Well, not quite, especially where power comparisons with competitive offerings( Indian Motorcycle aside) are concerned. But that hasn’ t stopped Harley from boasting( with justification) that the all-new‘ Milwaukee-Eight’( M-8) engine delivers more power and an improved motorcycling experience for riders and passengers while retaining the iconic look, sound and feel of its predecessors.” True, it is a mostly all-new design, certainly as far as the heads are concerned, and the look is okay, even if the sound is more race-bike than“ potato, potato” now. The M-8 is said to offer“ quicker throttle response, more passing power, purer sound, a smoother ride and more of the feeling riders want from a Harley-Davidson Touring motorcycle engine.” In other words, is Harley accepting that the Twin Cam offered relatively poor throttle response, poor power in realworld traffic conditions, and ran too hot with way too much noise and way too much in the way of vibrations? It kind of sounds like that to go by the wording of their press release, and note the possible implications buried in the detail of their remarks here –“ more of the feeling riders want from a Harley-Davidson Touring motorcycle engine.” One line of speculation suggests that in a parallel to what happened with the two-stage introduction of the Twin Cam in 1999 / 2000, there is likely to be a‘ B’ version of the‘ Eight’ next year for the cruisers – or in a new mid-cycle cruiser-esque launch or launches. Alternately, are Harley quite clearly signalling here that, in fact, the‘ Milwaukee-Eight’ is destined to be a tourer engine“ only”? In which case, will the cruisers be allowed to trade on the Rushmore hype of the Twin-Cooled motor for some years to come, or( could we be this lucky?) is there in fact another big step in refreshment and refinement of the offer still to come with, whisper it softly, another engine platform also about to emerge at some stage in the next six to 24 months? Either way, the new‘ Milwaukee-Eight’ engines will power every 2017 Harley- |
Davidson Touring and Trike motorcycle model. They will be offered in two displacements and three variations. The 107-inch version( 1750cc) features precision oil-cooled cylinder heads for the Street Glide / Street Glide Special, Road Glide / Road Glide Special, Electra Glide Ultra Classic, Road King, the Freewheeler trikes and two of the CVOs. Based on the existing cooling |
technology first seen on the Rushmore tourers, a Twin-Cooled 107 incher( 107 CID, 1750cc) features liquidcooled cylinder heads for the Ultra Limited / Ultra Limited Low, Road Glide Ultra and Tri Glide Ultra models. Then a Twin-Cooled‘ Milwaukee-Eight’ 114-incher( 1870cc) featuring liquidcooled cylinder heads will power the CVO Limited and CVO Street Glide models. |
The“ strategic cooling” of the“ Twin- Cooled” concept( namely liquid and air) allowed the classic finned look to remain functional rather than just being visual and brand value. However, the concept is destined to struggle to keep up with the increased heat generated by the increased power. That is why Harley has embraced the reduction in combustion chamber surface area geometry that the eight-valve chamber redesign requires. The new engine is said to produce 10
percent more torque than the engine it replaces in Touring models. In addition to increased displacement, it features a higher compression ratio and 50 percent more intake and exhaust flow capacity. The valve train is said to require no adjustment as the design of the rocker arms enables valve lash to be set at the factory for life; dual spark plugs for each cylinder( and advanced ignition timing) contribute to more efficient combustion. A single chain-driven camshaft is lighter and mechanically
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