Lets see, We've had Ironheads, Shovelheads, Knuckleheads, Panheads, Flatheads. I'm I leaving any out? Question is, Are there any HD Engines being made today that is still referred to by it's Head? And just for fun it would be interesting to know the life span or years of production of the engine above.

 

Fhead 1914-1929 15years
Flathead 1930-1948 18years
Knucklehead 1936-1947 11years
Panhead 1948–1965 17years
Shovelhead 1966–1984 18years
Evolution 1984–1999 15years
Twin Cam 1999- now (as of 2014) 15 years since its debut

Ironhead 1957-1985


I copied this from my earlier post on another thread


This also may be more useful http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley-...ngine_timeline

 

I thought the Evo was called the 'Blockhead' but it never caught on like the others.

 

I doubt I'm the only one, but I get a kick out of referring to the new touring bikes with the water-cooled heads as "Showerheads."

 

"Showerhead", I like that one.
"Blockhead" for an Evo wouldn't be bad. Evo just don't sound right on it's on.
Seems something was lost when people stopped referring to the engine by it's head. That was an HD tradition for so long.

 

I guess the evo and twin cam are the only engines since the flathead that didn't get named by the heads. Of course evo came out on top since it didn't get a derogatory name like " Twinkie". Unfortunately the twin cam got that sorry name because of a stereotype that people who ride twin cams are twinkies. So for the first time ever a harley engine got named because of a stereotype cooked up by haters. If that had been the case in the past, all the engines would have been called " walkers" since that's what most their owners did. Shovelhead shovelhead their the best, ride a mile and walk the rest

fathead was tossed around in the early days in reference to the twin cam. I think if you read Wikipedia the fat head term is still listed. I like that name personally

 

Shovelhead/Ironhead was pretty much the last generation with the word "head" in its official name.

The TwinCams basically just got called "Twinkies".

The current semi-water cooled ones are gathering the nickname "WetHead"...but it's not really official...just a nickname used by some.

 

There was plenty of hate tossed around at the Evolution when it came out. I can still recall being ignored by "real" Harley riders because I didn't start out on a pan or shovel. I can also remember the t-shirts with "hear no Evo, see no Evo ride no Evo" on them. So things haven't changed much.

In the case of the Evo and the Twin Cam, I think the reason the "blockhead" and "fathead" never caught on is that they were coined by journalists and marketers. Ultimately, it's we, the riders, who will decide what to call the bikes we ride, as it should be.

 

The Sportster Evolution engine has remained largely unchanged from 1986 to 2006.

 

Juiceheads! I like it! LOL