AKA Field Service Manual ¹⁾

1959-1969 FSMs were basically the same exact book with some revision pages.
Example, a 1960 service manual IS a 1959 manual with the inside cover changed to show a 1960 Sportster on it.
The only thing that changed might be if a procedure or something changed. If so, the bottom of the page will have a revision date.
No revised date = the same exact page, from the year before, copied to the new manual.
That is apparent due to the body of illustrations hardly ever changing and degraded illustrations and / or text in each subsequent year manual.
It can seem as if nobody told the book maker to always use the original pages to make copies.
Older illustrations are much more clear than the newer ones.
What changed yearly / periodically was the outside and inside covers unless revision pages were needed.

Ay minimum, you should have a Factory Service Manual (FSM) and a Parts Catalog made for your year model.
The FSM has the most accurate information on your year model.
The parts catalog has parts listings, of course, plus exploded diagrams to help understand how most of the parts go together.
Although, the parts books are not intended as assembly manuals and descrepancies do apply.
On dissasembly / reassembly, there are certain parts that are a no brainer. Take this bolt out and remove the part.
There are other parts that need further parts removed or retained before disassembly.
Failure to go through the proper steps can lead to engine failure.
So the service manual should be regarded as the FIRST TOOL that you'll need for your Sportster.

Accurate information is the most important factor in owning a service manual.
All manuals (including HD manuals) have errors from time to time.
However and by far, HD manuals have the most accurate information available. So, in order below:

1. Buy an HD service manual for your year model.
   Buy an HD parts catalog for your year model.
2. Buy an aftermarket service manual or even two different brand aftermarket manuals if desired, after you have the factory manual.

There are those that believe that the MoCo is just out to make big money off their products.
And who's to say that isn't true. That is the goal of ALL businesses. And HD is a business.
HD prices their manuals based off the profit they need off the end sale.
So that argument is really rhetorical in nature.

Aftermarket manual companies are also a business. They price their manuals based on what they can get by listing.
But they also don't build and maintain motorcycles. So their overhead is significantly lower than HD.
Likewise they can sell their manuals cheaper than HD.

So you can “stick it to the man” purchasing an aftermarket manual instead.
But the information in it may just cost you a lot more than if you'd bought the factory manual.
No company is sanctioned to make / sell HD manuals without HD's approval.
So aftermarkets would have to get their “technical” information out of HD manuals.
But consider this, one visit to the dealership to get them to do something you could have done yourself, is going to cost you more than $100.
The factory manual is worth it. ²⁾

Unless you are buying a manual to resell it later, you can go to online retailors, Ebay or others to purchase used factory manuals.
There is also something to be said about a used manual.
Someone before you had it and put those smudge marks and oil stains on it while wrenching on their Sportster.
So in a way and besides it being cheaper than new, that book is retaining history.
As long as the pages aren't ripped or missing, it's the same as a new one….. without the new smell.

Absolutely not. As a matter of fact, that is the best possible place to be.
Having as much information as possible gives a person more pictures, examples, details and perspectives.
Sometimes it's just a bad angle of a picture or confused wording that may stumble you.
Or it may be missing or inferred information in one manual that is better explained in another.
Especially in the older HD manuals, some parts just appear off the bike and details emerge about that part.
Other manuals may go through all the steps to get the part off the bike and into your hand.
So yes, having aftermarket manuals as well as HD manuals can be a good thing.
But damages incurred because an aftermarket manual failed to mention something in the factory manual is not good.

Understandably, people who do not have access to a local or even mail order HD business do have problems geting factory manuals.
But they are worth holding out for instead of faltering to aftermarket manuals alone.
And for the most part, aftermarket manuals should get you by until you can come across a factory manual.
Just don't be surprised if you find more erroneous information in the aftermarkets.

Some aftermarket service manual providers include; Haynes, Clymer and Peterson's.
Yes the increased amount of pictures is definitely a bonus.
Yes, there are generally more pictures and references to other tools on the market that you can use.
Also beware that cheap tools sometimes yield cheap results. That's not to say they won't work or work well.
But HD doesn't get into listing all the tools on the market.
They would have to vet all of them on a weekly basis to keep up with all the pop-up tools on the market these days.
HD lists tools specific for the jobs at hand and a large part of those are specifically made by or for HD.
If a cheap wrench will do the job instead, there is no problem using it.
But the old saying still works, if you are gonna stay and play, you gotta pay.
If you are going to wrench on your ride, you have to buy or make the wrenches.
It's up to the individual to decide which to buy with the recommendations in the manuals being just that.
There is always another way to skin a cat.

