Harley-Davidson lets loose 131 cubic inches of crated Screamin’ Eagle

Harley-Davidson is a heritage brand. For the most part, it sells products that stay very close to its central theme, revolving around Americana and the hearty thrum of a V-twin engine. The latest crate engine offering is no different, as the 131 Street Performance presents the opportunity to bolt in big ol’ heap of torque to your 2017-and-later touring model Harley.

The engine is, of course, a V-twin and can be ordered in either the traditional oil-cooled or the newer Twin-Cooled configuration—assuming you aren’t scared to have some coolant pumping through your big touring machine. The engine is still primarily air- and oil-cooled, but a small cooling system helps manage the temperature of the cylinder heads, preventing the engine from changing the timing to avoid pre-ignition when the engine gets hot.

Displacing a whopping 131 cubic inches, the engine features a 4.310-inch bore. For perspective, that’s a larger bore than a 454-cube big-block Chevrolet. Pair those giant lungs with 10.7:1 compression and high-flow fuel injectors, along with a smattering of other Screamin’ Eagle performance parts, and the mighty twin cranks out 131 pound-feet of torque and 121 horsepower. That’s a significant amount of twist; in addition, Harley claims the torque curve is less a curve and more a plateau, which is absolutely believable.

However, there are plenty of options to get power like that into a Harley chassis. The real luxury to us is that this package is factory fit and finish, and it even bolts up to the factory engine mounts. A one-year warranty gives some peace of mind to anyone nervous about yanking the engine from their bike in the hunt for power.

This would surely make one of the big Harley touring models a great over-the-road machine. Power makes cruising that much easier, and having power on tap to pass is always nice. I don’t own a touring bike though, so, for now, I am just picturing this amount of power in a small kit car or sand rail. Seems dangerous. I like it.