Have been pondering my next build, and am curious about going to a 117. Which option would be better, go with the SE drop on 117 for my cvo or have the cases bored for the S&S 117 cylinders?
which would hold up better for the long haul?
If I were building a 117", and incidentally I am, I'd pull the motor down, address the crank, either a new S&S, send yours to Darkhorse, whichever your poison. Then I'd bore the cases and use the S&S cylinders. I think for the long haul you'll have a much longer lasting motor, and probably smoother if the crank is balanced to the pistons used.
Some will say you may as well build a 124" then, but it just depends on what you want. They're two different motors. I have both, the 124" is smooth, but not as smooth as the 4-3/8" stroke 117" is. What I mean by that is I can feel the pulses of the 124" more so than the 117" while at a cruise.
If you decide to go with the 117 S&S cylinders, I would machine the spigot bores to the 124 dimensions.
Same bore diameter, just deeper.
Just in case the day ever comes that you what to bump it up to a 124, the case machine work is already taken care of.
JMHO.
My next build on my softail I want a solid 135 square with a broad torque curve, not peaky like i have now.
Crank will be addressed, whether S&S or Darkhorse I wont know until I start the build. Mine was at .0045 when i current set up. Will be running it till it gives me problems..
As much as I doubted the thin walled SE 117 cylinders I had a customer that did over 40 thousand miles on a 15 cvo with no issues. That being said I agree completely with OHIO HD's post
I'm tending to lean that way. Another plus is S&S has the granite color too.