Silent Gray Fellow ?
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 11,068
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From: Texas! Ya mean there's someplace else?
RE: Silent Gray Fellow ?
Adapted from At The Creation by Herbert Wagner:
In the 1909 HD catalog the name "Gray Fellow" appears as a nickname. The phrase "The Silent Motorcycle" also appears in reference to HD's efficient muffler. Eventually the terms merged into the better known "Silent Gray Fellow" (at least by 1913, though I've seen references to it for 1911 models - Skip), and remained HD's favorite slogan until the color change to military green in 1917.
In the 1909 HD catalog the name "Gray Fellow" appears as a nickname. The phrase "The Silent Motorcycle" also appears in reference to HD's efficient muffler. Eventually the terms merged into the better known "Silent Gray Fellow" (at least by 1913, though I've seen references to it for 1911 models - Skip), and remained HD's favorite slogan until the color change to military green in 1917.
Road Captain
Joined: Jul 2014
Posts: 721
Likes: 18
From: Galesville, WI
I just received and am reading a book called "The Complete Harley-Davidson". It's a big oversized illustrated book that looks like it used to be in a dealership waiting room or something like that. It goes through the whole model line up of Harley since the beginning. The "Silent Gray Fellow" name was given to some of the 1st few models because of the gray paint scheme that was offered. The choices were Gray and Black. And for a time only Gray was offered. And yes it also had to do with the silencing exhaust damper for town driving and could be opened up on the outskirts of town.
Club Member
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 1,921
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From: Southeast Texas
1914 Harley-Davidson aka The Silent Gray Fellow
n an article printed in HOG Tales, Jim McCaslin President and CEO of HD stated
that "The Motor Company put its engineering staff to work and came up with the
best mufflers in the motorcycle industry. So successful, in fact, that they
built a motorcycle that became affectionately known as The Silent Gray Fellow.
Yet in her book, Jean Davidson's Harley-Davidson Family Album, it states
"Because William Harley was a quiet reserved man whose hair had turned silvery
gray at an early age, he was affectionately known as the "Silent Gray Fellow" by the
other founders. And because Bill Harley was the company's respected chief engineer,
the Davidson brothers nicknamed Harley's latest motorcycle in his honor.
n an article printed in HOG Tales, Jim McCaslin President and CEO of HD stated
that "The Motor Company put its engineering staff to work and came up with the
best mufflers in the motorcycle industry. So successful, in fact, that they
built a motorcycle that became affectionately known as The Silent Gray Fellow.
Yet in her book, Jean Davidson's Harley-Davidson Family Album, it states
"Because William Harley was a quiet reserved man whose hair had turned silvery
gray at an early age, he was affectionately known as the "Silent Gray Fellow" by the
other founders. And because Bill Harley was the company's respected chief engineer,
the Davidson brothers nicknamed Harley's latest motorcycle in his honor.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 157,524
Likes: 57,079
From: Michigan 15 Minutes East Of Hell
I just received and am reading a book called "The Complete Harley-Davidson". It's a big oversized illustrated book that looks like it used to be in a dealership waiting room or something like that. It goes through the whole model line up of Harley since the beginning. The "Silent Gray Fellow" name was given to some of the 1st few models because of the gray paint scheme that was offered. The choices were Gray and Black. And for a time only Gray was offered. And yes it also had to do with the silencing exhaust damper for town driving and could be opened up on the outskirts of town.
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