When it comes to Harley Davidson motorcycles, it is all about cult, legacy, and a huge fan following throughout the world. The American motorcycle company Harley-Davidson is known for their peculiar V-Twin engines making a very distinctive sound, which is more popularly known as “Potato- Potato”. This sound comes from the V-Twin engine configured for producing maximum torque, here the engine refinement is never been a concern for the hardcore HD fans. Whatever the case it may be Harley-Davidson always strives hard to get a balance between the feel of their engines to the avid HD riders and between the technological advancement which comes hand in hand. Since the inception of the company, the Harley-Davidson has brought only eight engines as a major change to their product lineups. Recently HD has introduced their ninth brand new engine, which they have christened as “Milwaukee Eight”. The engine comes with plethora of changes brought by the company; let’s find out what all changes have been made by the company to the new engine and how they have addressed to challenges came into their way.
The new Milwaukee Eight engine is featured with 4-valves per cylinder, hence the name. There are three different variants of the new engine-
* Milwaukee Eight 107 (107 cubic inch/ 1750cc capacity) with Oil Cooling system
* Milwaukee Eight 107 (107 cubic inch/ 1750cc capacity) with Liquid Cooling system
* Milwaukee Eight 114 (114 cubic inch/ 1870cc capacity) with Liquid Cooling system
The oil cooled Milwaukee Eight 107 is meant for 2017 models of Street Glide, Road Glide, Electra Glide and Road King. Whereas the same engine with liquid cooling system is designated to the likes of HD Ultra Limited, Road Glide Ultra and Tri Glide Ultra models. On the other hand the bigger Milwaukee Eight 114 is meant to be featured on the Harley Davidson CVO Limited and CVO Street Glide.
* Milwaukee Eight 107 (107 cubic inch/ 1750cc capacity) with Liquid Cooling system
* Milwaukee Eight 114 (114 cubic inch/ 1870cc capacity) with Liquid Cooling system
As per the company the new engine has higher Compression Ratio and it has 10% better torque figure as compared to the previous HD Twin Cam V-twin engines. The company has brought multiple changes in the engine ranging from the Valve Train to addition of Counter Balancers. With the help of 4-valve per cylinder configuration the new engine is now able to breathe better than the previous gen engines. The engine not only able to breathe better but it also has 50% better gas flow through the exhaust and Intake valves.The company has also included counter balancers in the engine for better vibration control, the new engine is claimed to be silent as never experienced before. To further cut down the vibrations the new Milwaukee Eight engines are to be mounted on rubber mounts present. Harley Davidson also claims that they have also made the exhaust sound richer than before as they managed to curtail few mechanical noises.
The new engines are going to be sit on majority of the touring bikes, hence the company has paid special attention towards the electrical charging as all the modern day gadgetries like heated grips, heated seat and other devices tend to draw more energy. Noticeably, Harley did not compromise on the looks and design of the engine as it contains all the aesthetic elements that were always present on the HD engines irrespective of their sizes. The new Milwaukee Eight engines, be it oil cooled or liquid cooled version, all are featured with air cooling fins, maintaining the trademark looks of a typical Harley Davidson engine.
By: Farhan Kashif