Now that sucks! It seems that quality is going out the window now a days, Good Luck on your repairs.

 

thank you.I'm still in shock....

 

Your not the first one...A guy on another site, brand new 120r, 7k miles, junk from top to bottom...OUCH$$$. Nasty cost per mile...
That's why I have a stage 1 on mine and it really does run perfect, so I am very hesitant to mess with it...It's a rocker and I ride alone, so it has enough power to get me a seemingly endless supply of speeding tickets...My wife told me any more tickets and I have to leave...LOL, I've heard that for 37 years...LOL.
It seems a lot of folks do serious power upgrades and run into serious tuning and engine damaging issues...Ride safe.

 

I have 23000 miles on mine. It never skipped a beat. I tore it down for inspection. The only worn part is the top of the valves.
cams, head work and 124 cylinders are going on the stock bottom end.

 

Same here, riding my 4th big inch stroker and still no issues. Never bought a crate engine because I trust only myself when it comes to building engines and drivetrains. Not taking anything away from other builders or crate engines. All things mechanical will break down.

 

I have one in the shop right now (120R) that is getting a new top end with less than 1000 miles on it. It was burning a lot of oil due to broken expander and oil rings on the rear cylinder. Its the 2nd time Ive seen this on a 120R and I suspect there is an assembly problem at the factory causing the issue. Customer almost went with the TMan 124 kit but we ended up calling Hyperformance who fixed us up with a new set of 4.075" CP's that the stock cylinders will be fitted to.

 

I discovered a bent oil scraper on mine when I installed the 12.1 pistons. Glad I didn't fire it up prior to doing the piston upgrade or it would have crap out on the heat cycles.

Robert

 

If it is your engine that shits the bit I guess it does not matter what the percentage of failures is. But I wonder how many are running the roads compared to how many have issues.
according to the internet, there should not be an 88" alive that has not blown up by now.
No mater, sorry you have to deal with this ****, this stuff is expensive, and it does not give you a warm and fuzzy feeling about the manufacturer

 

Yea,the cost of going fast. How much do you want to spend and how often do you want to fix it.

 

sorry to hear you are having troubles

You might be surprised that you aren't the only one ....despite what some Koolaid drinkers will state they have both cylinder and crank issues....one local indy has three of them sitting in the engine room with similar problems.....its a problem.

 

The point I was trying to make is as sad as it is, engines that are built on a timed assembly line by itself is troublesome. Mondays, Fridays are the two worst days, people that are upset with something or somebody we have all heard the stories.

It is gut wrenching having engine problems one of the only three Harleys I ever bought new had an engine go bad needing a complete replacement it was warranted but certainly did not make me think bad of the Co.

Once one of my Strokers developed a startup knocking which made me sick, it was because of being built loose for aggressive riding. Once told and understood was Okay after that.

Bottom line is if wanting something bad enough bite the bullet and get it fixed the right way either by yourself or someone who knows what they are doing. These big inch engines are an absolute treat to own once you know they are right and you can depend on them.

 

Built my 120" from scratch. The piston/cylinder fit was perfect out of the box. I had the crank plugged/welded/balanced. After having a 98" gear drive cam motor destroyed due to slipped crank it's the only way I'll ever build a motor. 9K hard miles so far and no issues.

Rick

 

After a few K pull the cylinders and recheck.. Bet they ain't perfect any more..

 

I have had a couple of customer 120r's come through with problems. Two of them had bad cylinders and one had a crank at .026 run out. Is it a huge problem. IDK but .010 and .015 over aftermarket pistons seem to be in high demand. They are a hard to find in stock item.

 

How did it ever run??? If I spent all the money and I put a indicator on the crank and found .026tir I think my heart would seize up!!

?????: how much tir can a crank have and still run???

 

When it was checked new it was .001. When it was checked at 12,000 for new cam. It was .026. Engine was brought to me already out of the bike for fix. Cam chest was already cleaned out. I put the wheels in, cylinders, pistons and heads and it went away. Trailered back to me back in bike with 3 heat soaks on it for dyno tune.

