Why are Harley Davidsons so underpowered?

Why are Harley Davidsons so underpowered?

Cruisers, like Harley Davidson bikes, are slower than sports bikes because they have push-rod valve trains and are air-cooled, and can therefore not operate at high engine RPMs to develop lots of power. Others believe cruisers are designed to cruise.

How much horsepower does a 117 cubic inch Harley have?

And despite the mild torque increase, the 117 is definitely more powerful than the other Road Glide engines. Cycle World ran 2018 Harley Davidson CVO Road Glide on a dynamometer and recorded 93.75 hp at the wheel.

How much horsepower does a Harley-Davidson 114 have?

A chubby 240mm rear tire cements the musclebike vibe, as does Harley’s 114ci Milwaukee-Eight engine—an 1,868cc, four-valve-per-cylinder, 45-degree V-twin that imbues this Softail with performance—78.7 hp and 119 pound-feet of torque on our dyno—while still offering the heavy-flywheel feel.

Can Harleys be fast?

The average top speed for a Harley-Davidson motorcycle is around 115 mph and the average time from 0 to 60 mph is around 4.3 seconds. The fastest model, the FXDR, reaches 160 mph and the time from 0 to 60 mph is around 2.5 seconds.

Are Harley reliable?

So in the end, it appears that Harley-Davidson’s really are reliable overall. While it’s understandable how Harley-Davidson might have earned a reputation for unreliability in the past, the truth is today you see many bikes on the road that were produced in the last 25 years.

Why don’t Harleys have a lot of horsepower?

Harley’s are low-RPM bikes, so they are not going to make lots of Horsepower unless they have super massive amounts of Torque, or high RPMS and RPMs are easier to increase than torque, but Harley engines won’t do high RPMs. Torque is power, it is acceleration. High levels of Horsepower are the ability to maintain some Torque at high rpms.

How do you calculate the horsepower of a Harley Davidson motorcycle?

Horsepower is Torque x RPM / 5252. Harley’s are low-RPM bikes, so they are not going to make lots of Horsepower unless they have super massive amounts of Torque, or high RPMS and RPMs are easier to increase than torque, but Harley engines won’t do high RPMs. Torque is power, it is acceleration.

Where do Harley engines get their HP numbers from?

Harley doesn’t release horsepower numbers for their engines. Thus it must come from dynomometer runs made by non-Harley sources, like tuners or cycle magazines. This also means these HP numbers will be measured at the rear wheel and not at the engine, which normally is about 15\% higher than observed at the wheel.

How much torque does a Harley have?

For example, I also found a site stating about 125Nm torque for this Harley, while the curve shows 115 only. But in general, Harleys are usually driven at low RPM, where they have more torque and more power than that 140PS Yamaha bike.