Don't count on that, I have a 5 gal bucket 1/2 full of S&S rod cores the crank pins **** themselves, standards and the heavy duty. Rod bodies are decent but I swap crank pins in them.

 

We have Egged, and Spun the Big End Race, on Supreme S&S rods.. But...to the Good, once resized and round, they cannot Spin again, as the egged shape prevents that! Regular, (not Supreme) S&S rods do Not seem to do this near as Much. But, We generally only used Supremes in Performance intended engines...even if, Many times, Non-Supreme rods, got Torture Tested.. Pins??? Only Jims gave Problems. BTW we haven't built a True Performance Engine in quite a few Years...so ..Nothing probably remains the Same!!

 

Have a set of raw Truett & Osborn torque monster 4-1/2" stroke flywheels and Carrillo rods I picked up years ago before discovering my cases were done on the shovel. Need to do something with them eventually.

 

We because of the rod issue at S&S take them out when re doing an engine dont care what stroke it has a use the RPLS rods made in japan

over 30 years we used them and never found a set not in spec and fell apart like many S&S rods

that is not to say they never made good ones they did but today i cant trust them

 

Again...Only Issue with S&S rods was Egging Big End...or if beat unmerifully..spun bush in Small end... Neither caused real problems because we Knew to look for it..Once Resized, because they are slightly egged...Absolutely No Movement after!! also Never Broke an S&S Rod...
My Partner went with Some other Rod once... His (iron) cylinder Disappeared..along with Rod and Piston..Hell On Cases...but the (iron) head was Reused!!! Note these Motors would "Run the Numbers" and were Not Babied!

Edit; Please send Me those Junk S&S rods..Preferably Not Supremes...But...I can fix that too!!! Preferably No Corrillo, Jim McClure made the Very Strongest I beam Rods... Awhile Back!!!

 

I too have had some catastrophes using S&S. I do think S&S makes good quality parts but I think you have to pick and choose. I always liked either Truett and Osborne, which is what I ran in my personal stuff, or I did truly love the S&S 4 3/4 flywheels. I got to the point where when I did any shovel there really was only one option lol. Either a 91 inch with the stock 3 1/2 inch jugs or 98 inch with 3 5/8 jugs. Those fly wheels were the absolute perfect weight the perfect balance right between too little and too much.

With all that said, I know this won’t be popular, I absolutely love Ultima. The Midwest cranks, rods, cases and heads are really really nice. I know they got a bad rep because when they first started out they had some production issues. They had some bad pistons, rocker arms and lifters. Most of that ironed out and if you buy their unassembled kits, man I can’t tell you how nice all that stuff is. A buddy of mine is running consistent 9.80’s with a street EVO and a consistent 10.70 out of another. They have been very reliable and they back up their product.

If money were no object I truly would choose Midwest Ultima over S&S and it’s a good 40% cheaper.

I don’t know what’s good or bad past the EVO. But for EVO era builds I’m Ultima all the way.

When I was really young and really broke.. I had big dreams and everyone around me had money to throw at their builds.. I saved and saved for S&S 3 5/8 jugs only to have them last half a season at 13:1 with the base bolt ear snapping right off.. I replaced them with $125 a pair Dixie 3 5/8 jugs and ran them going on 23-24 more years at right around 12:1. Those jugs were bored 20 over, then 30 over they e seen probably 80 to 100,000 miles all at north of 11.5:1 compression and shifts occasionally at 62-6300 rpm. They’ve ran in Florida heat at 11.87:1 with pump 93 octant gas sitting in lines at Daytona.. In traffic jams. I built at least half a dozen other stroker high compression Shovels using those poor man Dixie jugs.. I’ve never heard of any breaking. Trick is.. machine 3-5 thou off the base to true them… then always shave from the top. Turn them in a lathe, same for the heads.. they hold up real well.

 

S&S has been making "Harley-Davidson" motors for generations.

For me, unless the bike was new enough that it should have been expected to have its original parts not worn out, an aftermarket engine would be fine. I would even consider paying more for such a bike if there was a receipt.

A 143 inch bagger would be awesome, I don't care what name is on the side of the engine.

 

Personally I think that’s impractical.. And I’m known for being radicle and throwing the idea of warranty or high maintenance e out the window. I don’t even expect my motors to last more than 50k before needing to rebuild.. and I wouldn’t try a 143 in a bike I wanna ride accross the country on. I’d keep it to low stroke.. and bore size would depend on the cylinders. I’d want the largest cylinders with the smallest bore so the cooling fins are thick and the bike can handle the heat cycles.

Example.. Ultima makes a 120, 127, 131 and 140..
the 120 is a 4 1/4 stroke with 4.25” jugs… probably runs the coolest.
the 127 is a 4 1/2 Stroke with 4.25 jugs.. not bad a little more heat
the 131 is a 4 5/8 Stroke w/ 4.25 jugs… a lot more heat… I wouldn’t consider this for a bagger and long distances.
the 140…. They just bore the 4.25 jugs out to 4 3/8” to me… this is just flat way too thin on the base gasket and head surfaces for sealing. This is like a drag bike engine to me. Super high maintenace and way too expensive for a guy like me to keep running.

This 143 you speak of… don’t know it’s specs.. but bet more stroke… bigger bore= LOTS MORE HEAT.

‘’Sure… we love to watch these 135” and bagger YouTube channels and see their dyno charts… I’m all for that in a softail or FXR and an expectation of an occasional 500 mile trip. But when you speak “Bagger” to me that means multiple 500 or even 800 Mile days that are far from home… Some of the Baggers on Youtube, Blockhead comes to mind… Are not bikes your going to hear about 5 years down the road. Those motors are either rebuilt need rebuilt or replaced by now. They really are not made for cross country miles. They are fake baggers as far as I’m concerned.

My road king will probably get my softails 127 and my softail will probably get a much higher compression 131.. but truthfully my preference would be a 113 or 120 for the Road king.

 

Not been my experience ...at the Track anyway.. But, more cubes does = more heat, either way....
Note; I do Not even look at Imported (chiwanese) Stuff. But, This conversation Revolves around the S&S mill Specifically..Which is an Engine I Like!! Replace the title here from S&S engine to Ultima...or Certainly RevTech, and I walk away!!!

 

Ultima is made in the USA. It’s from a plant in Missouri that’s well documented all over the Internet and in writing. You can see pictures of their machining facility and the hunks of aluminum that are being machined in their catalog.

My point wasn’t so much bigger bore equals more heat. It’s the bigger bored sometimes means thinner cylinder walls. And the heat cycles destroy it. That’s why I said I want the biggest bore with the smallest piston. If you take the same cylinder and just keep boring it out bigger it’s going to run hotter.

Heat dissipation actually increases with a thicker cylinder wall.