Changing Terminology

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Changing Terminology

Postby jOe » Mon Aug 10, 2020 4:36 pm

When did the term 'oil bag' come into use? And who started it? I don't remember it much beyond a few years ago.
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Re: Changing Terminology

Postby hennesse » Mon Aug 10, 2020 5:17 pm

About the same time they invented "box wine" and "rap music".
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Re: Changing Terminology

Postby mogemskhk » Thu Aug 13, 2020 12:32 pm

I'm sure we always called it an "oil bag". I'm talkin' late 60's when I got out of High School (Read: Old School).
I'll pull out some of my old chopper mags, as soon as I locate the box, and try to come up with an earlier use of that nickname.
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Re: Changing Terminology

Postby jOe » Thu Aug 13, 2020 10:57 pm

Oh, I don’t doubt it goes that far back, I just don’t remember hearing it. It might have started as more of a regional thing.
I got my first Sportster in ‘68. I guess I’ve been asleep at the handlebars. I’m not really sure when the term Ironhead came into use either. Probably when they started using the later rocker boxes?
How about ‘Fuel Bag”?
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Re: Changing Terminology

Postby hennesse » Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:02 pm

jOe wrote: I guess I’ve been asleep at the handlebars. I’m not really sure when the term Ironhead came into use either. Probably when they started using the later rocker boxes?


When the BMW guys started talking about "oilheads" and "airheads", I figured I would just duck my head, and let all this new stuff just pass me by...

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Re: Changing Terminology

Postby Coolbreeze » Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:39 pm

I would contribute something to this discussion of terminology, but it would just show what a knucklehead I am!
'56 KHK
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Re: Changing Terminology

Postby Ferrous_Head » Fri Aug 14, 2020 9:43 am

I think the term Ironhead came in to differentiate the Sportsters from their successors, the evolution Sportster.

People tried to give them a name but the nicknames just never really stuck. Some used "Blockhead" for a while but that one is a bit lame. We all know what a "Blockhead" is. And an Evo can be a Big Twin or a Sportster.
So, because ht younger guys who bought the new Evolution Sportster couldn't work out a good name for what they rode they decided to rename our bikes.

I do not remember the term oil bag from when I was young. I think it came in about the time they started building hoppers big time. Probably the early 60's.
"I know only too well the evil that I propose, but my inclinations get the better of me."
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