About HD Heritage

HARLEY DAVIDSON HERITAGE BRIEF HISTORY
 
 
In 1903 William S. Harley and Arthur Davidson make available to the public the first production Harley-Davidson® motorcycle ever. The bike was built to be a racer, with a 3-1/8 inch bore and 3-1/2 inch stroke, they were making a name based on quality. The factory in which they worked was a 10 x 15-foot wooden shed with the words “Harley-Davidson Motor Company” crudely scrawled on the door. 2003 was a special year for HD, as each bike off the assembly lot marked the 100th Anniversary. The Heritage that year was an inspiration of style and class marked by 100 years of American iron horses produced by Harley Davidson. This bike is the collectible bike of choice for HD enthusiasts alike. Any chance to pick up a 2003 is a unique opportunity. Don’t ever miss out.

Harley-Davidson introduced the Softail chassis in 1984. The original Softails used the small FX telescopic forks, but the FLST Heritage Softail with large FL telescopic forks was introduced in 1986. The FLSTC Heritage Softail Classic, with large front forks and retro styling, was in production by 1988.
Other Softails with big forks followed, including the 1990 introduction of the FLSTF Fat Boy and the 1993-only FLSTN “Cow Glide”. The base FLST Heritage Special was discontinued in 1991. The FLSTN was continued after 1993 without the bovine motif as the Nostalgia model until 1997, when it was replaced by the FLSTSC Springer Classic. The Springer Classic is also designated as an FL despite using Springer forks instead of the large FL telescopic forks.
In 2000, all Softails, including the FL models, were switched from the Evolution engine to the counterbalanced Twin Cam 88B engine specially developed for the rigid engine mounting in this frame.

The FLSTN designation returned in 2005 with the Softail Deluxe. The FLSTN Deluxe, which was introduced in 2005, also came with an option of carb or EFI models. The year 2005 was also the last in which a carb was offered on all HD models.