A 14 year old thread back from the dead FTW!

 

Dang this link is good.

The other good one is the wikipedia page for Harley-Davidson's nomenclature (naming scheme).

 

The “X” was a designator given after Willie G took an Ultra and modified it to the configuration that ultimately became the street glide. He was asked what model he was riding one day and responded with “X Model”. That’s what I was told from a factory employee.

 

Yeah, that site is not using a secure connection (https), so not going there. The site is probably fine, but this is the 21st century. No excuse not to use a secure connection.

 

Not sure how accurate that list is. Perhaps it's "old". My 2015 Ultra Limited Low (FLHTKL) isn't even listed, and if I read the coding correct for the "FLHTK" without the ending "L" it indicates my engine is an 88 when I know it's a 103. So, unless I'm missing something the de-coding chart seems wrong....or just old and out of date.

 

The "H" was for hydraulic forks (replacing the springer) on the Panhead models in 1949

X was the Sport designation on that 1984 FLH previously mentioned. Basically an FLH
w/o bags, windshield etc. A sportier version
I guess they re-used the X designation for the Street Glide. I believe FLHT was the orig
designation for the rubber mount frame in 1979. The EG Std may still use that

The Harley alphabet soup is complicated.

 

Geez. It's times like this that I realize that few actually read the thread and most just respond to the OP even after 14 years. This is getting bad today.

 

Yes hyd forks came out in `49 but

The H was denoting a higher compression more hp engine option

First offered in 1955

 

FLH Series Harley

FL -is the touring platform.All Touring Harley models start with FL destination.

H- is the Hydro Glide front end dates back to the first hydraulic.fuild front end bikes= Hydro Glide
X- destination, dates to the first sport performance models FLXR,
XR750, = performance

 

[QUOTE=TheMurf;20481176]FLH Series Harley



H- is the Hydro Glide front end dates back to the first hydraulic.fuild front end bikes= Hydro Glide

I`ll politely disagree , see post #38