Ultima motor longevity
Road Warrior
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,560
Likes: 66
From: Oakdale Ca.
I dont beat mine Either but then again I dont LAG it OR LUG it. Alot of HD engiene failure is do to RIDER error,Timing , running lean, jumping on the throttle before its good and warmed up. Thats with any v twin. soooooo ...........
You get what you pay for.... sure
you get ripped off by motor comp. sure...
Its funny I bought a harley davidson and want it to run like a raped ape crotch rocket....then Bitch when it breaks down after I push the evo motor way out of its normal specs.. moral to the story
If you want to go real fast get a jap bike or buy a harley and deal with the issues from pushing a 20 yr old motor design way past its limits....
You get what you pay for.... sure
you get ripped off by motor comp. sure...
Its funny I bought a harley davidson and want it to run like a raped ape crotch rocket....then Bitch when it breaks down after I push the evo motor way out of its normal specs.. moral to the story
If you want to go real fast get a jap bike or buy a harley and deal with the issues from pushing a 20 yr old motor design way past its limits....
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,468
Likes: 12
From: Bluffton, South Carolina
50 racer: any machined shaft that might set on a shelf will be protected with some type of rust preventative, be it a grease or paper type. Check out my new post on the Ultima 127" E85 motor. Many parts om most aftermarket engines are imported. I've been around for quite a while and remember the problems that S&S, Jims, Merch and all the others had and dealt with warranty matters with all of them. Some were OK, some weren't, With Ultima they have always bent over backwords to make the customer happy. Just my .04 cents wort as money aint worth what it used to be.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 13,389
Likes: 26
From: Windham,Maine
There are indeed several contributors on HDF with Ultimas. I have a 50th anniversary S&S myself, and there are other brands available, but relatively few contributors who admit to owning any of them! So the original question is a good one, but I am not confident of finding high mileage owners on here of any brand of after-market engine.
Intermediate
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 42
Likes: 0
From: AZ
Any crate motor from any manufacturer is going to leave something to be desired. I have seen plenty of S&S motors, as well as others, with issues due to the quick assembly line type nature of any (mass produced) crate engine.
It does not help when the engine is a high performance, high output model, and it is ridden hard.
Sure, problems are usually less noticable in stock HD and other low performance engines, that is the nature of the beast.
If you want a bulletproof, non-leaking motor that you can run as hard as you want without worry, you are going to have to have someone who knows what they are doing build it right from the start.
I have seen and worked on plenty of very strong running HD's that didn't cause problems or leak. It's not black magic it just takes a good mechanic with attention to detail. It's no different from any other engine.
It is also important to build your engine to match your riding style. If you ride like a grandma, you shouldn't ride a high compression, big cammed, big inch motor.
I can say, based on experience, without a doubt in my mind, that the worst running bikes that come into the shop are usually the ones that get rode the softest/ easiest/ least amount.
It does not help when the engine is a high performance, high output model, and it is ridden hard.
Sure, problems are usually less noticable in stock HD and other low performance engines, that is the nature of the beast.
If you want a bulletproof, non-leaking motor that you can run as hard as you want without worry, you are going to have to have someone who knows what they are doing build it right from the start.
I have seen and worked on plenty of very strong running HD's that didn't cause problems or leak. It's not black magic it just takes a good mechanic with attention to detail. It's no different from any other engine.
It is also important to build your engine to match your riding style. If you ride like a grandma, you shouldn't ride a high compression, big cammed, big inch motor.
I can say, based on experience, without a doubt in my mind, that the worst running bikes that come into the shop are usually the ones that get rode the softest/ easiest/ least amount.
Thread Starter
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Advanced
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 64
Likes: 1
From: Pukekohe - New Zealand
gottten some answers
Have talked to John Sachs and he reccomends the Ultima 113 for being the best also went onto the HTT site and have seen threads there from owners who have gotten over 50k on their 113 motors so it seems that is the way to go. the reason i started this thread was my motor that was built for me lunched the bottom end after 20k all good parts went into the build ,Jims Crank pin, Jims hydrosolid lifters, S&S HVHP oilpump,EV27 Cam,Wiesco pistons , Edelbrock heads crane hi4 single fire ign rev limiter set to 5k , oil and filter changed every 3k miles and still it died so a new motor is the next option
Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 535
Likes: 14
From: Highspire Pa
Have talked to John Sachs and he reccomends the Ultima 113 for being the best also went onto the HTT site and have seen threads there from owners who have gotten over 50k on their 113 motors so it seems that is the way to go. the reason i started this thread was my motor that was built for me lunched the bottom end after 20k all good parts went into the build ,Jims Crank pin, Jims hydrosolid lifters, S&S HVHP oilpump,EV27 Cam,Wiesco pistons , Edelbrock heads crane hi4 single fire ign rev limiter set to 5k , oil and filter changed every 3k miles and still it died so a new motor is the next option
I hope you are happy with your Ulitima 113, we like ours and it is a lot more fun riding that the modified 80", although the performance mods did make that engine perform well, it was not like the Ultima 113.
One of the many reasons I chose a 113 was John Sachs's posting on HTT where he said he thought the best bang for the buck was an Ultima 113. I also read the posts from individuals that ran the Ultima 113 hard and had over 50,000 miles on the engine. We also chose the NON-EPA as that is the one most posters have, not the newer EPA model. Time will only tell how well our 113 will hold up, I can't say we push it hard as I very seldom hit the rev limiter, but we do ride it often, I think it has between 8-9 thousand miles on it currently, but may die any time now....I may replace the lifters and go to 7/16 adjustable pushrods this winter if all goes well as I read the 7/16 pushrods are better and don't really cost that much to replace. Likewise, I don't mind replacing lifters the same time, that is a pretty easy task.
keep us posted on your results, pictures too...
joe
on edit: I paid the extra $50.00 to Jireh have our engine test run before they shipped it, as well as the extra few bucks for
the lift service - it came to our house lowered and placed on a 4 wheeled dolly I had to easily move it into our garage. I made a
little money on the payment as I transferred the money and Jireh gives you about $20.00 rebate if you transfer the money directly
to their account. Overall the experience dealing with Jireh was very pleasant. I did have to wait a couple months to get the MSO.
