Harley-Davidson debuts Milwaukee-Eight engine range

Harley-Davidson has unveiled its 2017 model line-up powered by their newest engine range – the Milwaukee Eight. The most powerful production engines in the company’s history, the Milwaukee-Eight is available in three iterations, displacing 1745cc and 1870cc. 

The Milwaukee-Eight range engine delivers more power and torque, thanks to the increase in capacity and a higher compression ratio. Speaking about the improvement in performance, Harley-Davidson, true to the traditional approach, says that the 2017 models are ‘two to three bike lengths faster from 0-100kmph than older models'. They are also more refined than previous engines thanks to an internal counter balancer which cancels 75 per cent of vibrations at idle.

Of the three iterations of the engine, two displace 1745cc while the most powerful of the lot displaces 1870cc. The base Milwaukee-Eight 107 will be used in the Street Glide Special, Road Glide Special, Road King and the Road King Classic. The Milwaukee-Eight 107 twin-cooled gets liquid-cooling for the cylinder-heads and will be used in the Ultra Limited Low and the Road Glide Ultra. The Milwaukee-Eight 114 is the top of the line engine and is used in the CVO Limited and the CVO Street Glide.

The Milwaukee-Eight derives its name from two sources, Milwaukee, a city which has always had a sentimental attachment to the American brand, and Eight – the number of valves. The decision to provide four valves per cylinder on the Milwaukee-Eight was taken to make the engine meet Euro IV emission norms. Over the past century, Harley-Davidson has been through only eight generations of engines, with the Milwaukee-Eight being the ninth.