Never heard that, HD did try to patent the sound but I don't think they could.

 

I think they tried through the attempt of trademarking the sound, but it pretty much went nowhere and fizzled out. Here is an article I found on the web about it from http://www.straightdope.com/columns/000915.html .

Dear Cecil:

A few days ago a colleague at work asked me, "Does Harley-Davidson have a patent on the sound of their exhaust?" I thought he was kidding. I never heard of the government granting a patent on a particular sound. Then a friend of mind told me H-D won a lawsuit against one of the "rice burner" bike manufacturers because they had (electronically) duplicated the sound of the Harley! What gives? Can you really patent the exhaust sound of an infernal--strike that--internal-combustion engine? --Jens, Glenview, Illinois

Cecil replies:

Not a patent, Jens. A trademark. You patent an invention; you secure trademark rights in a symbol associated with your company or product. Sure, you can get one on a sound. MGM registered the roar of its lion as a trademark, and NBC registered its three-toned chime as a service mark. Hadn't heard that chime in years, but as soon as I saw it mentioned, it popped into my mind, practical proof that sounds can be potent symbols. Trouble is, when I think of Harley, I think of Hell's Angels, the Harley logo, and the word hog (which Harley also tried to register). But--and I realize this may say negative things about my testosterone level--I don't think of a particular sound, which might explain why Harley withdrew its application to register the engine sound earlier this year.

Harley aficionados, and of course the company itself, see it differently. To them the Harley sound, said to resemble "potato-potato-potato," is as distinctive as the Energizer bunny. (Judge for yourself with the sound clips at newsport.sfsu.edu/archive/f96/sounds/pending.html). When Japanese motorcycle makers began horning in on the Milwaukee company's hog market with their own heavy-duty bikes in the 1980s, Harley felt they were trying to duplicate the rumble of the V-Twin engine, which buyers supposedly seek out. Maybe, though if you ask me they mostly want something loud enough to scare the crap out of guys in Honda Civics. The Japanese put it more diplomatically when fighting Harley's trademark request, arguing that all big motorcycles sound pretty much the same. After six years of legal proceedings and no resolution in sight, Harley caved, claiming it had won in the court of public opinion, etc. Just as well. Can you imagine the trademark infringement suits?

Harley lawyer: "Your honor, our competitor's ripoff of our product purposely goes potato-potato-potato."

Rice-burner lawyer: "Nonsense, it goes poTAHto-poTAHto-poTAHto. Motion to call the whole thing off."


Here is another story link about HD dropping the suit:

http://www.wherethepoweris.com/news_article.asp?id=487

 

Cool !

Thank you very much for the info.. it's kind of silly to want to "trademark" a sound .. but then again, that's one of the charasteristics of those bikes.. I'm just glad I don't have the spend so much money to get a bike that sounds like that hehe

Thanks again !! :wink:

 

In the last article they say harley davidson is a Heavy weight so does that make honda a middle weight?, or is that the legal terms that kept this at bay and out of court!!!
At the Honda Homecoming a bike went by in the parade of lights and my wife said OOO there's a real bike. (her dad has two harleys and ahem a Shadow) I saw the bike and said " Honey that is the same bike I have it just has a set of nice pipes on it". Of course she knew that.
Yet another situation was when my buddy and I rode to Indian Lake in the morning and later that evening my neighbor comes over and says, " Your buddies harley woke me up this morning, that thing is awesome". I replied with " Well Scott that was actually a Honda ACE with Cobra pipes".
So should harley sue other manufactuers OR aftermarket companies? Who supply the exhaust systems that sound so Mmm Mmm good. Uh, how much money would they lose on that deal? Are they gonna sue another American company trying to keep a business with American workers or is the government going to get involved and say well you do get nice aftermarket parts and this and that and

 

If I'm not mistaken, Harley did sue another motorcycle manufacturer, but it was Yamaha. Yamaha had developed their V-Twin in the same configuration and angle as Harley (45°) and had an almost identical sound. Yamaha had to change the angle between cylinders (now 48°) and also the pushrod covers because they were protected under law for Harley.

 

And if i recall correctly HD also tried to sue Honda over the fact the ACE 750 looks so much like the Fat Boy..

 

True. It was in the 80's with the 86 model. HD sued over the sound that the model produced. If I remember correctly, Honda won the battle.

 

True. It was in the 80's with the 86 model. HD sued over the sound that the model produced. If I remember correctly, Honda won the battle.

Correct.

 

I think my ACE sounds better than any of the HD's I owned.

 

HD really got their panties in a bunch when the Shadow 1100 ACE came out--I remember that so vividly. When my hubby and i use to go to different bike events we had people saying how big the oil cooler was on the Harley (our ACE lol)--had to come up from behind them to tell them it was a radiator. When Yamaha came out with the Roadie HD was not pleased with that either--I remember talking to the Yamaha guys at a show once and they were telling me the bike would take PM rims for a Harley because the hubs and bearings were identical. I am sure though it probably won't be the last of legal BS the motor company will pull. There is always something they will gripe about.

 

Did harley davidson sue honda t or f

Harley did sue honda over the shadow in 83 and won. That is why the 84 shadow has one pipe on each side. They then asked Honda to show them how to build a better motorcycle releasing some design right in the deal.
That is when the Harley eveloution engine was born.

The info is from one of the american big twin publications a few years ago.
printed in an american bike publication I have to assume it is true.

Whenever I get a harley wanabe downing my shadow I bring this up and it usually shuts them up.

 

Here is another story link about HD dropping the suit:

http://www.wherethepoweris.com/news_article.asp?id=487

It is interesting that the above article says the HD lawsuit was started in 1994 (this is the same year that the single crank pin 1995 Honda ACE 1100s were introduced) and the lawsuit was dropped in 2000 (which was the last year for the single crank pin 1100 Hondas). More than coincidence?

Also, does anyone know if the Japanese brought a lawsuit against HD when HD came out with the VRod using overhead cams and water cooling which the Japanese had been doing for years?

 

One story I heard was that HD sued Honda over the "Made in USA" claim and that "Made in USA" that was printed on the back of the seats of Hondas a few years ago. HD claimed that many or most of the parts were imported and were only assembled in USA. I don't know the outcome but I don't see made in USA on Honda seats any more. I know that they are assembled in Ohio and that Honda has an engine plant there. I don't know if they only assemble them there or actually make the entire bike there. I would guess that not all the parts of the HD are US made either. So how much of something do you have to make in USA before you can claim made in USA status?

 

Well, in the case of the ACE and Shadow 1100 models, the engine/tranny setup and suspension components were made in Japan and the rest of the parts were made in the USA like the frame, tank, electrical items like the CDI box--I think I have that in an article from when the ACE was the new kid on the block in the 90's--I'll have to find it and scan it. In all reality, there are many foreign parts on the Harleys including their OEM accessories. A lot of HD guys do not realize that their forks and shocks are made by SHOWA, a company owned by HONDA. Most of the accessories I have bought for the Road King like the chrome doo-dads and such are made in either Taiwan or China it seems like. Go figure.

 

One story I heard was that HD sued Honda over the "Made in USA" claim and that "Made in USA" that was printed on the back of the seats of Hondas a few years ago. HD claimed that many or most of the parts were imported and were only assembled in USA. I don't know the outcome but I don't see made in USA on Honda seats any more. I know that they are assembled in Ohio and that Honda has an engine plant there. I don't know if they only assemble them there or actually make the entire bike there. I would guess that not all the parts of the HD are US made either. So how much of something do you have to make in USA before you can claim made in USA status?

There ya go.