07-17-2008, 03:20 PM
CaptainHenreh Wrote:"leaky shakey gutless air cooled pushrod motor"
They don't leak any more.
And the engines are rubber-mounted, so the shaking is much diminished. At idle, the 883 vibrates a bit, but once it's underway, it's fine. If you want to see shakey, go test a Royal Enfield Bullet - big thumper sends you down the road 10' at a time.
Yeah, they seriously lack revs and horses as-delivered, but the torque is nice. Mostly, it's a result of more stringent emissions rules, not H-D engineers. In order to meet more stringent rules, the air-cooled engine has gotten bigger and more under-stressed. However, this also means one can build a ~100hp Evo without too much effort or expense.