Not the most exciting thing to watch but for those who are interested, you can’t get much of a closer look at what is going on inside an S&S motorcycle V- twin engine.
Personally, I’ve had a lot of motorcycles with the S&S engine. I think the S&S engine is the best made V-Twin engine around. Actually, I’m always amazed by seeing people who build one-off custom bikes who end up putting in a foreign manufactured V-Twin engine. They put out all that effort, time, and money to build a very unique motorcycle and yet they skimped when it came to the engine!
S&S Motorcycle Engine 111ci
S&S Motorcycle Engine
Naturally, all the Big Dog motorcycles and the American Ironhorse motorcycles used S&S engines exclusively. The American Ironhorse motorcycles came standard with the 111 S&S but the buyer had the option to upgrade to the 117 or the 124 engine. The Big Dog motorcycles all came standard with the 117 S&S engine.
I’ve only had one interaction with S&S engines, when I called to check serial numbers on the cylinders. I ended up leaving a message on voicemail, and was very pleasantly surprised when they called me back within the hour and gave me the information that I needed.
The S&S motorcycle engine manufacturing plant is located in Wisconsin and it’s a private firm that was founded in 1958.
S&S Cycle develops performance replacement engines for v-twin motorcycles, most of which are replacement engines for Harley-Davidson models and are manufactured in the United States. In addition, S&S Cycle developed their own proprietary pushrod v-twin engine, dubbed the X-Wedge that features a 56° cylinder angle instead of the 45° angle used in Harley-Davidson v-twin engines, and which was developed with the custom motorcycle builder (OEM) in mind. The X-Wedge is the basis for the engine from a number of high end motorcycle manufacturers such as Arch Motorcycle and Confederate Motorcycle. The X-Wedge recently found a different kind of application, having been chosen to be the power plant utilized by Morgan Motor company, based out of the United Kingdom, for their development of the Morgan 3 Wheeler cycle car.
S&S was the first motorcycle engine manufacturer to produce pre-certified United States Environmental Protection Agency compliant engines, lifting the burden and cost of performing the complicated EPA testing procedures from the companies and enthusiasts who buy S&S engines. The company also produces TÜV certified engines, and has even succeeded in complying with California’s unique emissions requirements. S&S is the only motorcycle company in the world to manufacture Knucklehead, Shovelhead, Panhead, Evolution-style engines and Twin-cam style engines. S&S manufactures the largest (143 cu. in.) engine to fit a stock Harley-Davidson frame.
