Polished or Black engine is down to your own preference, I like the polished look and get some satisfaction from keeping it looking good, not difficult if you keep on top of it. The Black is the more practical if you intend to use your car all year round I think, although even that will require some cleaning and corrosion protection. It will be interesting to see how the Black engines stand up to corrosion in the longer term, if it gets under the finish it will be difficult to make it look original factory finish again. Take a look at some less well loved Harleys, they don't stand up well to salty roads, I expect the S&S will fair no better. They all require "cosmetic maintenance" to some degree to keep presentable and you cannot hide the engine out of sight!
