Harley-Davidson’s Milwaukee Eight Engine
Harley-Davidson has released the ninth engine in its history, the Milwaukee Eight. The name “Eight” should be a dead giveaway as it denotes the engine will sport eight valves, much like the board track racers of early last century.
“These are the most powerful, most responsive and most comfortable Touring motorcycles ever offered by Harley-Davidson,” said Scott Miller, Vice-President of Styling and Product Development Strategy. “The unmistakable look, sound and feel of Harley-Davidson Touring motorcycles rise to even greater heights with the improvements we’ve made this year.”
New Milwaukee-Eight Engine
The new Milwaukee-Eight engine is a clean-sheet design that aims to combine the classic look, sound and feel of Harley-Davidson Big Twin engines with improvements in every aspect of engine performance.
“The Milwaukee-Eight engine carries the legacy of Harley-Davidson Big Twins into the future,” said Alex Bozmoski, Harley-Davidson Chief Powertrain Engineer, who led the development team. “While respecting the essential Big Twin character, we’ve created an all-new motor. Every aspect of performance, durability and styling has been improved as a direct response to the voice of Harley-Davidson customers around the world.”
Retaining the classic 45-degree V-Twin cylinder angle, the Milwaukee-Eight engine produces 10 percent more torque than previous year models and features four-valve cylinder heads that offer 50 percent more intake and exhaust flow capacity. The Milwaukee-Eight engine is counter-balanced to cancel 75 percent of primary vibration at idle, retaining the feel of a Harley V-Twin while being very smooth at highway speeds. A new heat management strategy for all Milwaukee-Eight engines improves rider and passenger comfort.
Milwaukee-Eight engines are offered in two displacements: The Milwaukee-Eight 107 (107 CID, 1750cc) featuring oil-cooled cylinder heads for the Street Glide/Street Glide Special, Road Glide/Road Glide Special, Electra Glide Ultra Classic, Road King and Freewheeler models; the Twin-Cooled Milwaukee-Eight 107 (107 CID, 1750cc) with liquid-cooled cylinder heads for the Ultra Limited/Ultra Limited Low, Road Glide Ultra and Tri Glide Ultra models; and the Twin-Cooled Milwaukee-Eight 114 (114 CID, 1870cc) with liquid-cooled cylinder heads for the CVO Limited and CVO Street Glide models.
The Road Glide Special will get the Milwaukee-Eight 107 with oil-cooled cylinder heads, alongside the Street Glide/Street Glide Special, Road Glide, Electra Glide Ultra Classic, Road King and Freewheeler.
New Touring Suspension
All-new front and rear suspension components enhance the comfort, control and performance of all 2017 Harley-Davidson® Touring model motorcycles. New emulsion-technology rear shock absorbers offer 15 to 30 percent more pre-load adjustment than previous standard Touring shocks, with a single knob to hydraulically adjust pre-load.
“Pre-load can now be adjusted to match the load of rider, passenger and gear without tools or an air pump,” said Paul James, Harley-Davidson Director of Motorcycle Product Planning. “Once set, the pre-load will not leak down or require further adjustment.”
The front suspension features new Showa SDBV suspension technology that delivers the damping performance of a racing-style cartridge fork with linear damping characteristics and reduced weight.
