superbike race program and was endurance-tested on a simulated Autobahn run.
Q 24Which model family, introduced in 1957, was conceived as a racing motorcycle?
Sportster
Smaller and lighter than the Big Twins, it dominated dirt and flat-track courses through the 1960s and 1970s.
Q 25Which 1984 model family hides its rear suspension to mimic a rigid "hardtail" chopper?
Softail
Harley bought the "Sub Shock" cantilever-swingarm design from Missouri engineer Bill Davis and launched the FXST in 1984.
Q 26Which 1990 model returned Harley to the top of heavyweight motorcycle sales?
Fat Boy
A myth claimed the name combined the atomic bombs Fat Man and Little Boy; it really refers to the bike looking wider head-on.
Q 27Harley-Davidson's first electric motorcycle, released in 2019, was called what?
LiveWire
It had a minimum city range of 98 miles and was spun off as its own company in 2021–22, valued at about $1.77 billion.
Q 28What does the acronym HOG stand for?
Harley Owners Group
Founded in 1983, it has more than a million members and 1,400 chapters, the largest factory-sponsored motorcycle club in the world.
Q 29How did Harleys first come to be nicknamed "hogs"?
A race team kept a live pig mascot
From 1920 a team of farm boys known as the "hog boys" kept winning races, and after each win they put their pig on a Harley for a victory lap.
Q 30What NYSE ticker symbol did Harley-Davidson adopt in 2006?
HOG
The company had tried to trademark "hog" itself but lost a 1999 case to an independent shop called The Hog Farm.