Have you found yourself in a Harley-Davidson dealership, browsing at the motorcycles with a decent idea of what your were interested in, but confused on the designation model letters attached to each one? One summer I received a phone call from our daughter, wanting to know what the letters meant. I asked her “why don’t you just ask the salesperson?” she stated that she didn’t want to look stupid. I told her that many current Harley owners don’t even know the model letters of their own bike, let alone ALL of them, and she should not be embarrassed. And neither should you! But with this handy guide you can walk in the dealership with a little more knowledge of what you are looking at.

One place you can usually find the name of the motorcycle (the model names you are familiar with) is on the breather, provided it is still in factory stock condition. Also on the touring and some Softails you will see the name on the front fender. But here is a list of the model letters and which bike they represent if you can’t find it anywhere on the motorcycle. If you have internet access on your cell phone you can pull this guide up while shopping!

Harley-Davidson motorcycles are classified into 5 ‘families’ based on the chassis.

Sportster : Dyna : VRSC : Softail : Touring

The first letter denotes:

F = Big V-Twin Motor Example: FLSTC (Heritage Softail Classic)
X = Sportster models Example: XL1200C (Sportster 1200 Custom)
V = Revolution Motor Example: VRSC (V-Rod)

The second letter denotes the diameter size of the forks. (Except for the Sportster models and V-Rod models) HOWEVER… Harley has been known to put the Large Diameter forks on bikes and leave the designation letters as is!
L = Large Diameter forks as used on the Road King Example: FLHRC (Road King Classic)
X = Small Diameter forks as used on the Sportster Example: FXSTC (Softail Custom)

Every effort has been made to provide accurate and correct information. However omissions, errors and changes can occur and complete accuracy cannot be guaranteed. Ridersinfo.net is not responsible for loss or damage resulting from omissions or errors. Harley-Davidson occasionally discontinues models and is always adding new models. This list is a snap shot in time and is not a complete list of all possible model names.