Both the Clymer and Haynes manuals have some good tips that just are not in the FSM. ³⁾

Changes between two adjacent year models may not always be in them.
From 1986-2003, there were many changes made.
However, all of the changes most likely will not be listed in a 1986-2003 service manual.
Things like oil capacities, engine specs, torque specs and etc. will most likely be listed for the newer year models.
One year (only) information will most likely not be in long year-span manuals.
Having a manual that is written just for your year model should have the most accurate information for that year.

In 1959, HD implemented a Service Manual program.
It consisted of a Master service manuals and Individual Model manuals.
Master FSMs covered the complete model line and was only sold to dealerships.
Customer service manuals for individual models were sold to the general public. ^{4) 5) 6) 7)}

Prior to 1959, there were no service manuals published.
1957-1958 owners were told through the first (1959) FSM that most of the information will be correct for 1957-1958 models as well.

Master Service Manuals were sold to dealerships from 1959-1965 (skipping the year 1961).
There were no list prices for these type manuals and they were restricted to HD dealers because they contained confidential information.
(read as service bulletins not available to the public)
Each master service manual contains maintenance and repair information for all models covered with card separators between different sections.
Pages were loose leaf bound to allow pages to be added or taken out.
The master service manuals were discontinued because the addition of more models to the Harley-Davidson line made the manuals too large. ⁸⁾

• Master service manuals were divided into seven different informational sections including: ⁹⁾
  • Dealer - section 0: This section is for Service Bulletins and updates from the MoCo (design changes, new tools, etc).
  • Product - section 1
  • Chassis - section 2
  • Engine - section 3
  • Transmission - section 4
  • Electrical - section 5
  • Miscellaneous - section 6

• Supplemental master manuals were sold to dealerships from 1960-1965 (skipping 1961)
  They could be purchased to update the previous year full service manual.
  So the dealerships had the option of just buying the supplements instead of paying for a new full manual.
  The supplement pages were to update any new changes / converting earlier service manuals to cover the current models.
  They were all in loose leaf binders so updating a manual simply consisted of removing revised pages and inserting the respective new pages.
  In 1966, the MoCo offered individual model supplements but no more all model master supplement packages.

Factory Master Service Manuals
Catalog #	Year Span	Models Covered	Full Catalog	Use to Update Catalog #	Dealer Price
99480-59	1957-1959	Duo Glide, Sportster, Servi-Car, Model 165 and Hummer	Yes	X	$15.00 10)
99480-60	1959-1960	All Models	Yes	X	$18.00 11)
99481-60	1960	Supplement to 1959 FSM, all models	No	99480-59	$10.00 12)
1961 service manuals were not published. See service bulletin #456
99480-62	1959-1962	All models	Yes	X	$21.00 13)
99481-62	1962	Supplement to 1960 FSM, all models	No	99480-60	$10.00 14)
99480-63	1959-1963	All models	Yes	X	$21.00 15)
99481-63	1963	Supplement to 1962 FSM, all models	No	99480-62	$6.00 16)
99480-64	1959-1964	All models	Yes	X	?
99481-64	1964	Supplement to 1963 FSM, all models	No	99480-63	?
99480-65	1959-1965	All models	Yes	X	$23.50 17)
99481-65	1965	Supplement to 1964 FSM, all models	No	99480-64	$8.00 18)

Individual Model Service Manuals could be purchased by anyone from HD dealerships.
They were also recommended to have on hand in dealer service departments (instead of the master manuals) for quick reference.

These manuals cover maintenance and repair information for only one model.
They are also divided into sections like the Master Manual but do not have the Dealer section for Service Bulletin information.
These were also loose leaf bound and could be updated with new model year supplements or a new full manual could be purchased.

