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THE HARLEY ALPHABET |
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Ever wondered what all those
letters mean when you hear a Harley model number? Well here is the
answer. I found this a while back when I was looking to buy a bike.
I don’t remember where I found it, so unfortunately I can not give credit to the
original author.
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The first letter of the model
designator reveals the engine series: |
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First character: |
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G - Servicar three wheeler, 1932
to 1972 |
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E - Overhead valve 61 cubic inch
"big twin" (Engine/trans separated) |
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F - Overhead valve 74 or 80 cubic
inch "big twin" |
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K - Side valve 45 and 55 cubic
inch sports bike that replaced the WL in 1953 and was replaced by
the sportster in 1957. It had many design features that were carried
over to the Sportster. |
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U - Side valve 74 or 80 cubic
inch "big twin" |
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V - Side valve 74 cubic inch made
prior to 1936 |
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W - Side valve 45 cubic inch made
1934 to 1952 |
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X - Sports and
special construction. Applied to 1918-1922 opposed twin |
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Sport, 1944 military opposed
twin, and 1957 to present Sportster. There were others, such as the
J series (a very nice looking bike that was about the hottest thing
around in the 20's) but you're not likely to see them in daily use
anymore. |
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Second character: |
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L - high compression. Omitted on
low compression early models, and not indicative of compression on
current models. |
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Remaning characters: |
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Model descriptions, eg WG - Wide
Glide. Some generalizations: |
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A - Military (Army) version
(except GA, Servicar without tow bar) |
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B - Battery start (early models),
Belt drive (some later models). |
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C - Classic, Competition, Custom,
various others meanings. |
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D - Dyna, the newest frame and
engine mount design. |
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E - Electric start |
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F - Foot shift (when the standard
was hand-shift) |
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H - varied between High
performance and Heavy duty. The early FLH for example produced 5
more HP than the FL and was used primarily for
touring and sidecar applications. |
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LR- Low Rider (though many Low
Riders don't include LR in the model ID) |
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P - Police version |
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R - Rubber mounted engine (some
models) racing version (other models) e.g. the FXR is a lowrider
with rubber mounted engine, WLR is the flat track racer that was
very hard to beat in the 30's, 40's, and 50's. |
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ST- Soft Tail |
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S - (without following T) Sports
version eg FLHS is an FLHT without the touring package. |
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T - Touring |
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WG- Wide Glide |
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Sportsters:
Models beginning with X are Sportsters. These descend from the K
series, 1952-56. The XL series started in 1957. They are "unit
construction" (engine & transmission share a common case). X was in
the normal series, following the U and V used for flathead Big
Twins. |
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L stood for high compression
(7.5:1 in 1957). In 1958 came the XLH with H meaning Higher-power or
High-compression (9:1) or Hot. Also in 1958 was the XLCH: The C in
XLCH was intended to mean "Competition", but the late Hal Robinson
used to claim the CH on his bike stood for Charley Horse" because it
was highly modified and had enough initial ignition advance to kick
back rather severely. |
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The Sportster engines were
originally actually 53.9ci. (883cc) but were designated as 55ci.
This was upgraded (in 1970?) to 61ci (1000cc), redesigned in '73 but
still 61" and stayed relatively unchanged until the 74" EVO version.
The 883 and 61" were both produced the first year of the 883.
Options for Sportsters abounded but these same letters have been
used since 1958 in various combinations, plus the XLCR (a "cafe
racer" style, with bikini fairing) and the XLT (Touring, with bigger
tank, thicker seat, and hard bags straight off the FLHS), both
produced 1977-1978 only. |
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Big Twins: Models beginning with
F are Big Twins. These all descend from the 61E in 1936.
Knuckleheads 1936-47, Panheads 1948-65, Shovelheads 1966-84/85, and
Evolutions 1984/5-present. The Evolution (block head) was introduced
in '84 on the Soft Tail and Tourglide Ultra, with the last Shovel
built in mid '85. Until 1978, these were mostly 74's (~1200cc). In
1978, the 80ci (~1340cc) was introduced. |
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In 1971 was the
first FX model, with an F engine and assorted Sportster (X) parts,
notably forks - these were initially Super Glides. In 1974, FXE was
Electric start. In calendar 1977 came the FXS Low Rider, with
shortened shocks and scooped seating position. Also in 1978, the FX
Super Glides got belt final drive. 1979 brought 80ci Shovelheads and
the FXEF Super Glide Fat Bob (not Boy), for bobbed fenders and fat
tank. In 1980, FXWG (Wide Glide) and the FXB Sturgis with belt drive
(primary and secondary). |
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1984 brought the
Softtail FXST, with the look of an old hardtail but some suspension
for comfort. |
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In 1991 came the
FXD Dyna Glide series, starting with another Sturgis model. This
brought many frame and engine mounting changes, a relocated oil tank
and moved crossover pipe. |
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Touring: In 1980,
the FLT designation was introduced for the Tour Glide. This model
introduced the vibration-isolation mounted engine (rubberglide) and
also a slightly different frame from other FLs and a fixed fairing.
FXR (originally called Super Glide II) arrived in late 1981. The R
had rubbermount engine and 5-speed tranny, as opposed to rigid-mount
and 4-speed in other models. FXRS maybe meant Sport, with cast
wheels and a small sissy bar. The Sport Glide FXRT (Touring) arrived
in 1983, with the fixed fairing and air adjustable anti-dive forks. |
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The only really
reliable letters now are at the beginning of the model: X=Sportster,
F=Big Twin, FL=Big Twin with big forks, FX=Big Twin with
Sportster-style (smaller) forks, FXST=Softtail, FXD=Dyna Glide. At
times, different models have even shared the same
letter-designation; witness the FLHTC Electra Glide Classic/Ultra
Classic Electra Glide in 1993 models. |
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Excerpts from
Unofficial Harley-Davidson Model Designation Description originated
but no longer maintained by Carl Paukstis (carlp@wetleather.com) |
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