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Charles B. Franklin

Charles Bayly Franklin (Oct. 13, 1880, Belfast, Ireland - Oct. 19, 1932, Springfield, Massachusettes, United States) was an engineer and a motorcycle racer. He is most notable for designing motorcycles for the Indian Motocycle Company, including the original Scout of 1920, the original Chief of 1922, and the 101 Scout of 1928.^[1]^[2] Prior to this, he had been part of the Indian motorcycle team that won first, second, and third place in the 1911 Isle of Man TT, finishing in second place.

Early life

Charles Franklin was born in Belfast, Ireland, to Lorenzo C. Franklin, an iron worker and ship fitter, and his wife, Anne Frances, neé Bayley.

In the mid-1890s, Lorenzo Franklin moved to Dublin and started a business in metal salvage. He prospered in this, and was thus able to send Charles to public school and eventually to an institution of higher education.

Franklin became an enthusiastic cyclist at school and used riding to exercise his lungs and assist in his recovery from pneumonia, which he had contracted at the age of 12.

In 1897, Franklin enrolled in electrical engineering at Dublin Technical College.^[3] He graduated with a degree in electrical engineering in 1901.

Engineering and racing

By 1905, Franklin was the chief engineer of an electricity generating plant in Dublin. He began to compete in motorcycle races on the weekends.^[4] As his fortunes improved, he began competing outside Ireland, notably in the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy where, in his first attempt in 1908, he finished sixth in the Single Cylinder class on a Chater-Lea motorcycle.

Franklin became interested in Indian motorcycles from the United States. Although his first attempt at the Isle of Man Tourist Trophy on an Indian, in the 500 Single and 750 Twin class in 1910, resulted in his first non-finish in what would be his seven races there, he continued to race Indians thereafter.^[5]

Franklin had his best finish at the Tourist Trophy in 1911, the year in which the Snaefell Mountain Course and the Senior class were introduced. He crossed the finish line third behind his teammate Oliver Godfrey and Charles Collier on a Matchless, but was promoted to second place when Collier was disqualified from the race. This provided Franklin with a second-place finish and the Indian works team for which he was riding with the first three places in the race.^[6]

Dealership and emigration

In 1912, Franklin started to sell Indian motorcycles from his home as a side-line to his job at the generating plant.^[7]

In 1915, two years after the resignation of Indian's first chief engineer Oscar Hedstrom, the company decided to begin employing professionally trained engineers. The UK distributor suggested Franklin and approacehd him with an offer. After initial reluctance, Franklin accepted the offer and emigrated to the United States in 1916.^[8]

Career at Indian

Franklin's first task at Indian was to improve the performance of the Model L, a lightweight two-stroke motorcycle introduced in 1915. He attempted to improve the power by altering the porting sequence, but the results were unsuccessful and the Model L was discontinued in 1917.

Frankin then collaborated with chief engineer Charles Gustafson to redefine the flowmetrics of the Gustafson-designed Powerplus engine, which Indian built from 1915 to 1923 for use in their large motorcycles.^[8]

Indian Scout

Before joining Indian, Franklin had formulated a design for a middleweight motorcycle with an engine-transmission unit instead of an external primary drive linking the engine to a separate transmission unit.^[7] While at Indian, he showed these plans to Thomas Butler, a colleague in the sales department with an engineering degree. The plans had been refined by this time to include a strong cradle-type frame and a 37 cu in (0.61 L) V-twin driving the integral transmission with helical-cut gears. Butler convinced Franklin to shorten the wheelbase from 60 in (1,500 mm) to 55 in (1,400 mm), to reduce the wheel size from 22 in (560 mm) to 20 in (510 mm), and to lower the frame. Butler convinced the board of directors at Indian to fund development of the new motorcycle.^[9]

References

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Harley-Davidson FX

FX is a model designation used on motorcycles manufactured by Harley-Davidson from 1971 to the present. Beginning with the Harley-Davidson Super Glide, which is reputed to be the first factory custom motorcycle,^[1] the FX designation has been used on intermediate Harley-Davidson motorcycles smaller than the FL touring motorcycles but larger than the XL Sportsters. The term FX typically denotes a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with the larger engine and with narrow, Sportster-like fork tubes. Since 1988, the FXSTS designation denotes a Harley-Davidson motorcycle with the larger engine, a Softail frame, and Springer leading-link forks with a 21 inch front wheel.

Until 1982, all FX motorcycles used the same frames as FL motorcycles. Distinct intermediate frames were introduced in the 1980s: the FXR in 1982, and the FXST Softail in 1984. The Dyna replaced the FXR in the 1990s and was redesigned in 2006.

History

1971 FX Super Glide

From 1934 to 1970, with the exception of the Servi-Car, there have been two distinct lines of V-Twin Harley-Davidson motorcycles, the small twins and the big twins.^[2]^[3] However, individual bikers would sometimes customize bikes by changing parts around or cutting and rewelding frames and other components to suit their tastes.

