After Harley-Davidson had made Shovelhead blocks - with their roots in 1920 - for years, that concept was worked out. The Shovels were no longer a match for any kind of competition and they broke down because they had to 'take on' all of them much more modern constructions. Moreover, they made too much noise and their exhaust gases no longer received green light from an emission point of view.
For the always more than conservative Harley clientele, leaving the Shovelhead blocks was a direct insult. It took almost a generation before the Shovels were no longer widely regarded as 'The Last Real Harley's'. The Geuzenname has now been taken over by ... the Harley-Davidson Evolution blocks.
And then there was the Harley-Davidson Evolution engine, the Blockhead
That was in 1984. That Harley-Davidson Evolution was and is just a good thing. A well maintained and nicely used 1340 cc Evoblok? That's good for a ton. Its production stopped in 1999. When the motorbikes were born they did not have a pet name. Earlier were Harley's Knuckleheads, Panheads and Shovelheads. These were all names that 'the market' had come up with.
At Harley, the marketers were already quite up to date
So, coming up with a new pet name did not have to be left to 'the market'. The name 'Blockhead' was put on the market via the tamtam. The invented name has not become as anchored in the Harley Hearts as the grown pet names. Marketing is therefore grossly overrated. Just like the still unique sound of Harley's, the "potato-potato" sound at no-load. Thanks to their heavy flywheels, shovels were able to run very slowly stationary. To make a Harley-Davidson Evolution nice and idle, it had to run a little faster. Otherwise the big ends broke.
Most Harley-Davidson Evolution's learned to run faster after bypassing the environmentally-oriented mixture facility (air filter and carburation), the installation of a healthier camshaft and another ignition and exhaust system. The Evo's are from the time that Americans only got their engines cleaner with tricks that the Japanese had long overgrown. If such a Harley has been 'tackled' then the engine emerged that it should have been. It will run better, faster and more economically.
Harley's rescue
Everyone agrees that the Evoblocks have saved Harley-Davidson from ruin. The blocks were more reliable and, in particular, much better than the machines with cast-iron cylinders and heads. The carters were still largely identical to those of the Shovels. With the single camshaft mounted in the crankcase, the Evo was the last really direct descendant of the legendary Knucklehead. There were some issues with foot packs and the use of poor quality bearings in the block. But with a still running Harley-Davidson Evolution, those teething problems will be over.
For Europeans used to cornering and tight braking, a Harley-Davidson Evolution remained one thing that neither steered nor braked. But more relaxed minds can still become very happy.
Currently, Harleys with Evoblokken are the good proof that you don't have to take out a mega credit to ride a Real Harley. Our careful advice is: buy as standard a copy as possible. Very, really very many Harleys have been thoroughly ruined due to improper but highly spectacular adjustments.
Nice article to read. In my Road King (1997) hangs an EVO block and I am very satisfied! But due to the purchase of new dampers I have to have other (original) curves. Now I can buy curves from a 2001 Twin cam. Does anyone happen to know if these fit on my EVO?
Thank you in advance and wish you many safe kilometers.
We have one here driving around the club that had already run 250.000km when he entered Motor 73 as a marathon motor. Now a lot has been added.
I always enjoyed those irregular blows that my FLT shovel gave when idling. In the beginning I thought now he turns off but that never happened. He was from 1982 and never had any problems with it. Always started even after months of downtime.
I was also told that it sounds so beautiful because it looks like a heartbeat. But it is at least one of the most characteristic / most beautiful sounding engine blocks in the market, until the dampers are gone verdwenen
It is rather the other way around Dolf: the Evo (lution) is the first engine that has not become known under the 'publicly chosen pet name' Blockhead.
The 'Flathead', 'Knuckle', 'Pan' and 'Shovel' are names given by the clientele; 'Evo' is the official factory name.
Since then we have known the (new) blocks under their official factory name 'Twin Cam', 'Twin Cam B' and now the 'Milwaukee88'.
Evil tongues claim that the 'Evo' is not a real Harley block, because the research was done in collaboration with Porsche.
But why reinvent the wheel when someone else has years of experience with air-cooled engines (Porsche)?
The 'Evo' turned out to be the (umpteenth) rescue for the MoCo.