Harley-Davidson motorcycles gained the nickname “Hog” from a racing team’s pig mascot.
In the early 1920s, members of Harley-Davidson’s successful racing team kept a pig as a mascot. The pig appeared with the riders during celebrations after races, helping associate the word “hog” with Harley-Davidson competition motorcycles and, eventually, the brand more broadly.
The nickname is sometimes mistakenly explained as an acronym for “Harley Owners Group.” That explanation is incorrect: Harley Owners Group, commonly abbreviated H.O.G., was created in 1983, decades after the racing-team story. The existing nickname influenced the organization’s name rather than originating from it.
“Hog” is an informal nickname, not an official model designation. Individual Harley-Davidson motorcycles have always carried formal names such as Sportster, Electra Glide, and Softail.