Harley-Davidson Sportster

In 1952, the predecessor to the Sportster was the first Harley-Davidson to utilize a hand clutch, foot-pedal gear shift and rear suspension. The Harley-Davidson K model also featured the company’s first unit construction engine (engine cases and transmission cases cast as one piece). The 45-cubic-inch engine, however, was still a side-valve design and couldn’t compete with the lighter and faster British imports. In 1953 Harley increased displacement to 54 cu. in. (883cc) to create the KH model, then in 1955 H-D included a Speed Kit comprised of hotter cams, polished ports and a roller-bearing bottom end. The K models never set any speed records but they were lighter, flashier and faster than Harley’s big Twins and laid the groundwork for one of the longest running models in American motorcycle history.
The Harley-Davidson Sportster arrived in 1957 with its now traditional 883cc motor, only at the time it was the Shovelhead engine. The Shovelhead had the same displacement as the Flathead engine in use on the KHK model, but the Shovelhead utilized overhead valves and, along with its bigger bore and shorter stroke, gave the Harley-Davidson Sportster more horsepower. Like the Silent Grey Fellow model from earlier in the century, the name, Sportster, was cast into the gear case cover. For the next 50-plus years the Harley-Davidson Sportster would undergo changes and upgrades, but Harley’s model line-up would never once omit the Sportster model.
For 1958 H-D launched four Sportster models: XL, XLH, XLC and XLCH. The H stood for high-compression while the C denoted competition. Both the XLC and XLCH were off-road models stripped of all street-legal requirements (but made street-legal the next year). In 1972, the Harley-Davidson Sportster would receive a bump in engine displacement to 1000cc. Up until 1975, Harley-Davidson Sportster models came with a four-speed gearbox shifted with the right foot. For that year the Department of Transportation mandated that all motorcycles come standardized with a left-foot shifter.