I'm not consider this but do you have any idea if the later inners fit those old batwings fairings? I have one and I'm wondering how much their shape changed.
No, they won't go together. The older ones are glass-fibre and self-supporting, held onto the bike by just four mounting points. The windshield isn't mounted directly on the batwing, but on the main brackets - we can get our fingers between shield and batwing. On later batwings the dashboard is the structure, with a comparatively flimsy batwing fastened to it, for support.
In the photo you posted, the instruments and audio are mounted in a separate moulding which is bolted to the main batwing brackets, not to the batwing itself.
Yes, that's exactly what happened. My comparison to the Corvette is a good one. While Chevrolet was building the Corvette they decided to try a unibody, a new technology on a new car and they called this car the Corvair. Chevrolet built the Corvair alongside the Corvette for multiple years. It's true the Corvair has back seats but realize Corvair actually is a combination of the words Corvette and Bel Air. When they discontinued the Corvair they used the unibody technology in the Corvette. The Corvette was already a long standing and very popular car so Chevrolet did not want to discontinue the Corvette. Instead they used the unibody on newer models and called these new models the Corvette. They were small high performance cars that upheld the tradition of the Corvette line. The fact that the unibody technology came from another model is irrelevant. The unibody Corvettes upheld the Corvette tradition but with new technologies.
New Corvettes had a V8 but not the same V8 as the old Corvettes.
I have to set this straight as I have been a "Vette guy" a little longer than a "Harley guy". Corvettes have been manufactured with full frames from day one and still are. My first Vette was a 1962 and my current ride is a 2000. I totally agree with your theory of "evolution" on both vehicles. My first E-glide was a new 1983 belt drive model. My newest was a 2012 Street Glide, see avitar. There was for sure a huge evolution between the two. I have owned 7 Eglides and the changes were subtle as I always just moved up a few years at a time, I have enjoyed all of them. My current Electra Glide is a 1988 "Sport" which I just acquired. I guess as I have aged simpler things are more attractive to me now. I guess thats why I can not bring myself to buy a newer Vette, even at 100K miles I enjoy the simpler interior and engine.
That (above) is what my 89 FLHS looked liked when I bought it. This is what it ended up as
Most of this info is right .
But not all of it is right .
I have a First year 1977 FLHS ,
AKA ( Road King )
Only 535 was made in 1977 .
Handel bar mounted turn signals .
Windshield and Two Pipes .
FLHSport .
Mine is a One Owner All Original FLHS .
This is what become the Road King .
Rooster
Great! Despite being pretty short I did manage to test ride a late '70s similar bike, but could only put the very tips of my boots down on terra firma. Would be great to see some of the current 'flat-foot' brigade riding a proper man's bike!
11-05-2017, 11:40 AM
