Do Bobbers handle?

[DIRTY DOG]

I saw a ufo last night and this little purpleALIEN got out and said
Ooo eee, ooo ah ah ting tang Walla walla, bing bang that bikes sure looks cool to me lol hahahahahahaha now we have it all.

 

[Scrambled]

OK, what did XLCR stand for ? The CH was for Chopped , Harley just did in the factory what everyone was doing to them anyway . It was clever marketing .

 

[Scrambled]

Jeez, Scrambled, don't post what ya don't know! The "CH" in "XLCH" had nothing to do with "chopped." The origin goes like this. In 1952, HD came out with their first unit construction motorcycle. It was a 45 c.i. sidevalver, designated the K. Variants included the KR (Harley's race machine until the 1972 rules change), KK (street bike with KR cam), and KH (55 c.i.)

The XL (Sportster) motor was simply an overhead valve top end on K cases. The "H" character was retained from the K series to designate 55 c.i. displacement. The original Sportster was the 1957 XLH, with battery ignition and touring tank and seat. The XLCH came later, with no battery (magneto ignition), smaller tank, and smaller seat. There was an open class in AMA Sportsman TT racing, and you'd see an XLCH entered from time to time.

Don't generalize about the "H" designator. In the big OHV V-twin models, it indicated a high compression motor. The 61 c.i. machine as was offered as the EL (low compression) or ELH and the 74 as FL (low compression) or FLH.

XLCR , look that one up . I know what I owned and know the history behind it . Look up the buyers guide for Harleys , an old edition, it will confirm what I said.

 

[650Skull]

A production bike can not be a chopped bike. It may represent a style but it is not chopped. they may even call it a chopper, (assuming the name hasn't already been registered), When a buyer or general public start cutting pieces off and changing the frame, then it becomes a chopper.

I suggest you do some research on the net about this.

 

[Fndirtygreaser]

People think they have bobbers because they take everything off that isn't needed. And because when they think of choppers, what comes to mind is long extended forks, king and queen seat with huge sissy bars. So they feel cooler calling there's bike a bobber.

 

[Capt_Zoom]

If you build them right they do. Ours handles like a dream. Way better than the stock setup since we improved the steering head (bearings), swingarm bushings, 4 piston caliper front brake, Avon Cobra sticky tires and improved shocks. Cutting the bike down to 385lbs helps a lot as well. Bike has just as much suspension travel as my 113ci '08 Yam Raider (which is about the best handling power cuiser your going to find next to the warrior). With a little more than half the weight of my Raider this lil 650 flies with my wife on it. Rides straight as an arrow at 90mph with your hands off the handlebars.

 

[Scrambled]

A production bike can not be a chopped bike. It may represent a style but it is not chopped. they may even call it a chopper, (assuming the name hasn't already been registered), When a buyer or general public start cutting pieces off and changing the frame, then it becomes a chopper.

I suggest you do some research on the net about this.

All I was saying is that when Harley came out with the XLCH it was the first time any factory mass produced bike gave a nod to what their customers were actually doing to those bikes after they bought them . And, like I said before, originally , chopped and bobbed just meant that you had taken excess parts off , and modified your bike. The long front end fad came after the original " chopper " builders who were trying to improve the suspension , then the artsy types started to get carried away with the idea. When and why bike builders started converting (or, perverting ) swing arms to hardtails was strictly for show ,and putting on exagerated front forks or springers , had nothing to do with the original concept of chopping and bobbing , which had more in common with street trackers or cafe bikes.

 

[livingdeadmc]

I love Scrambled.

 

[Fndirtygreaser]

I don't like scrambled ... Prefer sunny side up

 

[lakeview]

I thought FLH meant fat lady hauler?

 

[jayel]

I thought FLH meant fat lady hauler?

Yup just like Yamaha means rice... XLCH = XL 55 cu. in. over head valve Competition High compression worked for a old Harley dealer for almost twenty years, this guy built the first Sportster stroker motor, the first CH's didn't come with lights, race ready back when real men rode real motorcycles on the dirt and gravel

 

[kopcicle]

XLCR 1977

 

[kopcicle]

1964 "charlie horse"

 

[jayel]

yeah the 77 used the twin pipe design off the 69 best horse power muffler Harley ever made and people changed them out left and right for straight pipes, the CH with magneto ignition and 12:1 pistons would put your knee to your chin if it didn't throw you over the handlebars lot of busted up knees and ankles from those if you screwed up on the proper starting sequence

 

[neanderthal]

OK, what did XLCR stand for ? The CH was for Chopped , Harley just did in the factory what everyone was doing to them anyway . It was clever marketing .

The Sportster engines were originally actually 53.9ci. 883cc but were designated as 55ci. to 61ci 1000cc, redesigned in '73 but still 61" and stayed relatively unchanged untill the 74" evo version. The 883 and 61" were both produced the first year of the 883. Options for Sportsters abounded but these same letters have been used since 1958 in various combinations, plus the XLCR a "cafe racer" style, with bikini fairing and the XLT Touring, with bigger tank, thicker seat, and hard bags straight off the FLHS, both produced 1977-1978 only. And once again the ch is not chopped hommie.

xlch was the lighter race version

Models beginning with X are Sportsters. These descend from the K series, 1952-56. The XL series started in 1957. X was in the normal series, following the U and V used for flathead Big Twins. L stood for high compression XLH with H meaning Higher-power or High-compression or Hot. XLCH: The C in XLCH was intended to mean "Competition"

not chopped. marketing today might do something like that, but back then if it came from the factory, it was factory stock. chopped has nothing to do with it. sorry scrambled.

 

[NONclow]

Factory Chopper.... one of my favorite oxymorons... like "Military Intelligence"

 

[Scrambled]

FUC k me ! I bet most of you guys could start a fight in an empty room . SO , if XLT stands for "TOURING " and XLCR stands for "CAFERACER " (which I already knew ) not one of you guys that keep insisting that the "CH " does not stand for chopped has come up with what it does stand for . So, you tell me then , if you can't say what it does mean, you can't say what it doesn't mean .

 

[livingdeadmc]

FUC k me ! I bet most of you guys could start a fight in an empty room . SO , if XLT stands for "TOURING " and XLCR stands for "CAFERACER " (which I already knew ) not one of you guys that keep insisting that the "CH " does not stand for chopped has come up with what it does stand for . So, you tell me then , if you can't say what it does mean, you can't say what it doesn't mean .

Its not short for anything. It designates a trim level package. It has nothing to do with being a chopper (cause its not). It's simply two letters, that is it.

 

[Scrambled]

Its not short for anything. It designates a trim level package. It has nothing to do with being a chopper (cause its not). It's simply two letters, that is it.

Bullshit , on every other model the designation letters are short for something , except the "CH " ? Like I said, bullshit .

 

[Scrambled]

1964 "charlie horse"

That looks like the '63 that I owned , except the color and my bike was beat to shit.