9 Facts About the Original 1971-85 Harley-Davidson Super Glide
by Joe Coelho

 

Interesting read. I had a few FX and FXE's in the past and despite the bad rap they got from so many of the uninformed, they were great bikes for their time. Their dependability was much higher than any of the earlier engines and you could ride them anywhere. I had a lot of good times on those AMF's.

 

I always likes the Boattail fiberglass rear fender on the FX and the 65 Chevy Biscayne Taillight.

One more fact. Harley loved re-purposing automotive parts in their Motorcycles. Points, Regulators, Lighting parts.

The clear glass on the rear tail light assembly used to illuminate the Tag, (that was used on pans and early shovels) were originally used on the 1948 Cadillac as the door glass for the interior lights. The points on my 64 Pan (OE Dual Point distributor) were also from a 48 Cadillac, Shovel points were from the 230 CI 6 cylinder Chevrolet, and so on.

 

The Super Glide of that era is why I ride the modern version of it.

 

For me SG will ALWAYS mean Super Glide, not Street Glide.

 

I always thought the mid 70's Superglides were some of the best looking bikes HD ever made.

 

Loved my Shovelhead. Had 4 of them. Oldest was a 72FLH. Newest was a 1984 FXSB Lowrider. The other 2 were 78, and 82. The 82 was a stroker.

Those that call them Trouble heads likely never owned one or didn't know how to maintain them.

 

My 81 Super Glide, 40's vintage tanks and low Rider tubes. and in original paint. Great Bike

 

When i bought my first bike, in 1985, I chose a '76 XLCH over a '71 Super Glide that was parked right next to it. It was only a few hundred more dollars, but I thought that rear fender was butt ugly.

If I only knew then.....

 

I bought three new AMF Super Glides 76,78 and 79. Other than a bad engine in the 78 which was replaced amazing fast loved them all. The 79 was stroked to 93" in 81 after that the bike was raced daily for a lot of years. Nice machines despite what all the crying was about.