S&S motor question

[Hybredhog]

Personally I have seen enough of the S&S crate engines in the shop with issues that I wouldn't recommend them to anyone at this point.  Weak points in my opinion first off the the ridiculous gear drive/oil pump setup. Secondly the slipper skirt pistons with tiny super low tension oil rings in a large bore motor seems ridiculous to me. The tiny breather area only the thickness of the gasket in another thing I really don't care for.   Yes, these things can be remedied on the S&S motor but why not just build off what  you have and remedy it as you go.   You want a crate motor? Have a reputable shop build you a decent reliable motor on your cases and have them send it back to you in a crate.

     I got my 124 after it was blown up when the previous owner cavitated the oil pump (their cam/ pump version), & the stupid Dyna style draw tubes kicked in. I got it after he bought a Ebay salvage motor that I installed for my labor + some small parts. It was a F**kin' mess, and it wiped out the inner cam bearing hole. So I sent the crank off to Dark horse, fixed the cam bearing hole & re-machined it, and replaced all the guts with a conventional pump & plate, not to mention made it with stock style oil passages. Its got about 25k on it now, and is a great touring motor, with enough power to see god, so in the long haul they have potential. My tired old stock engine is sitting under the bench waiting for a resurrection, but from what I can tell that's going to be awhile.