131 Screamin’ Eagle Street Glide Goes the Distance
Marketing hype or is the big motor upgrade a must-have?
Power Test
Harley-Davidson's latest motor is just the thing for those with adrenaline to spare. Released in 2020, the Screamin’ Eagle 131 Performance Crate Engine is a warranty-friendly, bolt-in offering for later model touring bikes. Is the upgrade just marketing hype or a must-have for power-hungry riders? Vehicle-aficionados, Jalopnik, recently put one to a long-term test with some surprising results.
Photos courtesy of Jalopnik.
Orange Glide
Any fuel junkie already knows the answer is yes, the 131 cubic-inch is necessary. The question to deliberate is whether or not it is worth it to have the hefty Milwaukee-Eight installed in a new bike or to opt for a used machine and upgrade that ride. It is a point that Jalopnik pondered for a month with their Performance Orange, 2020 Street Glide Special.
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Performance Run
The attention-getting ride was a loaner from Milwaukee, arriving fully fitted with the big bore motor. Jalopnik's Bradley Brownell admitted to being blown away by the Street Glide's phenomenal paint and blacked-out finishes. More telling was the enthusiastic response to the bike's power output. “It became an impressive highway freight train cruiser with more than enough performance to run the streets.”
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Finer Details
Harley-Davidson took a more muted approach to its color palette in 2021, but not so the previous year. In Performance Orange, the Street Glide Special is not a bike for introverts. Brownell stated, “Without exaggeration, every single fuel stop I made on this motorcycle resulted in someone commenting how nice it looked or inquisitively inching closer to inspect some of its finer details.”
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Expensive Perks
While Jalopnik did not pay for their test model, they did weigh in on the cost. The all-in price at the time was $34,894, which includes the $6,195 dealer-installed 131 cubic-inch Milwaukee-Eight with its 121 horsepower and 131 lb-ft of torque. Brownell called it “silly and expensive,” but admitted the “looks, thumbs-up approvals and interest from the general non-bike-buying public...has its perks.”
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Lower Time
Reserved for the CVO models, the Milwaukee-Eight 117 is the largest production engine Harley-Davidson currently builds. Touring models in the Special category are equipped with the 114 cubic-inch version. While the 131 may seem like a big bump up in power, the 800 lbs-plus Street Glide Special easily soaks it up, and noticeably lowers the 0-60 time to under four seconds.
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Highway Pulls
Off-the-line power is awesome, but slightly misses the point of the big motor. With the bulk of its power sitting at the top end, the Screamin’ Eagle 131 excels on the open road. Brownell recalls, “The big speed comes at highway runs,” while adding that “it pulls from low revs with plenty of power and somehow manages to do it gracefully.”
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DIY Cubes
The factory-warrantied motor is proving to be nothing but reliable. The current discussion focuses more on value. Many, Jalopnik included, think they would rather build up a slightly older model, not a new bike. Either way, it is a great dilemma to consider. For the mechanically inclined, there is even the DIY approach to adding more cubes—more on that here: 131" Build Info & Pictures.
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