Does replacing the stock HD motor with an S&S motor add value to a bike or reduce the resale of a Harley? Is it even still considered a Harley with an S&S motor in it?

 

Depends!

If the bike is titled by the frame #, as all late model bikes are, then it is still an HD as far as the law is concerned. Whether the value changes depends on the buyer. If I'm buying a rider, having an S&S motor would be a plus to me. If I'm looking at a bike for restoration, then obviously it's gonna hurt the value.

 

Does an S&S motor dramatically change the sound...I had heard S&S is related to Harley Engines somehow...maybe design team?

 

Baseing a price on a Harley. S&S motor hurts the value. Same as for Revtec, Patrick, etc.. IT'S NOT FACTORY.

The otherside of the coin, You have a custom based upon a Harley frame, price is based upon the cost of parts and build time.

Just looked at an FL with a Revtec, guy wanted too much. The Revtec hurt it.

 

This is a particularly tough question. The bike itself has a lot to do with it. A guy just put a 96" S&S engine in a early 90's FXR. The value of the bike with the stock engine was probably around $6000. He spent $6000 on the S&S engine. When all was said and done, he still has a $6000 bike.

Whats the value to him? The bike had 120,000 on the original engine. He isn't going to sell the bike, he is going to ride it and probably put another 120,000 miles on it. Did he lose money? Did it hurt the value? In his case I would say no. If he had plans of selling it for a profit, then yes.

 

S&S basically re-engineers the design, making improvements and trying to avoid patent infringements. They sound the same to me!

 

S & S Motors are very compatible & comparable with the Harely engine. My Custom has Harley heads with S & S bottom end.

 

Last I heard, Harley protects their trademarks with a vengeance, and they say a bike has to have a Harley engine as well as frame to be registered or sold as a Harley. And they have notified owners of offending bikes who have incorrectly advertised them as Harleys.

 

Once the motorcycle has been sold and registered as a motor vehicle with a state, and that cycle is vin registered by the frame, Harley Davidson has no say so about it and can go whiz up a pole.

The motorcycle was sold as a Harley Davidson. Replacing the motor is like changing the motor in a chevy. You can put a ford motor in it and the vin still says it's a chevy.

I heard that S&S sold motors to the Indian Motorcycle company till they could get their motor program going.

If I had two Harleys sitting side by side and one has a new stock motor and the other has a new S&S, I'm going to buy the S&S.

 

In the Peoples Republic of Kalif, they follow the letter of the law...pre 70 are registered by motor vin only, 70 and later are registered by frame and motor. You change out a 2000 HD with the proper paperwork and the only thing you will get when you have it inspected by the Bear is a blue tag that designates it as SPCN - special construction. You can call it anything you want but if you were to register it today it would show as a 2006 SPCN. Guess a buyer has to decide what it is really worth and what he/she can live with.