Why Are Harleys Called Hogs?
Why are Harley-Davidson motorcycles called “hogs”? The nickname comes from Harley’s early racing years, when Ray Weishaar won at Marion, Indiana, in 1920 and carried a piglet named Johnnie Duroc on the victory lap. The pig became the mascot people remembered, and “hog” stuck to Harley-Davidson motorcycles for good.
The fun part is that Harley racers posed with other animals too. Dogs, a coyote, a rabbit, a turtle, and at least one raccoon all show up in the racing-mascot trail. The pig won the name game, but one raccoon photo makes it easy to imagine a much stranger version of Harley history.
The Pig That Made Harley-Davidsons “Hogs”
The hog story centers on Ray Weishaar and the piglet usually identified as Johnnie Duroc. At the Marion race in September 1920, Weishaar reportedly bought a young piglet before the event, won the race, and then took the pig along for the celebration.
It was the perfect racing accident: a fast Harley, a popular factory rider, a crowd, and a pig on a victory lap. “Harley hogs” was memorable because it sounded like something riders and spectators created on the spot, not something an advertising office invented later.
Harley’s Racing Mascots Were Not Corporate Mascots
Johnnie Duroc was not alone. Early Harley racing photos and accounts show dogs around the team as early as 1915, a coyote named Bambino at Dodge City in 1920, and the rabbit-and-turtle story from Dodge City in 1921. Washington-area racer Fred “Freddie” Fretwell added a different kind of animal story when his pet monkey began riding to work with him on his Harley. That setting already meant something to Harley riders; the 1914 Dodge City 300 had helped put factory racing on the map years before the mascot stories piled up there. These were pit pets, good-luck charms, and photo props from the vintage racing world.
Harley-Davidson’s lasting identity still came from racing wins, riders, the Bar & Shield, and later H.O.G. culture. The pig mattered because the story was too good to forget.
The Raccoon What-If
The raccoon photo turns the history into bench racing. Imagine a raccoon getting the famous victory lap instead of the pig. Harley riders might be talking about the sound of a raccoon rumbling down the road, H.O.G. chapters would need a different name, and dealership T-shirts might be full of striped tails and black masks.
Bill Minnick and the Raccoon Photo
The following image is Bill Minnick at Laurel, Maryland, on September 7, 1925. The setting is pure board-track racing: wooden banking, fast machines, and enough trackside character for a raccoon to look right at home.
As a nickname origin, the raccoon lost before it started. As a motorcycle photo, it is hard to beat. The pig gave Harley-Davidson the name. The raccoon gave this story its alternate ending.
Indian Larry and a Later Raccoon Connection
Decades later, custom motorcycle builder Indian Larry gives the joke a modern chopper-world echo. Shown holding a raccoon, he looks like someone who would have understood the alternate version immediately.
It does not change the history, but it keeps the joke alive. Motorcycle culture has always had room for characters, and the raccoon fits that side of the story just fine.
A Pig Won the Name Game
So why are Harley-Davidsons called hogs? Because Ray Weishaar’s piglet got the victory lap, the crowd remembered it, and “hog” became the word that survived. Other animals wandered through the early racing story, but Johnnie Duroc had the timing.