I have a question about what my bike actually is. It was sold to me as a 1971 Sportster. It has matching numbers on the frame and engine of 4A22741H1. According to what I have been able to find, the 4A designates it is an XLCH 1000, the 22741is a some sort of serial number or something,the H designates the decade from 1970-1979, and the last1 designates the model year 1971. Is this indeed correct? I am running into conflicting information in my research. According to most things that Ihave read,the 1000cc model wasn't introduced until the 1972 model year. Is it possible to have a 1000cc model from 1971?

Here's the story of the bike so far...

I bought the bike with the tins off, rear shocks off, gauges off, etc. The tank and fender had a rattle can paint job that consisted of flames over primer. The gentleman I bought it from said that his daughter was a whiz with an airbrush and was supposed to paint them for him but she never got the time. He did say it ran before he took it apart. He seemed like a straight shooter so I bought the bike. This is my first Harley and didn't have any experience with them prior to this. I have worked on dirt bikes and ATV's for the most part.I tinkered with the bike for a month or two, put everything that I got with the purchase put back together and it actually fired up! The last few months I have been working on rewiring the entire bike, cleaning it up, fixing minor things and repainting the tins. I still have a ways to go before it is complete.

Anyway, if anyone can lend a hand to help me figure out exactly what I have I would appreciate it.

Thanks,

Chris

 

I personally belive that there isn't made 1000's in 1971.
Good source to find info about sportsters is Sportster.org club page

 

Hey Chris,

I'm no expert, but I checked my service manual and the info you posted seems to be correct. I attached a shot of the specs page of the manual so you can see for yourself. Another way to make the determination appears to bethe transmissionsprocket.

Hope this helps.

 

And buy the way...the specs page is from a HD service manual.

 

The 4A means it's an XLCH. The H1 means it's a 1971 model. Unless top end parts have been changed, it's a small head 1000.

 

Chris....
Your understanding of the engine number was real close to being correct, but with 2 exceptions:
'4A'= It is an XLCH. (An 'H Model' would be 3A)

'5 digit serial number'= This is the serial # and is 5 digits long on a CH. If it were an H Model this number would be '10,000 or higher'.
There is no part of the entire number that tells you what engine size the bike has. Yours being a 1971 is a 900cc engine. This was the last year that a 900 was made. 1972 began the 1st year of production of the 1000cc engine. And no, there is no way that H-D manufactured any 1000 engines before 1972.
This series of numbers was used through the 1970's. In 1980 another system was used. Prior to 1970, the 1960's had yet another numbering system, and the engine number was stamped on the left side of the crankcases. If you doubt what I say and want to check it out yourself, then you will have to pull the head off one jug and measure the bore and stroke. Yours is a standard bore of 3.000 inches (if rebored it will be stamped on piston top) and a stroke of 3.8125 inches. The 1000 engine measurement will be larger of course.

letter 'H'= This designates the manufacturer. H stands for Harley Davidson. Yes, it does sound redundent, but that is what H-D did.

number '1'= The year made. 1971 in your example.

So, this is what your engine number says. I do not call myself an expert by any means, but I have had an intense interest in or have owned Sportsters beginning in 1957 when the first one rolled out of Milwaukee. I have a fairly extensive knowledge of these engines and I currently own a 1971 XLCH myself, having bought it in 1973. I still have it today, and after 34 years of ownership I still love this old piece of iron...............pg

 

sepixlh - Thank you for the recommendation regarding Sportster.org. I have actually visited there quite a few times and have found some great information there.

jestermail - Thank you for your response and scan of the service manual page. I also have a service manual and a parts catalog. I read early on that these two items were a must have for rebuilding/restoring a Harley. That is definitely true and I will recommend buying them to anyone who is considering starting a project such as this.

ironxl - That is exactly what I thought the VIN number designates, but everything that I read about what Harley manufactured and when different changes were made tells me otherwise.

Ack! Nothing makes sense! hehe

Thanks to you all for responses, and hopefully I'll get some more.

Chris

 

piniongear - You snuck in your post while I was composing my first reply. Thank you for your reply. Last night when I posted I hoped you would see it and lend your advice since you have a beautiful '71 and I read numerous helpful posts from you throughout the forum.

One of the places I got my information about the 4H being an xlch 1000 was here - http://www.dlhill.com/frameID.html

Upon further review it seems that there are no numbers on that list that designate a 900cc bike. If I would have noticed that before, that would have been the first red flag pointing towards my bike being a 900 and not a 1000.

I don't doubt what you say, so I will keep my engine intact ;-)

Thanks again for the informative post.

Chris

 

Yes Chris, you have a 900 engine. When the MoCo changed to a 1000 displacement in 1972 the stroke remained the same, but the bore was increased to obtain the new displacement.
In the old days we referred to engine size in cubic inches rather than cc's. The Sportster was called a 55 cu inch machine. The actual measurement though was 53.9 cu in (883 cc). By 1970 the MoCo was using the cc displacement by applying decals to the primary case, i.e. 900 (or 1000 after 1971).
As I have stated before my real knowledge of detail ends around 1974. So perhaps someone else can tell us at what point MoCo started to call the Sportster '883 model' The Sportster started life in 1957 as an 883cc displacement machine, yet was called a 55 cu inch (or 900) machine.
At some point unknown to me the designation became the actual displacement rather than the previous uprounded name. Perhaps this took place when the 1200 was introduced? Just trivia of course, but I am curious.......pg

 

Well, it sounded cooler to me to say I had a 1000cc bike, but 900 it is. Regardless, the engine still sounds sweet and scoots around very well.

Here is a pic of the bike in question as it came to me, with the exception of everything (except the leather saddle bags which are going to be put on) being installed/put together. It's next incarnation is in progress.

Thank you,

Chris



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