Why do Harleys sound so good?
Road Captain
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 566
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From:
RE: Why do Harleys sound so good?
ORIGINAL: dgator66
It aint got nothing to do with mechanical design. That sound came straight from God.
It aint got nothing to do with mechanical design. That sound came straight from God.
Of course the japanese can reproduce the sound. The big question is why they don't.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 2,386
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From: Johnston County, NC
RE: Why do Harleys sound so good?
ORIGINAL: Fred00
That's freaking funny.
Of course the japanese can reproduce the sound. The big question is why they don't.
ORIGINAL: dgator66
It aint got nothing to do with mechanical design. That sound came straight from God.
It aint got nothing to do with mechanical design. That sound came straight from God.
Of course the japanese can reproduce the sound. The big question is why they don't.
Don't read that as me saying that metrics are better or anything... I am never giving up my Harley. We just don't happen to have the new uber-elite 5-Billion CC motors that all the metrics are starting to get. Personally I think they are overkill and un-necessary. But... they are trying to set themselves apart from Harley and motor size is about all they can do to be different. people want the look of Harley but don't want to pay the price... So the metrics try to make them feel better by letting them say they have a bigger motor than HD.
It's all about compensating. [sm=grinangel.gif]
Road Warrior
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 1,942
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From: guntersville, al
RE: Why do Harleys sound so good?
it has to do with the angle of the cylinders (45 degrees Harley) and the bore and stroke being unique. the combination of the three produces the Harley sound. the shovelheads were truly harley when the engine fired on every revolution (dual fire) not every other like they do now (single fire). the dual fire of firing in a cylinder that had an open exhaust valve truly gave the "potato, potato" sound. the Evo and Twinkies can give a close approximation if they are "true dual" exhaust equipped.
Tourer
Joined: Apr 2006
Posts: 401
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From:
RE: Why do Harleys sound so good?
Here is a sound file explaining the sound from Joanne Bischmann, vice president for marketing at Harley-Davidson
In a two-cylinder, horizontally opposed engine, the pistons are timed so that one fires on one revolution of the crankshaft and the other fires on the next revolution -- so one of the two pistons fires on every revolution of the crankshaft. This seems logical and gives the engine a balanced feeling. To create this type of engine, the crankshaft has two separate pins for the connecting rods from the pistons. The pins are 180 degrees apart from one another.
A Harley engine has two pistons. The difference in the Harley engine is that the crankshaft has only one pin, and both piston rods connect to it. This design, combined with the V arrangement of the cylinders, means that the pistons cannot fire at even intervals. Instead of one piston firing every 360 degrees, a Harley engine goes like this:
A piston fires.
The next piston fires at 315 degrees.
There is a 405-degree gap.
A piston fires.
The next piston fires at 315 degrees.
There is a 405-degree gap.
And the cycle continues.
At idle, you can hear the pop-pop sound followed by a pause. So the sound of a Harley is pop-pop...pop-pop...pop-pop. That is the unique sound of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
In a two-cylinder, horizontally opposed engine, the pistons are timed so that one fires on one revolution of the crankshaft and the other fires on the next revolution -- so one of the two pistons fires on every revolution of the crankshaft. This seems logical and gives the engine a balanced feeling. To create this type of engine, the crankshaft has two separate pins for the connecting rods from the pistons. The pins are 180 degrees apart from one another.
A Harley engine has two pistons. The difference in the Harley engine is that the crankshaft has only one pin, and both piston rods connect to it. This design, combined with the V arrangement of the cylinders, means that the pistons cannot fire at even intervals. Instead of one piston firing every 360 degrees, a Harley engine goes like this:
A piston fires.
The next piston fires at 315 degrees.
There is a 405-degree gap.
A piston fires.
The next piston fires at 315 degrees.
There is a 405-degree gap.
And the cycle continues.
At idle, you can hear the pop-pop sound followed by a pause. So the sound of a Harley is pop-pop...pop-pop...pop-pop. That is the unique sound of a Harley-Davidson motorcycle.
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