I can only imagine the cluster bleep a OHC setup would be on the classic HD Vtwin bottom end.

As much as I like the OHC's in my rice bikes, I'd never want a HD engine with them, unless it was the VRod engine, or a variant of the VRod engine. Long chains and dual heads is a disaster. I don't think there is enough room to get cam chain tensioners in there that would work. VCT would be a nice benefit of OHC, but again it is a space issue.

Which once again brings me to why HD is going to die a slow death, failure to come into the 20th century and put a water cooled engine in a bagger frame.

I'd be first in line to pay MSRP plus for a bagger with a Vrod engine with low to mid range cam grinds

 

Harley Davidson has been stuck in their old engine design for many, many decades. One can only guess as to why the powers that be have done things the way they have. Perhaps Willie G. was part of the reason. He has now left the company, so we might be seeing some significant changes in the near future as his influence is replaced by younger people. Evidently, they think they had God's ear when it comes to design. By adopting this attitude of putting out a product that is mechanically behind the times. they no doubt feel as though they are putting out exactly what their customers will demand. But, one thing is apparent. Their customer base of older customers is rapidly approaching the age that they can no longer ride and purchase the old style of air cooled V-twin engines. I am guessing that within the next 12 to 24 months we will see water cooled V-twin engines in the frames of the touring bikes. I for one would love to have a modern, dohc 4 cylinder, water cooled Harley. I would not want a 12,000 rpm machine to be sure, but they can overcome that easily enough with cams and fuel injection. I don't need 250 horsepower, I can live with 125.

 

I think that covers it.

 

If you have an existing design, It costs a fortune to scrap it and start new.

If you start new like Victory you go with any technology there is.

Push rods on two valve lower rpm big valves which puts out more power at lower rpms.

Dual cams with four valves per cylinder have small valves which are a fraction of the weight of a single big valve. Therefore a much lighter valve spring can be used and the rpm can be much higher without the wear on the cam and drag that a heavy spring would have.

Flow in the four valve is not as good and does not produce the power at the same rpm a two valve runs at. The power from the four valve system comes from the higher rpm range that they can operate at without floating. This also has less parasitic drain on power than a two valve system.

One is not better than the other. It depends on what you want to do. High low end grunt use a two valve. High speed use a four valve.

There is a lot of life left in the push rod V twin yet. So just appreciate what it does.

Want a four valve water cooled HD just get a Vrod. Too many seem to forget about it. And by the way it was Willie G's baby which many seem to have forgotten also. He is very pleased with the radiator cowling design that he is responsible for. He is staying around as a consultant for some time to come. Of course he is a major stock holder also. So wild swings in product are not in the cards. He has been working for years to have water cooled Harley's in the 70's to early 80's. I guess no one heard of the Nova project. When he and other HD people bought AMF out, they had to decide to bring the Nova to market or improve the existing line. They didn't have money for both and improving an existing platform cost way less to do. So we got the EVO motor and more outsource parts. And that is the rest of the story for those ill informed but opinionated posters.

What has held back HD. The HD OWNER. They cry about water cooling and radiators, they won't accept the Vrod as a Harley. Until the current majority of HD owners are 6 feet under HD has to listen to them. That is the job HD does well. Listen to the owners and give them what they say they want. So don't blame HD they are trying to keep in business buy giving their customers what they want. What a crazy ridiculous Idea.

 

Is there anything mechanically that would prevent the VROD set-up from being mated to the current 6-speed tranny. For those who want to replace a tire every year it sounds like an interesting compromise. No one has ever said the VROD was short on power, but would it work as a touring engine since those bikes are the cash cow for the MoCo.

 

If the thought of mating the V-Rod power plant to the touring frame has occurred to us, you can bet it has occurred to Harley. I would guess they are already working on the next generation Harley, if they don't already have those designs 'in the can', so to speak. I'm also sure that those designs will be released (barring EPA, or other governmental interference) when they feel the market is ready for them. Harley is a SUPERB marketing company. I would even go so far as to say they're better than IBM in that area. How many guys do you see running around with IBM tattoos? BTW, you guys bemoaning the antiquated pushrod design..let me ask you, do you own a Harley? I rest my case.

 

A number of posts showing Touring bikes with Vrod power plants transmission and all. One showed a burn out by just twisting the throttle.

More than enough grunt with the five speed.

In the near term HD will most likely offer water cooled heads with the radiator under the seat like the Nova bike.

 

Some people on this forum are crazy man. They say HD will die a slow death if they don't modernize the technology.
That's nuts. Willie new exactly how to keep the company in business ... design the engines to be a lot more reliable, but keep the old school push rod design. That's the beauty of these bikes. If they changed that, why the F' would we keep buying them. We could just go out and buy any generic piece of ****.

 

The schematic diagram I saw, which was from the U.S. Patent Office showed the radiator between the front forks and used water galleys in the heads for cooling. It is remarkably simple in design, Click the link below to see for yourself. This is from June 2012.
http://thekneeslider.com/archives/20...-heads-patent/

 

If you've never stood next to a radial engine on start up you should put it on your bucket list. The vibration alone is amazing, in addition to the sound. This baby sounds like my EVO on a really cold morning......bwaha.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiW4t-03_2Y

I'll be one of those guys who will own the push rod version until I'm no longer here. No apologies!