History of the motorcycle by 1902, and would rise to 32,000, its best ever, in 1913. Indian produced over 20,000 bikes per year. The oldest surviving Russian-manufactured motorcycle, the Rossiya, dates from 1902. The American company Harley-Davidson started producing motorcycles in 1903. During this period, experimentation and innovation were driven by the popular new sport of motorcycle racing, with its powerful incentive to produce tough, fast, reliable machines. These enhancements quickly found their way to the public's machines. Chief August Vollmer of the Berkeley, California Police Department is credited with organizing the first official police motorcycle-patrol in the United States in 1911. By 1914,
Curtiss V-8 motorcycle Motor Cycle", the first of over 100 books in the Tom Swift series, was published shortly after the V-8 record setting run. The record setting V-8 motorcycle is now in the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. The Air and Space museum lent it to the Guggenheim for the 1998 "The Art of the Motorcycle" exhibition in New York. The Curtiss OX-5 aero engine, a successor of the V-8 motorcycle engine, powered several United States civilian and military aircraft. More than 10,000 were manufactured. Curtiss V-8 motorcycle The Curtiss V-8 motorcycle was a V8 engine-powered motorcycle designed and built by