Sound of the original harleys
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R_W_B
Senior Member
Did I miss it ? I didn't see any reply about the dual fire of the old Harleys. That caused more of a distinctive difference in the sound than anything else that I've been able to tell.
The never ones only fire separately in each cylinder at a time, whereas the older ones fired in both cylinders at the same time. One cylinder was actually ready to receive the fire at the top of it's compression stroke. The other was either on it's intake or exhaust stroke depending on which cylinder in the cycle.
This gave a very distinctive potato potato sound that is different than the newer models.
The never ones only fire separately in each cylinder at a time, whereas the older ones fired in both cylinders at the same time. One cylinder was actually ready to receive the fire at the top of it's compression stroke. The other was either on it's intake or exhaust stroke depending on which cylinder in the cycle.
This gave a very distinctive potato potato sound that is different than the newer models.
HarryB737
Junior Member
The Tourist
Banned
Hey, no prob. I was very surprised that so many older bikes were filmed just for the sound. Glad I could help.
J
Jack Klarich
Guest
You are correct, the wasted spark ignition had a distinct sound, listen to a shovel Pan or Knuck:s
scottyguitar
Member
Man, that is a nice WL! I had to listen to that baby a few times. I love the sound of a 45ci motor!
Definitely a distinctive sound. My '08 Fatboy has its own sound, but I wish it were more like that WL.
Definitely a distinctive sound. My '08 Fatboy has its own sound, but I wish it were more like that WL.
The Tourist
Banned
I wanted to see if YouTube had a catalog of all old Harleys, even the oddball ones. So I typed one in at random.
I chose the 1965 Panhead. It's an oddball, the only pan with an electric starter. I hit the 'search' button, and up it popped...
1965 Pan Head - YouTube
I chose the 1965 Panhead. It's an oddball, the only pan with an electric starter. I hit the 'search' button, and up it popped...
1965 Pan Head - YouTube
R_W_B
Senior Member
True but the EVO's also had dual fire. All Harley-Davidson electronic ignitions that came direct from the factory prior to 1999 were "Dual Fire" (firing both spark plugs at the same time). One coil triggers two spark plugs, one producing power on the compression stroke, and the other plug firing during the exhaust stroke or intake stroke depending on the cycle sequence. This gave the old Harley potato potato sound.
A dual points single fire system was developed in the early sixties but was not installed on factory bikes. It was available to be installed by the Harley dealers. A money thing.
The Twin Cam 88 engine was released for the 1999 model year in September 1998 to replace the EVO engine. It was the first factory produced single fire ignition.
In 2001 the cam sensor was eliminated and the ignition timing was completely handled by the Crank Position Sensor (CKP). Tests have proven that the dual fire incurred very little (if any) performance lag. However it was done away with mainly for emissions control and better integration of computerized ignition.