Factory Individual Model Service Manuals for Sportsters
Catalog #	Year Span	Dealer Price	List Price	Notes
99484-59	1957-1959	$4.00	$5.00	Complete loose leaf manual
99484-60	1959-1960	$4.00	$5.00	Complete loose leaf manual
99485-60	1960	$1.50	$2.00	Loose leaf supplement updates manual (99484-59)
1961 service manuals were not published. See service bulletin #456
99484-62	1959-1962	$4.00	$5.00	Complete loose leaf manual
99485-62	1962	$1.00	$1.50	Loose leaf supplement updates manual (99484-60)
99484-63	1959-1963	$4.00	$5.00	Complete loose leaf manual
99485-63	1963	$0.75	$1.00	Loose leaf supplement updates manual (99484-62)
99480-64	1959-1964	?	?	Complete loose leaf manual
99485-64	1964	?	?	Loose leaf supplement updates manual (99484-63)
99484-65	1959-1965	$4.00	$5.00	Complete loose leaf manual
99485-65	1965	$1.70	$2.25	Loose leaf supplement updates manual (99484-64)
99484-66	1959-1966	$4.00	$5.00	Complete loose leaf manual
99485-66	1966	$1.90	$2.50	Loose leaf supplement updates manual (99484-64)
Catalog #	Year Span	Notes
99484-67	1959-1967	Complete loose leaf manual
99484-68	1959-1968	Complete loose leaf manual
99484-69	1959-1969	Complete loose leaf manual
99484-70	1970	Complete loose leaf manual
99484-71	1970-1971	Complete manual
99484-72	1970-1972	Complete manual
99484-73	1970-1973	Complete manual
99484-74	1970-1974	Complete manual
99484-75	1970-1975	Complete manual
99484-76	1970-1976	Complete manual
99484-77	1970-1977	Complete manual
99484-78	1970-1978	Complete manual
99484-79	1979	Complete manual
99484-80	1979-1980	Complete manual
99484-81	1979-1981	Complete manual
99484-82	1979-1982	Complete manual
99484-83	1979-1983	Complete manual
99484-84	1979-1984	Complete manual
99484-85	1979-1985	Complete manual

From 1959 to the sometime in the 1970s, FSMs were compiled of loose leaf pages.
From 1959-1969, the different sections in the manuals were separated by card stock dividers.
Below are pics of the different dividers known to date.

The 2001 XL Electrical Diagnostic Manual has a connector wire location error on pages 4-51 and 4-54. ²²⁾
In connector 10, pin #4 should be Pink and pin #5 should be LtGn/Gy.
Please make note of these changes on the wiring diagram on page 4-51 and to the three diagnostic boxes on page 4-54.

Below are pics of used service manual covers.
Displayed are front and inside covers for early loose leaf manuals and front covers only for the glued binder manuals.
Click on any pic below to enlarge:

All 1959-1964 FSM Outside Covers 23)	All 1965-1969 FSM Outside Covers 24)	1959 FSM (99484-59) Inside Cover 25)	1959-1960 FSM (99484-60) Inside Cover 26)

1959-1962 FSM (99484-62) Inside Cover 27)	1959-1963 FSM (99484-63) Inside Cover 28)	1959-1964 FSM (99484-64) Inside Cover 29)	1959-1965 FSM (99484-65) (inside cover needed)

1959-1966 FSM (99484-66) Inside Cover 30)	1959-1967 FSM (99484-67) Inside Cover 31)	1959-1968 FSM (99484-68) inside cover needed	1959-1969 FSM (99484-69) Original Inside Cover 32)

1959-1969 FSM Glued Binder Outside Cover	1970 FSM (99484-70) 33) loose leaf outside and inside covers (original)		1970-1971 FSM (99484-71) Outside Cover

1970-1972 FSM (99484-72)	1970-1973 FSM (99484-73)	1970-1974 FSM (99484-74)	1970-1975 FSM (99484-75)

1970-1976 FSM (99484-76)	1970-1977 FSM (99484-77)	1970-1978 FSM (99484-78)	1979 FSM (99484-79)

1979-1980 FSM (99484-80)	1979-1981 FSM (99484-81)	1979-1982 FSM (99484-82)	1979-1983 FSM (99484-83)

1979-1984 FSM (99484-84)	1979-1985 FSM (99484-85)	1986 Dealer Ed. no part#	1986 FSM (99484-86)

1986-1987 FSM (99484-87)	1986-1988 FSM (99484-88)	1986-1989 FSM (99484-89)	1986-1990 FSM (99484-90)