Ok I'll admit I am not that familiar with the Touring models prior to 05 because I never really had an interest in them. I know the current ones. FLT = Road Glide and FLH = Kings and the other Glides. But how did we get to where we are today. I know the predecessor to the Road Glide was the Tour Glide. But I was looking through the recent issue of Hog Tails and came across an FLT Ultra Classic Electra Glide. WTF!?!?! So can someone explain what the earlier models were and what became what in the later years to current.

 

you mean to tell me you own a Harley,, and every one of your realatives havnt givin you one of the many harley books out there for B-day or X-mas yet,,, I bet I have 15.
lol... they have just what your lookin for,,, do a search on the net

 

i have a few to loan out. some of the pages are stuck together, they are that good.

 

I just stumbled upon this the other day. I read it and am not totally clear about the history, but it is a good start.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harley-Davidson_FL

Good Luck!
Royce

 

well,, it all started,,, with 2 boys who loved to fish,,,, but getting to thier fishing hole was a chore,,,,, difficult on their bicycles,,, so the went down to granmas basement.and started tinkering.....came up with a motor for thier bike,,,,,,,
and the rest is history!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

The Electra glide series is in its 43rd year. It staryed as an FLH. Later it became with addirional accessories an FLHT. Then the tour Glide came out for a couple of years. Later they added the radio and tour pak and called it the Classic. Shortly thereafter additional accessories came about and the Ultra Classic was born and has continued to this date as Harleys top of the line or flagship of the fleet. In 1994 they resurected the road king which has not really changed since then. In 1999 I believe the Road Glide appeared and has essentially except for inprovements like the rest of the line has remained unchanged. 1999 saw the factory start the Screaming Eagles or CVO facility. You can go to the website and track the history of those starting with the FX up to present. Some think the HD ULTRA Screaming is top of the line and for cost and exclusivity it is but it as are all the CVO bIKES ARE DERIVATIVES ANDMADE IN SMALL NUMBERS. Because all combined couldnt keep the motor company in buisness the basic FLHTCU(ULTRA CLASSIC IS STILL CONSIDERED THE FLAGSHIP OF THE FLEET. So now you have the road king, road king classic,and the FLHTCUISE AS TOURING MODELS. Hope this helps as a short cut to the total history. Much more can be had from some of the many HD history books on the market.road glide electra glide std,classic and ultra classic

 

thats a true story by the way,,,, as told by Gene Davidson herself,, grandaughter of Art

 

How far back do you want to go? The FLH style names really come out of the Pan-head days, the "H" meaning "Highway", then in the Shovel days they begin to branch-off with different models of Tourers( FLT-FLH )...then in the EVO days the names get muddled as they intertwine Softails with Tourers as in FLSTC (Heritage I believe), which is FL front-end, Softail frame....do yourself a favor...FUGEDDA BOUT IT,....just ride

 

So were there two versions of the Ultra Classic Electra Glide??? One an FLH and one and FLT???

 

Ok I just looked on Wikipedia and I think I sorta have it.

-The original FLH was basically a Super Glide with a batwing fairing.
-Along came the Tour Glide which had a different frame. Which I imagine is the predecessor to the current touring frame. Also had a fixed fairing.
-Then the FLHT came along which mated the batwing fairing to the FLT frame.

So basically they made two versions of the Ultra. One FLH and one FLT. Is that right??? I'm still a little confused on how an FLT could be called an Electra Glide though.