Talk:Harley-Davidson FL

I would appreciate any help with this article, especially regarding references. Most of the references are to one book. I am hoping that those who know and care will act before those who want to claim non-notability do. Unless I have been less than exhaustive with my search, there is no article on the Harley-Davidson Electra Glide at Wikipedia apart from this one, nor for the Hydra-Glide nor the Duo-Glide. Respectfully, SamBlob 00:49, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

Police User?

Isn't a list of police departments that utilize Harley-Davidson FL motorcycles a bit trivial? Respectfully, SamBlob 01:48, 30 August 2007 (UTC)

Unfamiliar term

"Serive"? Copey 2 (talk) 12:18, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

I think that's what's called a typo. I have changed it to read "Service". The link now works as a result. Respectfully, SamBlob (talk) 13:56, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

No spam, please.

I notice that someone had included pricing information, other advertising, an essay on state laws regarding three-wheeled motor vehicles, and a bit of vulgarity, in the section on the Tri-Glide.

None of that is encyclopedic. I removed it for that reason. Please remember that this is not a blog.

Respectfully, SamBlob (talk) 16:22, 18 October 2008 (UTC)

Something odd with the convert template

Using Template:Convert to convert 80 cubic inches to cubic centimetres yields 80 cu in (1,300 cc), which, according to the preview of this entry, gives 1,300 cc.

An inch is 0.0254 m by definition, and therefore 2.54 cm by the definition of a centimetre. Multiplication using pencil and paper gives me a square inch as being 6.4516 square centimetres, and goes on to give me a cubic inch as being 16.387064 cubic centimetres. The calculator on my computer confirms this.

Multiplying 80 by 16.387064 gives 1310.96512, both by hand and by calculator. When rounded to the nearest unit, this is 1311, not 1300 as the convert template says.

Could someone who knows how the convert template works please check on this?

Sincerely, SamBlob (talk) 10:49, 15 December 2012 (UTC)

It's a matter of significant figures. {{Convert |80 |cuin |cc |abbr=on}} gives 80 cu in (1,300 cc) but {{Convert |80.00000 |cuin |cc |abbr=on}} gives you 80.00000 cu in (1,310.9651 cc). See Template:Convert#Rounding for how the template works.

Note that {{Convert |80 |cuin |cc |abbr=on |5 }} gives the same result, as does {{Convert |80 |cuin |cc |abbr=on |sigfig=8}}.

The reason this keeps happening with Harley-Davidson engines, and not other brands, is that their marketing advertises cc and cuin values using arbitrary rounding, sometimes they exaggerate up, sometimes they modestly round down, sometimes right on the button.

As in Harley-Davidson Twin Cam engine#Differences from predecessor (Evolution engine) (see footnote) we need to go through every H-D article, and calculate using the precise bore and stroke to work out the actual, precise displacement, and convert that. You can't just assume it's 80.0 or 80.00 or whatever. It's the only way to get the right number of significant figures. Then you have to explain to the reader how H-D went about rounding in their whimsical way. Otherwise H-D fans will constantly come along and change 80 cuin (1300cc) to 80 cuin (1340cc) because they've been told that 80cuin = 1340cc a thousand times, but that doesn't make it true.

So the H-D UH and VLH engines had a 3.42" x 4.25" bore & stroke says one source. That's 1.71 radius, squared to get 2.9241, times pi is 9.18633, times 4.25 is 39.0419 cu in per cylinder, times 2 is 78.08381, or 78.08381 cu in (1,279.5644 cc). If you calculate that using a bore and stroke of 87mm x 109mm, you get 1295.93995 cc. Still not close to 80 cuin, or 1300, let alone 1340 cc!

Others say [23][24] the bore and stroke are really 3.5 by 4.25, giving 40.9 per cyl, and 81.8 cubic inches total, and with that we have {{convert|81.8|cuin|cc|abbr=on}} or 81.8 cu in (1,340 cc). So H-D was being modest with the cubic inches, but precise with the cc's. And that's what every article has to take pains to explain. And we have to triple check the sources for the correct bore & stroke. --Dennis Bratland (talk) 20:30, 15 December 2012 (UTC)

Just about every source I can remember seeing gives the displacement of the Big Twin version of the Harley-Davidson Evolution engine as 1340 cc. This is one of them: [25]; I shall look for others.

However, the VLH/UH/ULH was a flathead design, production of which ceased in 1941. As unlikely as it is with Harley-Davidson, they might have changed the dimensions of the 80-inch Evo from those of the 80-inch flathead, especially since there was no 80-incher in between to carry on the old dimensions.

Sincerely, SamBlob (talk) 21:59, 15 December 2012 (UTC)

Erratum: There was an 80-incher in between: the 80-inch Shovelhead which, if I rememeber correctly, also had a capacity of 1,340 cc (81.8 cu in). Sincerely, SamBlob (talk) 22:16, 15 December 2012 (UTC)

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