Ultima El Bruto engines
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Cruiser
Joined: Oct 2010
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From: Houston Texas
Ultima El Bruto engines
Are the El Brutos any good? I'm thinking about putting one in my 94 springer. It's a daily driver. Looking at the 127". Are there any other good reliable engine manufactures that make anything over 100" for under $5,000?
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2007
Posts: 4,468
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From: Bluffton, South Carolina
When the Ultima's first came out they had the normal teething problems and a few other problems from suppliers sending poor quality pieces. They have that under control now and are a good engine for the price. Additionally they have a generous warranty. If you should happen to have an issue with their engines and you call them and talk to them without screaming they are more than willing to help you. We've installed more than a few of them with great success. I have a 120" in our '95 FLHTC and run it hard (not beating, but hard) plus it has over 40 dyno runs on it and it runs well even with 40k on it. We will probably take it out and pull it down for an inspection and refresh this winter if time permits, if not we will just keep on running it. Hope this helps.
John
John
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 5,081
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From: Ohio
Mia said alot with real world experiance, the square engine has been known "rock solid" by design
No engine manufacture can compete with Ultima's prices, are they bulletproof NO. Can you build an engine pricewise to match it NO, S&S has good products but you have to refinance the house to own one and they still have failures.
Spoke to Harley engine guru John Sachs who is also an Ultima specialist on engine sizes for the street, in his eyes the 113" is the best engine and with head cleanup hits big numbers on a dyno if your into that, he felt that the 127" was overkill for everyday riding
With that being said and I'm stubborn, I like the idea of the slightly derated 124" and Jireh has a pulled back Ultima based 131" that uses a 4 5/8 crank and like the extra stroke that will move a bagger. Ultima's failures have usually been in the lifter area, they get their 640 lift with a different ratio rocker arm and smaller cams which to me loads the lifters and like the idea of the 124" and 131" have less lift and compression pulled down some which should make them better in the real world.
Will eventually buy a big engine, probaly an Ultima but will still send the new engine to John Sachs to have the heads cleaned up for efficiency and take a look a clearances while apart, Ultima's prices leave some room to have a professional check it over and peace of mind when isolated at somewhere like Sturgis
theyammieguy, don't let me talk you out of the engine size you want, it is your bike and nobody else knows your riding style better than you, beware of what the 127" brings which is high dollar exhaust, stronger clutch, stress on the drivebelt, extra underwear and cleaning your seat off after full throttle which is priceless when pulling away from a warmed up high dollar twinkee
No engine manufacture can compete with Ultima's prices, are they bulletproof NO. Can you build an engine pricewise to match it NO, S&S has good products but you have to refinance the house to own one and they still have failures.
Spoke to Harley engine guru John Sachs who is also an Ultima specialist on engine sizes for the street, in his eyes the 113" is the best engine and with head cleanup hits big numbers on a dyno if your into that, he felt that the 127" was overkill for everyday riding
With that being said and I'm stubborn, I like the idea of the slightly derated 124" and Jireh has a pulled back Ultima based 131" that uses a 4 5/8 crank and like the extra stroke that will move a bagger. Ultima's failures have usually been in the lifter area, they get their 640 lift with a different ratio rocker arm and smaller cams which to me loads the lifters and like the idea of the 124" and 131" have less lift and compression pulled down some which should make them better in the real world.
Will eventually buy a big engine, probaly an Ultima but will still send the new engine to John Sachs to have the heads cleaned up for efficiency and take a look a clearances while apart, Ultima's prices leave some room to have a professional check it over and peace of mind when isolated at somewhere like Sturgis
theyammieguy, don't let me talk you out of the engine size you want, it is your bike and nobody else knows your riding style better than you, beware of what the 127" brings which is high dollar exhaust, stronger clutch, stress on the drivebelt, extra underwear and cleaning your seat off after full throttle which is priceless when pulling away from a warmed up high dollar twinkee
Last edited by 1997bagger; Oct 21, 2012 at 09:15 AM.
Club Member
Joined: Jun 2007
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From: Bedford UK
I think we have to add a little realism here! It is easy to say that a brand has problems. Those that Ultima has suffered from have been well broadcast in HDF, so use 'search' to look at previous posts, but take note of when the threads were started. Also be aware that there are competent engine builders out there who prefer to buy Ultimas as a box of bits so they can build them their own way, which leaves me for one wondering just how good they really are!
As for S&S engines you will struggle to find much about them on HDF. I don't consider them expensive, as mine was installed straight out of the crate and apart from minor rejetting is as it was sent out by the factory - nothing else has been disturbed and it is close to 5 years old. They are also available with a 2/3 year warranty. The warranty on an Ultima is only 6/12 months. IMHO you get what you pay for!
As for S&S engines you will struggle to find much about them on HDF. I don't consider them expensive, as mine was installed straight out of the crate and apart from minor rejetting is as it was sent out by the factory - nothing else has been disturbed and it is close to 5 years old. They are also available with a 2/3 year warranty. The warranty on an Ultima is only 6/12 months. IMHO you get what you pay for!
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Cruiser
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From: Houston Texas
I'm really undecided on what I'm wanting to do. The thought of a brand new engine is very appealing, considering the year of my bike. I also like the idea of just throwing on some s&s heads amd jugs and calling it good. Then I also started everything by thinking I was just going to rebuild what I have. I have a few montha to do some research before I have all the cash together for any type of work. I know i've used Ultima front ends and rims and have been very happy, but rims and engines are totally different.
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i was gonna buy an ultima but i ended up buying an ss 111"
i've heard good and bad with every engine
my next build will be an ultima for the price and type of bike im gonna build it makes sense (bar hopper) soo its not gonna be a touring bike
i've heard good and bad with every engine
my next build will be an ultima for the price and type of bike im gonna build it makes sense (bar hopper) soo its not gonna be a touring bike
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Oct 2010
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From: Houston Texas
That's the thing, you do hear good and bad about all makes. I do one to two cross country trips a year plus I ride pretty much every day, year round. An s&s in the equivilent size is a couple grand more.