#ScreaminEagle

Kyle Wyman knows a thing or two about superbikes. Having ridden quite a few over the years as a MotoAmerica rider, and having built some himself as a MotoAmerica team owner – including the Ducati Panigale V4R he campaigned most recently – the 2021 MotoAmerica King of the Baggers champion didn’t mince his words when describing the synergy between himself, Harley-Davidson, and the Road Glide he took all the way to the title.

Every Harley-Davidson owner and just about every motorcyclist knows that the Motor Company’s line of performance products is called Screamin’ Eagle. However, many may just look at the upgrades as being mostly the same as the multitudes of aftermarket hop-up parts available. Since the release of the Milwaukee-Eight engine in the 2017 Harley-Davidson touring models, the engineers and media people behind Screamin’ Eagle thought that now would be a good time to explain – in detail – what they feel sets these components apart from the others on the market. So, we were sent out to Milwaukee to learn about and experience first-hand how the Screamin’ Eagle kits can improve the ME’s performance without many of the compromises required by aftermarket kits.

“This settlement immediately stops the sale of illegal aftermarket defeat devices used on public roads that threaten the air we breathe,” said Cynthia Giles, assistant administrator for EPA’s Office of Enforcement and Compliance Assurance. “Harley-Davidson is taking important steps to buy back the ‘super tuners’ from their dealers and destroy them, while funding projects to mitigate the pollution they caused.”

The thrill of drag racing is unlike any other in motorsport. In the pursuit of getting down the quarter-mile as quickly as possible, a mixture of skill and bravery are required. Of course machinery plays an important part as well. For former MOron Pete Brissette, he got the chance to rocket Harley-Davidson’s  VRXSE Screamin’ Eagle Destroyer down the drag strip en route to his NHRA license, which is required if you achieve a sub 10-second pass. However, the path to his NHRA license wasn’t a straight shot. He had to work his way up the ranks and progress through different stages of performance. Read his tale below about what it’s like to rocket oneself down the drag strip on a purpose-built drag racing motorcycle. And for more photos of Pete (and Sean) in all his glory, be sure to check out the photo gallery.

Harley-Davidson has utilized the CVO (Custom Vehicle Operations) line as a way to fly the corporate flag of what is possible with a production Harley and the Motor Company’s Parts and Accessories department. So, except for the CVO-exclusive paint schemes and the new technology that is often debuted in the high-end line, owners have been able to build for themselves the bulk of a CVO with their own bikes.

Right, the all-new Harley-Davidson Street 750 didn’t win our recent Millennial Hep Cat Shootout, but its engine sure did: 53.5 horsepower at 7900 rpm is way more than the 40.6 (at 6500) produced by the Moto Guzzi V7 Stone that won the overall event.

For this week’s CoM feature, we dig deep in the vaults for one of MO’s oldest stories. As Motorcycle Online (the former name of this very site, and where the MO reference comes from) was still relatively young, so too was the Buell Motor Company. When MO got to ride the Buell S2 Thunderbolt for the first time, we came back raving about its performance, but noted a few things we could improve on. Unfortunately, that original ride report has been lost to Father Time, but we do have editor Tom Fortune’s account of life with the T-Bolt and his attempt to add some pep to the S2’s step. In this, secondary review of the  1995 Buell S2 Thunderbolt, read on to see what Fortune thinks of the bike after 20,000 miles and a few upgrades.