I ’ve ridden Harleys with the twin cooled 117ci (1923cc) Milwaukee-Eight donk before and then, just like now, it really impresses. It’s torquey and angry yet with a surprising amount of civility. This gives you the ability to ride in (relative) anonymity when needed, but also allows for that trademarked H-D noise and the ability to disturb the peace as need be. Mind you, the stock pipes look and sound remarkably grown-up…
There are no prizes for guessing that torque is the star of the 117ci engine’s show. On paper, the ST’s 77kW (103hp) may not sound a lot but, with 167Nm backing it up, you can get the 327kg bike moving. FYI, that’s 17Nm more torque than a 2024 Suzuki Hayabusa.
Considering that all that twisting force is peaking at a mere 3500rpm, you can really get away with some silly stuff when it comes to casually burbling around town. My grey matter took a day or two before I realised that the thing would happily sit at about 1400rpm in whatever gear and still get up and go when I asked it to. And not riding it like a sportsbike will improve