Harley-Davidson styling director Willie G. Davidson was aware of this phenomenon and decided to design a motorcycle for production that would offer the look of the custom bikes. To accomplish this, he started with the frame and rear suspension, but not the electric starter, from the FLH Electra Glide, to which he then mated the smaller telescopic forks from the XLH Sportster.^[1]^[3] This combination was referred to as the FX chassis, where "FX" meant "Factory Experimental",^[4] The drivetrain and engine accessories were from the FLH, the front headlights and brakes were from the XLH.^[1] This use of a mixture of FL and XL parts has also been used to explain the FX designation.^[1]^[3] To complete the Super Glide, he added buckhorn handlebars and a "boattail" tail/fender unit similar to those being used on the XLH Sportster.^[1]

The production FX Super Glide was released in 1971 to a lukewarm reception. Particularly not well received was the "boattail", which also proved to be unpopular on the Sportsters that had it. Sales of both models improved when less radical rear styling was made available.^[3]^[5]

Variations of the FX Super Glide

In 1974, the FX was joined by the FXE, a version of the Super Glide with an electric starter. Both versions also got an exclusive one-piece tank instead of the Fat Bob tank used by the FL.^[3]

In 1977, the FXS Low Rider was introduced. The Low Rider had alloy wheels front and rear, two disc brakes on the front wheel, extended forks with a 32° rake, and a 26" seat height.^[6] Unlike the Super Glide, the Low Rider was an instant hit; outselling all other Harley-Davidson models in its first full year of production.^[7] All three FX models returned to using Fat Bob tanks, but with a special centre divider that included a tachometer.^[3]

The base, kickstart-only FX was discontinued in 1979. In that year, the FXEF Fat Bob was introduced.^[8] The following year would bring the FXB Sturgis, an all-black Low Rider with primary and secondary belt drives, and the FXWG Wide Glide, a Low Rider with wide forks and a flame pattern painted on the tank.^[8]

In 1983, the Low Rider was converted from chain drive to belt drive and given the designation FXSB, at which point the FXB was discontinued. In the same year, the FXDG Disc Glide was introduced. This model had a disc-type rear wheel instead of the wire-spoked wheel of the Super Glide or the solid-spoked wheel of the Low Rider.^[8]

The FXE Super Glide was discontinued in 1985, with the FXEF Fat Bob becoming the base model.^[8]

In 1986, all FX-based bikes except the Wide Glide were supplanted by FXR-based bikes. The Wide Glide was discontinued the following year.^[8]

FXR

The FXR Super Glide II was introduced in 1982 and sold alongside the existing FX models. The FXR chassis was essentially an FLT Tour Glide chassis with lighter frame tubes and a more conventional design around the steering head.^[8] As such, it offered a rubber-mounted engine and a five-speed transmission, as opposed to the solid mounting and four-speed transmission of the original FX chassis.^[8]

The FXR range was expanded in 1983 by the introduction of the FXRT Sport Glide, a Super Glide variant with a fairing and saddlebags, and the FXRS Low Glide, which was the FXR equivalent of the FXSB Low Rider. Upon the discontinuation of the corresponding FX-based models, the FXR Super Glide II became the FXR Super Glide and the FXRS Low Glide became the FXRS Low Rider. The Wide Glide was discontinued because the FXR frame was not suitable for the wide forks.^[8]

The 1984 Disc Glide as it was known was a very rare motorcycle it had the first offering of the "Chrome Package" meaning it came with chrome rocker boxes, nose cone, and primary cover. It was called the FXRSDG.^{[citation needed]}

Dyna

Design work began on the replacement for the FXR chassis shortly after the first FXR bikes were offered.^[8] The Dyna chassis was introduced in 1991 with a limited-production FXDB Sturgis model. The engine mounting system was more vibration-resistant than that of the FXR.^[9]

The Sturgis was followed in 1992 by the limited-edition FXDB Daytona which featured a bobtail fender unlike the normal rounded steel fender offered in 1992.^[8] Also introduced in 1992 was the FXDC Dyna Glide Custom. Apart from the paint scheme, the Dyna Glide Custom was virtually identical to the Daytona. Dyna Customs were all painted black and silver, and the early models featured a silver powder coat on the frame. Later production units featured a black frame.^{[citation needed]}

In 1993 the faired and bagged FXRT Sport Glide was discontinued and the FXRS Low Rider was displaced by the FXDL Dyna Low Rider, although the FXRS-Conv Convertible and the FXRS-SP Low Rider Sport continued to be offered. The FXDWG Dyna Wide Glide was introduced in the same year. The Low Rider Sport was discontinued in 1994,^[8] and the Low Rider was discontinued after the 2011 model year.

Between the 1991 introduction of the Dyna chassis and the end of the 1994 model year, all Dyna models had a 32° rake. In 1995 the FXD Dyna Super Glide and the FXDS-Conv Dyna Glide Convertible were introduced. These Dynas had a 28° rake and replaced the FXR Super Glide and the FXRS-Conv Low Rider Convertible, which were the last FXR models in regular production.^[8]

The FXDX Super Glide Sport was introduced in 1999, featuring improved suspension components and triple disc brakes. The FXDX-T Super Glide T-Sport, with a fork mounted fairing and improved detachable saddlebags, replaced the FXDS-Conv Dyna Convertible in 2001, and was discontinued in 2003.^[8]^[10]

The FXDC returned to the line in 2005 as the Super Glide Custom.^[11]

In 2006, a new Dyna chassis was introduced^[12] along with a new six-speed transmission.^{[citation needed]} In the same year, the base FXDI Super Glide became a single-seat motorcycle, the FXDBI Street Bob, a minimal, single seat Dyna Glide motorcycle was added to the lineup, the limited edition FXDI35 35th Anniversary Super Glide was offered, and the FXDX Super Glide Sport was discontinued.^[12]^[13]

In 2007, the Twin Cam 88 engine was replaced by the 1584cc Twin Cam 96 engine across the Harley-Davidson Big Twin lineup, including the FXD series. The 35th Anniversary Super Glide from 2006 became the 2007 Super Glide Custom..^{[citation needed]}

The FXDF Fat Bob was introduced in 2008. In the same year, the FXDWG Wide Glide was offered as a limited edition 105th Anniversary model before being retired.^{[citation needed]}

FXST Softails

1998 Harley-Davidson FXSTC Softail Custom

Harley-Davidson's Softail line began with the 1984 FXST.^[14] The first production Softail with Springer leading-link forks was the 1988 FXSTS.^[15]