I recently inherited an 81 Tour Glide, the engine is blown, and as I want to keep it stock Harley Davidson, would the Screamin Eagle be a viable replacement or does it even fit? Should I look for something else?

 

It's a Shovelhead. Re-build it.

 

^^^ And have a helluva a cool bike.

 

....or put a 93in S&S motor in it.

 

Get an S&S Shovel style motor.

I loved my 1980 FLT. I owned it for 18 years or so... When I bought it, it looked pretty funky. I worked it into all kinds of Road King parts... I had redone the top end when one of the exhaust bolts got buggered up and melted part of the head. I bumped up the compression and it ran like a raped ape. It was a great bike. If it weren't for the transmission going out and having a tough time finding parts for it, and me getting slightly lucky with some money, I'd probably still be riding it. I probably shoulda just bought a different transmission, maybe done a belt primary drive conversion or something and kept it...

But, I do enjoy my Slim.

I'm kinda stupid when it comes to inherited stuff though... I spend too much time, energy and dollars on things I've inherited. I always encourage others to do the same.

 

Honestly, if you're asking these types of questions already, you are probably not cut out for shovel ownership... you don't even know what type of engine is sitting in the frame. Not trying to be rude... just being honest. May want to sell that bike to someone who can give it a good home.

 

"Engine blown"...meaning?

Rebuild, its a Shovel.

You put in an S&S motor an all you have is a special coinstruction motorcycle. In some states that means it is no longer considered a Harley

 

True, I always forget that part... But, I've never built a bike from scratch or even replaced a whole engine in a bike. I've always repaired, whatever was needed.

 

What states do that?

 

Now that I think about it for a minute....

I would wager, if the bike is already registered (which, here in Virginia, you can do whether it's running or not) it wouldn't matter until you get pulled over, or... I have never seen it here in Virginia, but some folks report police walking down lines of bikes and checking VINs against motor numbers and causing issue.

Of course, I am not a club guy, I don't go to club style events often (Harley Drags from time to time, etc.) and I don't ride like an idiot. So, most of the time the police and i just nod courteously at each other and off we go.

If you built the bike first, and went in to a Virginia DMV and tried to register the bike as a new construction, then the motor numbers thing would be an issue. Or, maybe if the emissions thing tightens up and you had to run your bike through smog testing? I dunno.

Currently, I would have no issue throwing an S&S in a previously registered motorcycle here in Virginia. I wouldn't even think about it.