Harley-Davidson Forty-Eight Parts & Accessories

Forty-Eight parts: one bike, eleven UK years

About 1,950 Forty-Eights are taxed in the UK and 1,500 more are on SORN, all 2010 to 2020 bikes: like every air-cooled Sportster (see the Iron 883 page) it was last sold here as a 2020 model, so the 2021 and 2022 in the picker are US model years. Nothing breaks the platform in those eleven years, with 431 to 451 live genuine parts listed for each, but two years matter.

The front end is the Forty-Eight’s own

The genuine front tyre we list is a 130/90B16 Michelin Scorcher 31, 55035-11A, and the only genuine front wheel is the 16-inch Machete, 43300371. Both are shared with the 2011-on 1200 Custom and no other Sportster; the Iron 883 runs a 100/90B19, 43258-07B. The Machete’s listing asks for a model-specific installation kit, 42400008 or 42400009A with ABS.

2016: the forks went from 39 mm to 49 mm

For 2016 the forks went from 39 mm to 49 mm, the laced front wheel became a cast 9-spoke and the solo seat changed. Five genuine parts split there. The Clip-On Handlebar Kit 55800647, Front Turn Signal Relocation Kit 67800452 and windscreen clamp 57400536 are listed for 2010–15 only. The 49 mm clamp 57400537 and the Forty-Eight Style Passenger Pillion 52400125, for the 2016-on stock solo seat, start at 2016. If the bike has no pillion pegs, the pillion also needs Passenger Footpeg Kit 50500270.

2014: the service-parts line

The other line is 2014, and it catches what you re-order: rear brake pads 42029-07 to 41300053, front pads 42831-04A to 41854-08, air filter 29331-04 to 29400015 and every genuine front rotor. A 2014-on UK bike takes the 70900100C speedo, not the US-model 70900475; both are listed.

Bars, mirrors and the three parts made only for this bike

The satin black Iron 883 Handlebar 55800345 is the Forty-Eight’s stock bar, so here it is a replacement, not an upgrade. Three live genuine parts fit a Forty-Eight and nothing else: pillion 52400125, the 2010–15 relocation kit 67800452, which drops the indicators to the bottom yoke for low bars, and the Handlebar Clamp Filler Plug Kit 55800672, 2014-on, for the stock riser when clip-ons go on. Mirrors are the trap: the bike left the factory with them under the bar, and six genuine mirror listings (Adversary, Switchback, Edge Cut, Buckshot) plus Mirror Extension Kit 91907-87 exclude an XL1200X mounted that way, so check yours first.

1200 means engine parts the 883s don’t get

Screamin’ Eagle CNC Ported Cylinder Heads 16500074, High-Compression Piston Kit 22711-04A and the Full Throttle cam 25400125 (2014–20, needs those heads or valve spring kit 18013-03A) are listed here and not for an Iron; no 883-to-1200 kit is.

Close relatives

The Forty-Eight Special is a 2018–2020 Forty-Eight in the parts book: 449 of its 450 live genuine parts are listed for the standard bike. Of the 482 we list for the Forty-Eight, 468 fit the 1200 Custom, the nearest relative and the only other Sportster on its front tyre; 467 the SuperLow; 462 the Iron 883; 456 the Seventy-Two, which has its own 21-inch front.