I had a customer with a 05 stock 88 that lost oil pressure. The run out was .029 and it broke gears in pump. So I don't know what they will take but I know what I like them at.

 

This is only the tip of the iceberg, seemed like a great deal, a 120 inch motor complete for around 5 grand. I am not sure I have seen one yet that was just ridden and not pulled down for some problem or the other.
In the MoCo's defense this was a motor that was never intended for street use but I think they knew it just might happen^rolleyez^

 

So if it was intended for race use out the crate and used for race use only do you think the results would be better? If it was intended to be taken apart and gone thru why not only offer it in a disassembled form? I am not trying to be difficult, I am looking for sensible answers why HD would slap together a "Race Only" engine. I was never interested in the 120" motor as I assumed if the company that couldn't build the 96/103 correctly to withstand a cam change and not have some issues, I certainly was not going to buy a 120" race motor from the them.

 

update

well I talked with a rep. with harley at bike week.he gave me a card with a # and asked me to talk to them.I will let you know how I make out after that.hope he was not just passing the buck to be rid of me,I guess we will see.

 

well I talked with a rep. with harley at bike week.he gave me a card with a # and asked me to talk to them.I will let you know how I make out after that.hope he was not just passing the buck to be rid of me,I guess we will see.

It's not that these potential issues are going to hit your motor, but if you get picked by Murphy...It's going to do a big job on your wallet...OUCH!
If HD stood behind THEIR PRODUCTS consistently and PROFESSIONALLY, there would be no problem...Like a professional corporation...
The reality is that they try to give some of their CUSTOMERS the short shift...3 of us ride together usually, all 3 of us have had obvious warranty issues that HD tied to jam us on...It's like a test to see if your stupid???? They fixed them all under duress...
My brother had his engine torn down 2 times for a bad crank when it was brand NEW...less than 1k miles...They rebuilt it twice and it failed again, SO THEY TOLD HIM THEY WERE NOT GOING TO DO ANYMORE BECAUSE (GET THIS) THERE NEVER WAS A PROBLEM TO BEGIN WITH (sounded like a bulldozer when you started it...)...Really...1 call to his lawyer, they rebuilt it again with se parts and a free extended warranty on the motor...These are the actions of a responsible corporation concerned about THEIR CUSTOMERS??? I don't think so...The other 2 of us have had very similar OUTRAGEOUS so called warranty issues...I'm a professional with 30 plus years with multiple fortune 500 tech firms and at times you have issues with your equipment or software, you jump on it and resolve YOUR issue for the CUSTOMER...You do this, you have me for a customer for life...You lie to my face, actively try to avoid YOUR responsibilties and try to steal MY MONEY..See you and I take my money with me...never to return...

 

Put me in the category of many trouble free miles on my SE 120r. Maybe it has to do with when the engine was built?? Mine was purchased in November 2010 and hit the road in March of 2011. All I have done is ride it hard and keep it serviced (oil and filter changes).

When I bought this thing I started to tear it down like Jim (StrokerJK) did and go through it. I instead opted to have it installed and tuned with the idea if something failed in the crank, cylinders, heads etc I would address it when I tore it down for repair. Hot Rods do suffer attrition and need repairs / attention as you ride them hard. One of the costs of performance is accelerated parts wear.

Time will tell how widespread the failures mentioned above are. I know for a while you couldn't swing a cat without hitting someone that was installing an SE 120r into something to be ridden on the street, now the reliability will start to show.

 

Most of the problems are rider/ owner/ 1/2 azz mechanic - tuner error , when you get right down to it .
There is always a real reason. But you don't hear that part .


38,000 touring miles on mine and over 100 1/8 and 1/4 mile passes .

 

And some lifters, and a re-hone with some pistons, and some headwork etc. Not really a crate motor at this point but your crank is holding up well.
Didn't you have one in there that had some crap in the oil rings from the factory as well?

