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120R Street Glide 9K mile touring review

21K views 17 replies 16 participants last post by  Half_crazy 
#1 ·
Installed the screaming eagle 120R Kit(not crate) last fall into my 09 street glide. It has the SE266 CAM, SE Roller Rockers, D&D Boarzilla Exhaust, and Timken Bearings. Tuned by Blue Springs, MO Harley-Davidson to 140ish square. This is my review as a touring platform after 5K of daily riding and a 4K summer vacation tour.

I opted to stick with the recommended SE pro race clutch setup. While this is a great clutch for racing, most will not be able to handle the pull on a daily basis. I've ridden it so much I don't see the need to change it out for another option(vpc, hydraulic, etc..) The pull is ok for me but wouldn't reccommend for any average rider.

The torque of the bike is spot on for my touring habits, it will pull stumps with no complaints and I see no reason to move the torque curve more to the left. It has enough torque now at lower rpm to roast the tires and i've found that having the torque up a bit higher is more suitable for roll on power in 5th and 6th gears when you want to pass someone(i cruise at 70+). The engine seems to be very happy at the 2800-3200 rpm range and is optimum cruising range at 75-80 in 6th. It's equally capable of cruising at 60-75mph in 6th, but it suffers a bit of roll on power in this lower rpm range. Caveat: it is more than adequate roll on power even in that range.

Heat issues daily and touring - Non existent in 90+F deadlock traffic. I have the screaming eagle premium oil cooler. This engine runs so much cooler than my stock 96 with Stage 1 you'll not hear any complaints about heat from me. It never has kicked in the heat management system(yes it's turned on).

Fuel milage - Daily I get 35-40 when I'm riding like a mad man, 40-50 when driven sanely.

After 4000 mile trip through Arkansas Mountains, New Orleans Traffic, Gulf Coast Beach Cruise, Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee backroads, Tail of the Dragon, Cherehola Skyway, Blueridge Parkway, 4 lane flat highways, 4 lane hilly highway... any type of riding you could think of in this area it consistently got better fuel milage than my fathers stock(no stage 1) Ultra Limted 103". Anywhere from 2/10 to 1/2 gallon per tank better. The reason, I was able to cruise in 6th gear more often in more situations than a stock 103". The power of the 120R allows it eat up roads with ease. The only place that I got slightly less fuel milage was in the tail of the dragon when I was slaying it while he was cruising it. Even then it was a marginal difference.

Carving in the mountains: Umm this engine affords you the torque to really power through and out of the curves to the next one without a ton of shifting. 1-2 gears most of the time in the mountains. Obviously you'll have to get it down into some lower gears on the 15mph rated mountain curves, but it gives you enough power to hang with bikes you previously had no chance. I'm not an expert mountain carver, but even with my mediocre skills i could hang with the average sport bike riders. I'm sure many of you more skilled riders would have a blast on a 120r equipped Harley.

Is it a touring engine - performance and fuel efficiency I would have to say yes. Reliability still to be proven. Need more miles to really prove reliability.



 
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#2 ·
I see you took it across the dragon...How'd that go?
 
#4 · (Edited)
That was awesome, sharpened the boards up a bit. The power band on this engine really helps with that type of riding on a big v-twin harley. I by no means was tearing it up, but no one was passing or on my ass. All I can say is it was a freakin' blast!!!! You'll have to be careful because the 120R can get you into some speeds where you really have to brake hard to make the next corner. This was my first trip to the Dragon and I felt like the 120R made it a more enjoyable ride. It was obvious the bike could go much faster than my skill would allow.

 
#5 ·
Great review. My friend and salesman said it would not make a good engine for touring. You seem to be proving him wrong. I was also concerned about gas mileage. You are doing better than my 96. Wonder if Harley will offer this on a touring bike? The 110 has had its share of troubles.
 
#13 ·
Great news! Sounds like H-D has done its homework & you got yourself a great engine set-up.
 
#15 ·
Same thing we have seen on our end.. I have read the post where the guides are not correct the valves, seats BLAH BLAH BLAH is all I really hear in my reading reading the same ole post about the heads.. Then that the cylinders are not correct, you must bore them etc.. They did change the ring pack around and I do think that it helps to improve the seal in the cylinder. A whole lotta engine for the price tag.

The engine is a proven runner thus far and my customer did not even come close on the Hoka Hey run but the engine is box stock and never missed a beat on the 10,000 mile trip.

Please keep us posted as you log more miles.
 
#17 ·
120R Street Glide 9K mile touring review Reply to Thread

Is it possible for a 124 to ride as smooth and as fast seglide's 120r hmmmmmmm, :hmmm: time will tell. :whistle:

:xhere:
 
#18 ·
If I may, a couple of questions.

Is the gearing stock?
What's it like to ride slow through a parking lot or in slow moving traffic?


The reason I ask is my bike makes serious torque on the low end. I find that it's a lot easier to ride it if I keep the rpms up over 2200 (like when I'm going slow and think I should upshift, I talk myself out of it and just let it spin). At low rpm the throttle is like a switch... on or off... and it's a lot easier to modulate the throttle with more rpm. I was just wondering what your experience has been. Thanx in advance.
 
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