What Does FXST Mean On A Harley-Davidson?

A lot of shorthand gets used in motorcycle branding, and some of it can be a bit hard to follow. Just about every manufacturer has its own set of abbreviations that can represent everything from model types and trim to entirely different engines. They're also sometimes used to indicate special edition runs with unique paint, wheels, and other modifications over the basic model. You see this on a lot of Japanese bikes, but American manufacturers like Harley-Davidson have been known to do it too. These can be a bit hard to identify to anyone who isn't already familiar with a brand's naming scheme and can often lead to confusion over what these letters indicate.

Harley fans may have noticed that some of the company's bikes have the letters 'FXST' on them. These don't immediately call to mind any of the names of Harley's bikes, and so many may find themselves wondering what that designation means. Rare bike seekers might be disappointed to learn that it isn't some deep and mysterious forgotten limited edition model or anything like that. This assortment of seemingly random letters actually represents one of Harley-Davidson's most popular models – the Softail Standard.

The Softail Standard is an incredibly popular motorcycle with an iconic design. Back in the '70s, a mechanical engineer named Bill Davis modified his Super Glide and gave it a cushioned rear suspension. He brought this bike to Harley-Davidson's staff engineers, who bought his patents and then used Davis' design as a prototype for what would eventually become the first Softail model. This bike was further refined and made its debut in 1983, but the Softail's evolution didn't end there.

There have been several other Harley-Davidson Softails since the first, but not all of them have borne the FXST designation. The Softail Classic is FLSTC, the Deluxe is FLSTN, the Blackline is FXS, the Breakout is FXSB, the Custom is FXSTC, the Deuce is FXSTD, etc.

FXST specifically refers to the Softail Standard. This bike is the base of the Softail line. Each new generation introduces performance, style, and quality of life updates, but while other Softails like the Fat Boy might diverge into more specialty designs, the Standard is the model that is designed to be the purist option in keeping with the original Softail ethos. Even the manufacturer itself refers to it as "a Harley-Davidson motorcycle presented in its most elemental form." This is why many consider it one of the best Harley-Davidson Softails ever built. It also tends to be the version with the lowest price.

So now that you know what the FXST is, you might want to learn a little more about what kind of specs and performance its riders are sitting on. The modern Softail Standard is powered by a Milwaukee-Eight 107. This is a 1,750cc 4-cylinder V-Twin with precision oil-cooled cylinder heads, a 3.9-inch bore, a 4.4-inch stroke, and a 10.0:1 compression ratio. It has an Electronic Sequential Port Fuel Injection system, a six-speed transmission, and a 2-into-2 shotgun exhaust. In the Softail, the Milwaukee-Eight 107 is able to produce up to 87 horsepower at 5,020 RPM and 110 lb-ft of torque at 3,000 RPM, making it perfectly suited for city cruising.

The Standard's frame is made of steel and has the hidden coil-over monoshock rear suspension that the bike is known for in the back, and a 49mm dual-bending valve telescopic fork in the front. It also has anti-lock brakes.

In terms of electronics, it has all-LED lights across the board and features a 2.1-inch LCD dash display with a speedometer, gear display, odometer, fuel level indicator, and clock. It can also display trip, range, and tachometer information. "It's pretty much the quintessential Harley bobber," said Cycle World. "[It's] easy to imagine a whole row of them, with chromed apehangers like crossed sabers, standing guard outside a seedy biker bar or dusty blues joint. So not only is it an H-D motorcycle in its most elemental form, it's a Milwaukee archetype."