 

I had 23000 miles of pleasure out of mine in stock form. The only wear was on the top of the valve stems.

 

+ 1 @gree: except for the cheap valve seals the MOCO uses. Don Dorfman said that he was surprised the exhaust valves actually worked since they were so carboned up. My friend had the same issue when he looked inside the exhaust ports.

 

ok

well,strokerjlk I agree that there are alot of times that it is completley user related but unless my 1/2 ass installing a complete engine,riding it less 3000 miles an with still never topping it out.or my thunder max tuner has a way of shrinking piston or having the power to enlarge the bore.I got screwed,say what you will that is a fact!

 

well,strokerjlk I agree that there are alot of times that it is completley user related but unless my 1/2 ass installing a complete engine,riding it less 3000 miles an with still never topping it out.or my thunder max tuner has a way of shrinking piston or having the power to enlarge the bore.I got screwed,say what you will that is a fact!

In that 3000 miles did you ever look at what your t max was doing ?
I have seen 120's tuned so poor that they would have never made 3000 miles either .
Bob
My cylinders are still stock bore . I ball honed ( that's nine strokes of the ball hone , to prep it for ring seal .) took the stock flat tops out (27,500 miles) and put the 12.1 stock bore pistons in . There is nothing wrong with the flattops . just my decision to up the compression , without all the BS.
The lifters were found at a cam swap . ( 15,000 miles ) . Who knows how long they would have lasted . I have seen Harley factory 103 c lifters looking the same way.
Swapping cams is something I would do on any motor I had . Always trying something . So to think a cam swap is somehow a mechanical problem , just isn't so .
I put a 120 together that got a small piece of metal off the ring compressor behind the oil ring yes . But that wasn't a problem with the crate motor . It was my fault . Ball honed and new ring pack , problem solved .
Yes my crank is fine after 38,000 hard miles . That's more miles than some guys will ride in a life time of their 120

 

I'm always amazed that folks will spend 20 grand on a bike, another 5-6 grand for performance upgrade/crate motor, then squeak on the tune. In Fl. no less with Doc in the state.

 

squeak?



I did not think 1000 cash was being a squeak.
who is doc and where is he located?
thanks

 

yes I have,every 200 miles or so I reset the autotune to allow it completely dial its self it.it never missed a beat it only really started to act up after the oil made its way into the intake tract from blow by.

 

Florida heat plus a autotune on a semi-race engine.

 

just to be clear I never said that the 120r is a POS.I am sure there are good running engines out there.but I am saying is this is not one of them.I have seen that others have had problems not sure how or why it happenen to others only that this engine was loose.everybody has heard of wedsday motors well we all know that it goes both ways and thing get by that should not at time.I am insulting the 120r I liked it too or I whould have never got it.that being said money comes alot easier to some then others keep that in mind with judgement.if there is a logicial answer as to the fact that the fit is so loose I would like to hear it.

 

I plan on getting it to the shop tomorrow to have them completely looked over with TQ. plates, then I will know if they are warped or uniform oversize.It is what it is at this point.

 

Sorry for your problems Dr. Scott.
Just a data point since 120r owners and possible haters will read this thread. My crank measured .00010 when new (one of Jim's , StrokerJLK, first 120r's, thanks buddy!). I am now doing the Axtell 124 drop in upgrade, camplate and Thayer oil pump and had the crank run out measured, .00015, 26,000 pretty hard miles from build, all good. head gasket had a little leak at the end of the season but thats it. I think it is the luck of the draw, much like life. It sucks when it cost big bucks when the cards come up spades when your looking for hearts, but lets not forget, these are race motors and have never been marketed as anything else. If you want to play, at sometimes you will have to pay (not aimed at you Herr Doctor)

 

:redrolf: Someday, you will come to terms with me.

I got to wonder why these half azz mechanics and tuners are not having these problems with the 124 or countless other engine combos. I remember problems about cylinders got blamed on tuners. Then a couple of them got cut in half and the real problem showed up.