47 knuckle numbers

i havent been here in awhile,but i notice a lot discussion on numbers mine is 47fl 125xx

since nobody answered this ill take a stab at it. After the FL you list 5 numbers im sure someone will correct me if im wrong but i dont think Big twin production for 1947 reached the 12,000 mark....

My 47UL241XX is Military stamped in the Philippines
Case #'s match 1941 production replacement cases.
don

i dunno where you got your info but ive had some serious people check them and they are legit as well as California CHP cleared them i also have several spare 47 cases all titled and legit according to CHP as if any of you know you dont sneak anything by them!!!!!

I think there was a 13xxx talked about here???Ihave a 47EL12xxxhere and seen a few more in 12000's.

The published production figure for 1947 shows ES 237, EL 4,321, FS 334, FL 8,071. This totals 12,963. Remember numbering started a1 1001. Add 1001 to 12963 and you have vin numbers in the 13,964 range.

And don't forget that dealers often had legal 'open titles" back then, and would create machines from spares and then stamp them properly. I have been told these were called "late issues."

CHP has no clue what they're doing. "Cleared" means "not on our hot sheet".
They frequently "clear" numbers that don't exist.
I guarantee you that 36FL9452 is "clear", so is 46UH2024, 54WL1265, 38VL4336, 58KH1455 etc.

ALL KNUCKLEHEAD WITH 5 DIGITS AFTER THE MODEL NUMBER EXAMPLE 47EL12704 IS OUTSIDE US SALES, WAS BUILT BY HARLEY FOR EXPORT, 4 DIGITS AFTER THE MODEL NUMBER EXAMPLE 47EL3452 IS MADE AND BUILT FOR THE US MARKET. I HOPE THIS HELP YOUR HEADACHES.

knuckle-pan sed,
"ALL KNUCKLEHEAD WITH 5 DIGITS AFTER THE MODEL NUMBER EXAMPLE 47EL12704 IS OUTSIDE US SALES"


If this is trus sombody sure imported a hell of a lot of them back here. I seriously doubt the credibility of your statement.

knuckle-pan sed,
"ALL KNUCKLEHEAD WITH 5 DIGITS AFTER THE MODEL NUMBER EXAMPLE 47EL12704 IS OUTSIDE US SALES"

I rarely agree with Chris on anything but I'm going to side with him on this one your statement is hard to believe with out some backup. I have seen a lot of 5 digit 47's

[Pa]

Some possible food for thought on this number issue. I am not saying this is the case but I will relate a simuliar situation. I worked a job that was built for the nation of Iraq. The equipment was tire making machinery. All of the machines we manufactured were serial numbered regardless of where they were meant to be delivered. The serial numbers were done in sequence starting from the first to the last. This particular batch of machinery was on the loading dock awaiting shipment for many months. Desert Storm came about and the machinery was held by the Fed. Since payment was not made in full for all of this machinery, the equipment was returned to us three years later when the bureaucrats decided who rightfully owned it all. We did not sell any other machines of this design after building this batch so the serial numbers started over again with a different sequence of letters and numbers on the newer models. My point is....Our serial numbers stopped on the last machines prior to the Iraq sales because the numbers issued on the eqiupment, meant for Iraq, was stricken from the books as a sale when the Fed sanctioned Iraq. This equipment was later sold and the original stamped serial numbers were the identifying marks that were used. Could this case be a simuliar situation ?? Pa

Could this case be a simuliar situation ??
No,
Think about it. Did H-D know exactly how many bikes they were going to build ahead of time so they could assign 5 digit numbers to exports? Production figures show 13,000 bikes were produced. That is a 5 digit number.
If you read his post he says export. Do you know where export is? Anywhere outside of the USA. Canada, Mexico, Alaska in '47, and any other place in the world.
The different thing about Export Bikes is that they were painted Olive Green.

I had a 48 Pan which was Export that had a 12XXX number on it. It came from Guatemala and had a Kilometer Speedo too. You think they made more than 12000 units of the 48 FL ?? that year? And by the way "4 HD" on the TC (argh) stands for EXPORT.

The factory production figures for the '48 Panhead show that 12,924 Panheads were built. Add 1001 to that and you have the engine number range of 1001-13925. Your #12XXX number is well below the total units built.
It is better to base your posts on available information than it is to assume. We all know what happens when you assume.

Mr. Haynes, what i was saying is, that the 5 digit production number Panhead that i hadWAS an export model so the company could indeed make a difference between domestic and export production just as they make today!!

i agree with Cotten , ive seen mismatched cases classified as to the left case only ie.... 47 left 46 right titled a 47 ???? but is stamped with a very large 7 on the rear case mount on top? are these repaired cases? or???

Oldiron,
The number 7 on top of the rear motor mount tells you the engine is a 74. The 61's had no markings on them. Note that Harley never assembled engines in mismatched engine cases. If the cases don't match that happened outside the factory.

Masterblaster,
Could does not mean they did. All this different serial number on Export, California models ETC. didn't happen till the late 70's.

I agree with Chris.
It was like that in any of the early years, If production exceeded 9000 of a type (say overhead valves), any bike made after 9000 would have a 5 digit number its also likely that some of these bikes would have been exported, so as production of 48 pan heads exceeded 9000 then its more than likely you would find a 48 pan out side of the US . But you would probably find more with 4 digit numbers.
If you use the logic that 5 digit numbers could only be used on export bikes where are all the 5 digit knuckle heads built before 1946.
There are plenty of examples of genuine export bikes that don’t have 5 digit numbers.

Pete.