Chronology of evo

[Arseclown]

Read this tonight which had some good info. Sorry if it's been posted before or is well known to some.

https://www.cycleworld.com/harley-davidson-evolution-v-twin-motorcycles-history-big-twin#page-3

One thing I was curious about is: was the factory strict in keeping its changes to model years as opposed to calendar years? For example 1989 softails were first made in September 1988. Did these bikes get the cv carb as per the 1989 model or the butterfly style carb that was in the 1988 bikes?

[Scotty]

Forget calender years when looking at Harley's!
Always go by the model year and to your specific question if they change something on the 1989 model then yes that applies to 1989 models that they made in 1988.
Just go by the year that the VIN says it is.
Now having said that HD will often do running changes through the year and that can lead to certain issues but for the most part major changes usually only happen at year change level.

[Arseclown]

Thanks for reply Scotty that's obviously the common automotive manufacturing way but I just wasn't sure about Harley's ways thirty years ago. Good to know so thanks again.

I thought the evo saw some different cam shafts over the years too with some of the better ones being pre 1990s

[Scotty]

I thought the evo saw some different cam shafts over the years too with some of the better ones being pre 1990s

EPA in the USA saw that camshafts changed generally to conform to the newer rules along with carbon canisters and "Potty mouth" for California models especially.
Even the original twin cams had different cams for carby & EFI and running the EFI cam on carby bike would give you a little extra boost. Not worth doing of course unless you were bored and had cams for free but just one of those things.

[Arseclown]

Thanks Scotty that certainly makes sense. Happy with how my 1989 scoots along