.
Last edited by pajoe; Sep 19, 2009 at 08:15 AM.
Thread Starter
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Advanced
Joined: Feb 2006
Posts: 64
Likes: 1
From: Pukekohe - New Zealand
I hope you are happy with your Ulitima 113, we like ours and it is a lot more fun riding that the modified 80", although the performance mods did make that engine perform well, it was not like the Ultima 113.
One of the many reasons I chose a 113 was John Sachs's posting on HTT where he said he thought the best bang for the buck was an Ultima 113. I also read the posts from individuals that ran the Ultima 113 hard and had over 50,000 miles on the engine. We also chose the NON-EPA as that is the one most posters have, not the newer EPA model. Time will only tell how well our 113 will hold up, I can't say we push it hard as I very seldom hit the rev limiter, but we do ride it often, I think it has between 8-9 thousand miles on it currently, but may die any time now....I may replace the lifters and go to 7/16 adjustable pushrods this winter if all goes well as I read the 7/16 pushrods are better and don't really cost that much to replace. Likewise, I don't mind replacing lifters the same time, that is a pretty easy task.
keep us posted on your results, pictures too...
joe
on edit: I paid the extra $50.00 to Jireh have our engine test run before they shipped it, as well as the extra few bucks for
the lift service - it came to our house lowered and placed on a 4 wheeled dolly I had to easily move it into our garage. I made a
little money on the payment as I transferred the money and Jireh gives you about $20.00 rebate if you transfer the money directly
to their account. Overall the experience dealing with Jireh was very pleasant. I did have to wait a couple months to get the MSO.
.
One of the many reasons I chose a 113 was John Sachs's posting on HTT where he said he thought the best bang for the buck was an Ultima 113. I also read the posts from individuals that ran the Ultima 113 hard and had over 50,000 miles on the engine. We also chose the NON-EPA as that is the one most posters have, not the newer EPA model. Time will only tell how well our 113 will hold up, I can't say we push it hard as I very seldom hit the rev limiter, but we do ride it often, I think it has between 8-9 thousand miles on it currently, but may die any time now....I may replace the lifters and go to 7/16 adjustable pushrods this winter if all goes well as I read the 7/16 pushrods are better and don't really cost that much to replace. Likewise, I don't mind replacing lifters the same time, that is a pretty easy task.
keep us posted on your results, pictures too...
joe
on edit: I paid the extra $50.00 to Jireh have our engine test run before they shipped it, as well as the extra few bucks for
the lift service - it came to our house lowered and placed on a 4 wheeled dolly I had to easily move it into our garage. I made a
little money on the payment as I transferred the money and Jireh gives you about $20.00 rebate if you transfer the money directly
to their account. Overall the experience dealing with Jireh was very pleasant. I did have to wait a couple months to get the MSO.
.
what year is your bike and did you have to uprate the starter or did the original one work fine ? good idea to get them to pre run the motor thanks for that info
these are things i am working thru as i live on the other side of the world and harley aftermarket parts here are hard and expensive to obtain so i generally import my own
Banned
Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 3,569
Likes: 624
From: deland,florida
i have a 127" ultima in my bagger,139 hp at the wheel.we`ve sold alot,and installed alot of ultima motors,we get them unassembled and asssemble them in our race shop.we hone an extra .015 out of the cylinders and check everything,but have had good luck with them.i agree with the earlier post about alot of damage to big motors being rider/tuner error.alot of "keeping up with the jones" big inch riders should be riding fairly stock motors
kirby
vee twin racing
kirby
vee twin racing
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Road Captain
Joined: Apr 2005
Posts: 535
Likes: 14
From: Highspire Pa
Hi Joe
what year is your bike and did you have to uprate the starter or did the original one work fine ? good idea to get them to pre run the motor thanks for that info
these are things i am working thru as i live on the other side of the world and harley aftermarket parts here are hard and expensive to obtain so i generally import my own
what year is your bike and did you have to uprate the starter or did the original one work fine ? good idea to get them to pre run the motor thanks for that info
these are things i am working thru as i live on the other side of the world and harley aftermarket parts here are hard and expensive to obtain so i generally import my own
Ours is a 1990 FLHTCU and we had one of the 1.4K replacement starters that Jireh sells for about $119.00. I purchased it while we had the 80" and did not replace it when we went to the 113. The 113 does have compression release valves and that helps if you remember to use them.
Owning an Ultima engine could create problems if you need a local shop to do work on it later. I have not found a local shop that I feel comfortable doing work on our Ultima engine. Although many have the capability, I fear their attitudes towards Ultima engines may affect their judgement. Nothing could be worse then taking it to a shop where they may want to prove the Ultima engine is no good and therefore do all they can to find a lot of problems that other shops would not consider to be a problem.
joe
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Cruiser
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 193
Likes: 1
From: Arnold, MO
I just put a 113 in my Fatboy. So far so good. I've got 800 miles on it and it's quiet as can be. I will tell you that I just replaced an Ultima 6 speed that had 28,000 miles on it. I've haven't pulled it down yet but I got needle bearings out of the outer housing. That problem isn't isolated to Ultima's. The power on the 113 is great. My .02 cents.
Bill
Bill