What Does FLHX Mean On A Harley-Davidson?
When you think of timeless Americana, a shiny chrome Harley-Davidson is among the first things that come to mind. The motorcycle company dominated much of the 20th century, with powerful moments and bikes that shaped motorcycle culture. From the emergence of California's largest motorcycle club, whose members have become almost synonymous with Harleys, to the release of the perfection that is the Softail, a bike that injected some needed comfort into cruisers, Harley-Davidson has more than earned its place among the greats.
Today, the company is known for its extensive motorcycle catalog, which caters to many kinds of riders. However, it is also recognized for its letter codes and model designations, some of which, like the Street Glide's FLHX identifier, can be confusing for newcomers. As you would expect, the FLHX is a combination of codes, each pointing to a specific detail that makes up this particular bike.
To start, Harley uses the code F to highlight all its bikes that come with a Big Twin motor as standard. This means that the FLHX will feature the current Big Twin that Harley-Davidson is pairing these motorcycles with, which in this case is a Milwaukee-Eight V-twin engine. However, the company also uses FL to denote all Harleys under the Touring or Softail family with a 16-inch front wheel. That should already paint a clear enough idea of what bike family the Street Glide falls into and some of its features. Let's look deeper at the remaining parts of the code to understand how it all ties together.
These codes clearly show what you'll get when you buy a Harley
We've already covered what the F and FL stand for in modern Harley bikes. But what about the rest? Harley-Davidson also uses FLH to denote a Softail or Touring motorcycle that comes with either a windshield or a fork-mounted fairing. For the Street Glide, the company has included its iconic Batwing fairing, which offers better rider comfort and improved aerodynamics thanks to computational fluid dynamics used in the design.
The last letter in the identifier is X, which frequently appears in the starting alpha-numeric code XL, often associated with the manufacturer's Sportster line, which includes motorcycles like the Nightster and Nightster Special. The X also appears in the company's Street, Dyna, and Softail models, which are identified by the codes XG, FXD, and FXST, respectively. However, the Street Glide is a Grand Tourer, which might raise questions as to why the company included the letter in the motorcycle's code.
Luckily, Harley is known to use the same letters for more than one identifier, which is the case here. The code appears in the company's cruisers and touring bikes alike. Concerning the FLHX, the X appears to denote the trim features within the Grand American Touring family. For example, while the Street Glide is FLHX, a Street Glide Ultra is FLHXU, and a CVO Street Glide is FLHXSE.
The FLHX comes with the eye-catching features Harley tourers are known for
All together, the letter codes paint a clear picture of what you're getting, even though nowadays most get away with simply using the motorcycle's actual name, which in this case is the Harley-Davidson Street Glide. So what are some of the notable features, such as horsepower and torque, that Harley has included in the 2025 model year?
The Street Glide, which has a few key differences from a Road Glide, comes with many of the features you'd expect from a high-end Harley-Davidson tourer. Its Milwaukee-Eight motor is a powerful liquid-cooled 117-cubic-inch V-twin rated at 105 horsepower and 130 pound-feet of torque. It features a bore and stroke of 4.075 inches by 4.5 inches, respectively, with a compression ratio of 10.3:1.
The motorcycle measures 94.9 inches in length and 38.4 inches in width, weighs 881 pounds, and has a ground clearance of 5.5 inches. It comes with several safety features, such as Anti-lock Brake System (ABS), traction control, and a tire pressure monitoring system, to name a few.