Okay...here's an informative post (probably my first one) for other newbies that might not exactly know what all those letters stand for when talking about models.

XL=Sportster
VRSCA=V-Rod

F=OHV-Twin

L=Wide Tires
ST=Softail Frame
H=Fork Mounted Fairing
S=Sport
T=Rubber Mount 5 Speed Touring
S=Standard
U=Ultra
F=Fatboy
R=Road King
RG=Road Glide
I=Fuel Injected

X=Narrow Front Tire
ST=Softail Frame (D=Deuce)(B=Night Train)
R=3 Point Rubber Mount 5 Speed Sport
D=Dyna, 2 Point Rubber Mount 5 Speed Sport
S=Standard
WG=Wide Glide
L=Low Rider
I=Injected
X=Sport
T=Touring

It won't let me format this but basically for the V-Twins...F is the first letter then it's either L or X then the letters that fall under those specific letters...Hope it's not too confusing.

I know I was getting confused by all those letters so I hope this helps others like me.

 

Stones,

You're the man! I have always wondered what the deal with the letters is. Just last week at work we were discussing how it all made no sense.

You just made my alphabet soup make sense!

Thanks,

Mac

PS. Just showed this to a buddy, you need to add "C" for classic below the FL designations...

He has an FLSTC = Hertage Softail Classic...

Cheers.

M.

 

Remember that these designations are only good for current models. "Back in the day" an FLH meant a fat tire bike with a 74" big twin normal engine. An FL was the same bike but had lower compression and a less agressive cam. An EL was a big bike with a 61" engine. A UL (UL, ULH) was a big (74 or 80 inch) flathead. W, 45" flathead (WL, WLA, WR, WRTT, etc.). XLCH, kick only Sporty. XLH, electric foot Sporty. K designation (KH, KHK) meant the flathead predecessor to the Sporty. And so many others that my head spins trying to remember even a couple of them.

 

Actually, they don't seem to work for the current models...

Road Glide is FLTRI (from the Harley Webpage) which doesn't work either.



I'm back to alphabet soup. I think the list is close though.

Mac

 

on model designations:

The first letter of the model designator reveals the engine series.


First character:
G - Servicar three wheeler, 1932 to 1972
E - Overhead valve 61 cubic inch "big twin" (Engine/trans separated)
F - Overhead valve 74 or 80 cubic inch "big twin"
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.
U - Side valve 74 or 80 cubic inch "big twin"
V - Side valve 74 cubic inch made prior to 1936
W - Side valve 45 cubic inch made 1934 to 1952
X - Sports and special construction. Applied to 1918-1922 opposed twin 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.


Second character: L - high compression. Omitted on low compression early
models, and not indicative of compression on current models.


Remaning characters:
Model descriptions, eg WG - Wide Glide. Some generalizations:


A - Military (Army) version (except GA, Servicar without tow bar)
B - Battery start (early models), Belt drive (some later models).
C - Classic, Competition, Custom, various others meanings.
D - Dyna, the newest frame and engine mount design.
E - Electric start
F - Foot shift (when the standard was hand-shift)
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.
LR- Low Rider (though many Low Riders don't include LR in the model ID)
P - Police version
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.
ST- Soft Tail
S (without following T) Sports version eg FLHS is an FLHT without the touring package.
T - Touring
WG- Wide Glide


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.
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. The Sportster engines were
originally actually 53.9ci. (883cc) but were designated as 55ci. This was upgraded (in 1972) to 61ci (1000cc), redesigned in '73 but still 61" and stayed relatively unchanged untill 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, and thicker seat, both produced 1977-1978 only.


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.


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, wit

 

Now this guy can type!

Thanks PocoCJ!

Cheers,

Mac

 

Type? I'm a two-finger-hunt-'n'-pecker! I had copied and pasted that some time back, but lost the last part of it, and don't remember where I got it.

 

Cut and paste...I just did that myself. I'm going to add that information to the webpage that I'm building for my website that will be dedicated to the bike...(if it EVER arrives!)

Mac

 

Sorry the ones I put up weren't up to date...I got them from the dealership when I asked them to explain the letter system to me... [:@]

 

Ricky, don't apologize. Other than the C, your info was good, for recent models.