Well, time for this newbe to ask his first stupid question. I’m sure this has been asked before, and I am sure it will be asked again, but as hard as I tried I could not find anything with the search function about it. So, I am going to ask. Is there any rhyme or reason for the abbreviations Harley Davidson uses to describe each model? Are they even called abbreviations? I mean FLSTC for the Heritage Softail Classic. I guess I can see the last three letters Soft Tail Classic, but it’s Softail, one word. But what is a FLHRSI where is the Road King Custom in that? Jeez, help a newbe out here….

 

http://www.dlhill.com/hdalphabet.html

Enjoy!

 

Oh, Welcome to the forum from Indiana.....Enjoy!

 

It goes something like this

First digit, Weight: X= light and F= heavy
Second digit, Controls L= mid and X = forward
Third digit, Crap shoot: D = Dyna, ST = Softail, H= touring
Additinal digits for more model designations and an I as the last digit = fuel injection
Here are some examples of models styles to go by.
XLH Sportster 883
XLH Sportster 883 Hugger
XLH Sportster 1200
XL 1200C 1200 Custom
XL 1200S 1200 Sport
FXD Dyna Super Glide
FXDL Dyna Low Rider
FXDS-CONV Dyna Convertible
FXDWG Dyna Wide Glide
FLSTS Heritage Springer Softail
FXSTSB Bad Boy
FLSTF Fat Boy
FXSTS Springer Softail
FXSTC Softail Custom
FLSTC Heritage Softail Classic
FLHR/FLHRI Road King / Road King Fuel Injected
FLHT Electra Glide Standard
FLHTC/FLHTCI Electra Glide Classic / Electra Glide Classic Injected
FLHTCUI Ultra Classic Electra Glide Fuel Injected
FLHX/FLXI Street Glide / Street Glide Injected

FBL

 

Do not forget FLT - Road GLide... I am sensitive... LOL

 

The only one you need to know is HD=hundreds of dollars

 

Correction

F stands for "big twin"
X Stands for "sportster"
L stands for "Hydroglide Big Forks"
ST stands for "Softail"
F stands for "Fatboy" as in FLST "F"
The I on the end stands for Fuel injection.

Harley models initials can be extremely long, such as FLHRCI, and some combinations don't make sense. In gereral, though, the first letter is F (Big Twin) or X (Sportster), and the other intials include:
B (Belt Drive), C (Classic, or sometimes Custom), D (Dyna Glide), DG (Disk Glide), E (Electric-start), F (Fatboy), FI (Fuel-Injection), H (High-compression), L (Hydraglide big forks), LR (Low Rider), P (Police), S (Springer), SB (Single Belt final drive), ST (Softail) T (Touring), WG (Wide Glide)

 

FLSTNI = Touring - Softail - Nostalgic - Fuel Injected

(Softail Deluxe)

 

What was the designation for the first "Road Glide"? First rubber mounted motor and five speed? 1980 FLT????????????

 

i assume you're joking because you're way off.