Err, come again? Harley-Davidson Snowmobile Division?
That was sort of our reaction too when we got to know that once upon a time, Harley-Davidson had made and sold snowmobiles. When was this and what happened to it? Well, that’s the whole story, right?
Harley-Davidson as a brand started in 1903 and established itself quickly to become one of the leading American motorcycle brands of that time, 'till now. Such was its prowess that it and Indian were the only two motorcycle brands in the US to have survived the Great Depression, even if they, too, did not come unscathed.
From only motorcycles, Harley-Davidson has now diversified into merchandising as well, making plenty of other items like homecare, toys, and other things with the Harley-Davidson logo in place. Even a Ford F-Series truck with Harley-Davidson branding was launched as a special edition make. Clearly, while Harley-Davidsons are all about motorcycles, they do sell much more.
For a time, they sold snowmobiles. So, when was this, and what happened to the Harley-Davidson Snowmobile Division?
Let’s Talk Harley In The ‘70s
Harley-Davidson managed to survive through the Great Depression and then thrived through the WWII period, making many motorcycles for the US military on order. And yet, in 1969, Harley-Davidson, a rather successful company at the time, was sold to AMF, as in American Machine and Foundry.
AMF brought Harley-Davidson to its knees. AMF “streamlined” production and slashed the workforce, resulting in labor strikes that further led to inferior production. Harley-Davidsons motorcycles were now the bane of America.
They were bad and HOG became more of a derogatory term than something to take pride in. This was the time people started referring to H-Ds as Hardly Ableson, Hogly Ferguson, and even Hardly Drivable. For a time, Harley-Davidson went bankrupt and was on the verge of shutting down.
It was during these times that Harley-Davidson introduced the Confederate Edition, and became a very controversial bike for being nothing more than a stock bike with Confederate colors.
Thankfully for Harley-Davidson, AMF sold it to a group of 13 investors, led by Vaughn Beals and Willie G. Davidson for $80 million at the time, and slowly, the brand built itself back up.
The Introduction Of The Snowmobiles
Harley-Davidson made and sold snowmobiles between 1971 and 1975, under the aegis of its parent company AMF that also owned Aermacchi at the time, which made two-stroke engines in Italy.
AMF already made and sold snowmobiles in the ‘60s under its Western Tool Division. The snowmobiles were the Sno-Clipper and the Ski-Daddler Power Sleds and in 1966 alone, more than 3,000 units of these were sold with a 175-strong dealer network. In 1968, Ski-Daddlers were being manufactured in the AMF’s factory in York, Pennsylvania, where Harleys are made today. At the time, Aermacchi’s engines were used to power up these snow sleds, much-like in Polaris and Bombardier sleds.
When AMF acquired Harley, they dropped the Ski-Daddler's name in 1971, opting for Harley Snowmobiles and the first one came powered with a 30-horsepower 398-cc engine. The second model upped the engine displacement to 440cc, and there was no third model. Both were offered with pull and electric start.
Harley-Davidsons dealers were offered the snowmobile line as a whole new product and even formed successful Ski-Daddler dealers were let in on the networks. At the time, these snow sleds were assembled in the Missouri facility along with the Harley-Davidson Golf cart, the latter of which is another story, another time.
Too Frigid A Response?
By 1975, the Harley-Davidson snowmobile adventure came to an icy end with only 10,000 of these ever made and manufactured. Some of them still lie in museums across the world.
The entire premise of AMF re-launching their snowmobiles under the Harley-Davidson name was that the parent company felt sales would on a high. Sadly, they were at an all-time low.
One reason was that the Harley-Davidsons sled lacked almost all commonly found safety and comfort features. No gas gauge to check fuel, no kill-switch for emergency cut-off, no handle pad for ease of riding, and no storage compartment made these snowmobiles sully the Harley-Davidson name even further although sled-enthusiasts liked the idea. The sleds also lacked in power and performance, so basically they were well-branded duds.
All this and more led to the closure of the Harley-Davidson Snowmobile division in 1975, and soon. AMF sold off the motorcycle brand, now in bad shape. After the new investors acquired it, the company churned up profits only in the latter end of the ‘80s after they ran a tight ship. For a while, H-D was in major doo-doo.
Today, the Harley-Davidsons snowmobiles are popular with vintage collectors and displayed at museums. But at the time, what AMF did not quite understand that is motorcycle enthusiasts often have nothing in common with snowmobiles and vice versa. So this was not expansion, but a diversification no one wanted or needed. Thus the Harley-Davidson snowmobiles are nothing but anecdotal history today…
Sources: Harley-Davidson, NationalMotorcycleMuseum