I commonly hear sportsters called, "iron".

I guess it comes from the days when many of the engine components were made of iron. Many years ago, Harley Davidson sportsters were called "ironheads". You can guess why.

Harley hasn't made a motorcycle engine with iron heads since 1986.

Maybe "iron" sounds cooler than "sportster"?

 

I honestly get confused when I hear the names of some bikes and don't know which one is referring to what bike. 30+ years ago, it was a whole lot easier. But then, so was everything else.

 

It could be because one of their popular sportster model name is called Iron.

 

The Iron is a sportster model, you might want to check out the HD lineup. I believe they been in the lineup since 2009.