When's the new "Bumphead" motor going to hit the floors?
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2012
Posts: 12,986
Likes: 712
From: NE Philly
The factory picked it out. It's called the "Milwaukee 8". I've just been calling it the 8 valve but that's not it's name. Harley Big Twin motors haven't had nicknames based on cylinder head design since the Shovelhead. That's because prior to the Evo the factory didn't differentiate between the motors. When you bought a big twin you bought an EL, FL, FLH, etc. The knucklehead was never called that till the panhead came out and people who owned '48 and up big twins needed an easy way to differentiate their bikes from the previous head design. Same way with the Shovel. When the new heads came out in '66 Harley advertised them as "Power Pak" heads but you could retrofit them on 65 and back and the factory still didn't give the motors names. The bikes only had a model designation, (FL,FLH,FX,FXE, etc.). The factory took over naming the motors with the Evo in '84. There was a very lame and short lived attempt by some bike mags to hang the name "Blockhead" on the Evo but it never stuck. Harley named the Twin Cam and I've heard it referred to as the Twinkie but that's just a derogatory modification of Harley's name for the motor, not a nickname made up by riders. The Twin Cam doesn't need a name. It already has one created and copyrighted by the factory just like the Milwaukee 8. Trying to hang a nickname with the -head suffix on the new motor after 32 years is even more lame than trying to make up your own nickname in high school. Those nicknames aren't for new bikes. Your bike isn't "old-school" no matter how much bolt-on "live to ride" crap you hang on it. Stop trying to be something you're not and stop trying to make a new bike into something it's not and will never be. It just looks pathetic.
Last edited by baka1969; Aug 19, 2016 at 06:48 PM.
Cruiser
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 175
Likes: 14
From: New Jersey
The factory picked it out. It's called the "Milwaukee 8". I've just been calling it the 8 valve but that's not it's name. Harley Big Twin motors haven't had nicknames based on cylinder head design since the Shovelhead. That's because prior to the Evo the factory didn't differentiate between the motors. When you bought a big twin you bought an EL, FL, FLH, etc. The knucklehead was never called that till the panhead came out and people who owned '48 and up big twins needed an easy way to differentiate their bikes from the previous head design. Same way with the Shovel. When the new heads came out in '66 Harley advertised them as "Power Pak" heads but you could retrofit them on 65 and back and the factory still didn't give the motors names. The bikes only had a model designation, (FL,FLH,FX,FXE, etc.). The factory took over naming the motors with the Evo in '84. There was a very lame and short lived attempt by some bike mags to hang the name "Blockhead" on the Evo but it never stuck. Harley named the Twin Cam and I've heard it referred to as the Twinkie but that's just a derogatory modification of Harley's name for the motor, not a nickname made up by riders. The Twin Cam doesn't need a name. It already has one created and copyrighted by the factory just like the Milwaukee 8. Trying to hang a nickname with the -head suffix on the new motor after 32 years is even more lame than trying to make up your own nickname in high school. Those nicknames aren't for new bikes. Your bike isn't "old-school" no matter how much bolt-on "live to ride" crap you hang on it. Stop trying to be something you're not and stop trying to make a new bike into something it's not and will never be. It just looks pathetic.
Guess what? Your opinion will not change this!
Bubblehead to the front!
WF
Club Member
Joined: Aug 2008
Posts: 22,841
Likes: 17,870
From: Lafayette, Louisiana
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Road Master
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 760
Likes: 4
From: Plano, Texas
The factory picked it out. It's called the "Milwaukee 8". I've just been calling it the 8 valve but that's not it's name. Harley Big Twin motors haven't had nicknames based on cylinder head design since the Shovelhead. That's because prior to the Evo the factory didn't differentiate between the motors. When you bought a big twin you bought an EL, FL, FLH, etc. The knucklehead was never called that till the panhead came out and people who owned '48 and up big twins needed an easy way to differentiate their bikes from the previous head design. Same way with the Shovel. When the new heads came out in '66 Harley advertised them as "Power Pak" heads but you could retrofit them on 65 and back and the factory still didn't give the motors names. The bikes only had a model designation, (FL,FLH,FX,FXE, etc.). The factory took over naming the motors with the Evo in '84. There was a very lame and short lived attempt by some bike mags to hang the name "Blockhead" on the Evo but it never stuck. Harley named the Twin Cam and I've heard it referred to as the Twinkie but that's just a derogatory modification of Harley's name for the motor, not a nickname made up by riders. The Twin Cam doesn't need a name. It already has one created and copyrighted by the factory just like the Milwaukee 8. Trying to hang a nickname with the -head suffix on the new motor after 32 years is even more lame than trying to make up your own nickname in high school. Those nicknames aren't for new bikes. Your bike isn't "old-school" no matter how much bolt-on "live to ride" crap you hang on it. Stop trying to be something you're not and stop trying to make a new bike into something it's not and will never be. It just looks pathetic.
