Friday, October 7, 2016

My time on the Milwaukee-Eight from Harley-Davidson

Hi there, it's Rocky and I had an opportunity to take a 2017 Street Glide with the Milwaukee-Eight engine on a ride with the Mon Valley HOG chapter to Punxy last week to find that pesky groundhog that keeps us from riding in the spring.

When I rolled up to the other bikes to line up, the first thing others noticed was the engine. It had a very nice shape to the heads and it was pretty quiet with a different sound than a Twin-Cam. I told the crew that I was taking this new bike on the ride and almost immediately several chapter members wanted to switch bikes for a period of time on the way up and on the way back.

I thought about it, but this was my time to spend with the bike to get a true feel in real-life stop and go, acceleration, and braking. Besides that, I didn't have the legal paperwork for others to ride a dealership motorcycle with me.

I followed behind a 2016 Screamin' Eagle with at 110" engine. Even though my bike was a 107" I noticed that I was pulling off the line a little stronger. The torque is amazing.  Even if we were riding and I needed to speed up, I didn't have to downshift at all. It was so nice to just twist the throttle and keep up.

Another thing I noticed was how quiet the engine was.  I've been riding bikes since I was 16 and really paying attention to bikes when I started here at Hot Metal Harley-Davidson over 10 years ago. There has never been a more quiet engine. Even with the quietness, this engine is no sleeper.

The ride was so comfortable on the street glide, the engine was so smooth and the gas mileage was so much better than what I'm used to even with the bigger engine.

Bottom line: I can sit here and describe the feel, the power, the performance, and the look for hours, but until you come and test ride it, you can't appreciate the new engine. We're offering test rides 6 days a week. Simply call Todd at 412-464-9453 or stop in Monday-Saturday!

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