53 fle

[Glenn]

can anyone tell me what an fle is

thanks

[flat-happy]

it is a police motorcycle. sometimes they were sold to other govt agencies

[Blupacer]

Hand shift with special carb and cams for city police work. Harley called them Traffic Combination Motors

Steve

[Barry Brown]

I had a 1955 fle ( E for police Escort) It had fantastic acceleration.

[Chris Haynes]

FLE was a 74" engine with a carburetor and cam from a 61". The smaller carb provided more torque and acceleration on the bottom end but less speed on top end. They were made in both hand and foot shift models.

[Slojo]

The carb is a M61 B. The FlE also came with adjustable trees.
Joe

[billpedalino]

I Own a 1953 FLE, currently undergoing restoration. Most were sold to police agencies, but a few were also sold to the public as an answer to those who had a hard time giving up the 61" EL's. Yes, they did have the smaller carb and EL cam, although I'm probably going to use an M74B and FL cam, as it's not being judged. If I decide to have it judged, I'll mount the smaller Linkert M61. The smaller cam/carb combo certainy did give the motor more low speed power, but it topped off sooner than the FL's.

Externally, the FLE is identical in appearance to the other big twins. I am not aware that the adjustable trees were available on all FLE's - My understanding is that they were part of the sidecar package only.

[bmh]

Not sure but I think the gearing was different from an FL too. To my knowledge simply ordering an FLE didn't get you the adjustable front end, I doubt the factory gave you a free $7 option simply for checking a different box.

[Rubone]

FLEs did not have adjustable trees, however an FS did. And I suppose an FS could be ordered in a Traffic Combination. I have a '54 FLE that will NOT be in Police trim. As Bill Pedalino stated anyone could order an FLE. Some were sold to funeral homes, some to commercial users who used them as courier bikes, etc. It was a state of tune, not an equipment package.
Robbie

[flat-happy]

i have a MILK LICENSE plate that came off a 55FLE with a package truck on it for home milk delivery

[Glenn]

thanks for the replies this place is great and a wealth of knowledge

[Slojo]

The adjustable trees statement I made was misunderstood. Some FLE pans did come with an adjustable tree for side car use. Low RPM tourque cam carb combination, an early taper-shaft compensating sprocket, and a grease hole in the center of the front bump of the diamond style primary cover (54 models). I own a 54 FLE since 1980, the previous owner supplied me with photos from the 50’S that clearly depicted the adjustable trees were on the bike back in the day. This bike runs excellent has the standard bore with about 25000 miles on it pulls from the bottom and keeps up with the standard FLH 74’S on the freeway without lagging behind. It still has the original 61” cam/carb combination and I see no reason in changing them. They also used valve lash caps.
1954 models came with both wishbone frames and straight leg frames. In 54 they had three types of D-rings on the pan covers. 1) Laminated steel as 49 thru 53 2) The rare six screw two fined cast aluminum D-ring 3) And the common single fin with six screw cast aluminum D-rings typically used in 55 also.
I am not sure of 53 but 54 had an identifying square boss cast located on the lower front Hydra Glide fork legs.
Joe