Harley-Davidson To Introduce New Milwaukee-Eight Engine

Milwaukee is the place where the Harley-Davidson headquarters is located and 'Eight' denotes the number of valves in the engine.

According to a report by MCN, American leisure motorcycle manufacturer Harley-Davidson is about to bring in a new engine. According to the spy pictures of the new V-twin, it is to be called ‘107 Milwaukee-Eight,’ where ‘107’ is the engine capacity in cubic-inches, which translates to around 1753cc. The name has been derived from two sources, one of which is Milwaukee, a city that is very close to the sentiments of the American brand and where its headquarters is located as well. The other one i.e. 'Eight' denotes the number of valves in the new V-twin engine.

Looking at the displacement of the new Milwaukee-Eight engine, it is expected to be used in the 2017 Harley-Davidson touring range. The new motor could be used in some new models in the future and the company might also replace the existing Twin Cam 103 engine with it in the upgraded versions of the existing fleet. Currently, the Twin Cam engine powers a wide range in the Harley-Davidson fleet, including the Street Bob, Low Rider, Fat Bob, Fat Boy, Breakout, Wide Glide, Switchback, Softail Slim, Heritage Softail Classic, V-Rod, Night Rod Special, Road King, Street Glide and their different trims.

The most probable reason to change from two-valve to four-valve architecture is to meet the Euro IV emission norms. Apart from that, the new Harley-Davidson Milwaukee-Eight engine will retain most of the features of the existing Twin Cam V-twin, like the traditional air-cooling design and pushrod-operated valve system. Generally, the four-valve per head arrangement is seen in performance motorcycle engines featuring overhead cams. However, it would be an interesting thing to see how they will work with the conventional pushrod mechanism.

The Milwaukee-Eight will be a series of engine like the Twin Cam and the 107 will be its first iteration. We can expect some higher capacity V-twins on the same platform in the near future to power the flagship motorcycle range of the company. The new engine is speculated to be unveiled during the 76th Sturgis Motorcycle Rally, scheduled to be held from 8th to 14th August this year.

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