Talk Morgan Forums Morgan Sports Cars Morgan Three Wheeler & Super 3 Engine Conversions

I recall the X wedge being the only S & S engine that didn't fit in a Harley frame. To this end S & S offered their own frame to match. Not sure how this affects above advice if at all Andy.

I am no expert in this....so I asked Dan Lockwood (on this forum) some time ago. He knows his stuff. His suggestion was a '99/'06 Harley Twin Cam "B" motor with counterbalance shafts as this has the same case bolt pattern, crank splines and less vibration. These can be up to 124cu in and 120 bhp, so no problems with power! If Dan is about he may give more suggestions. I am sure that if it becomes a problem with the X-Wedge then there will be solutions such as this. The M3W is not a cheap car and people will spend money on them to get them going again.

the angle of the x-wedge is a bit wider, so maybe that is why it will not fit the HD frame. However, on the M3W you do not have to fit it into a frame

If S&S were still making the x-wedge engine you would have to order it through MMC and it would be shipped from Wisconsin to the factory then shipped back out to you even if you lived just down the road, that was the deal they had.

Guys stop worrying.

There are a lot of very smart, talented, and innovative people out there who could figure out the necessary mods, engines, and parts and a way to make it profitable to take this on. Even personally just keeping the XWedge and M3W going.

Case in point.

I am friends with someone local who restores old cars from scratch who is capable of fabricating anything he needs who is interested in buying my M3W someday when I want to sell it. He’s not worried about lack of parts. Also I know of a very capable guy who owns a local motorcycle performance shop, was a S&S master mechanic who worked on the S&S racing development team, and who owns an Indian Motorcycle dealership who recently told me there isn’t anything on the M3W he can’t fix.

Comforting to know.

They’re out there.

Regards.

Also I forgot which one but Ferrari or Porsche is developing a more climate friendly fuel for ICEs. I’m sure fuel will be available for a long time but undoubtedly a lot more expensive.

I work on old goldwings (GL1000's) and you are right that parts can be and are made. Also there are LOTS of parts on fleabay. However Honda sold tens of thousands of the GL1000's..... I wonder how many X-wedge engines were made?

Andy,

I think he's got his information a bit off, or I do really badly...

In '06 Touring Harley motorcycles went to a new primary side bolt pattern, five bolts versus the X-Wedge and all previously made Harley touring motors that are four bolt. The X-Wedge has kept with the "old" style Harley, pre '06 bolt pattern and the left side "primary side" crankshaft setup. In '06 and newer Harleys, they used a full-length splined crankshaft with an internal bolt for the compensator. The post '06 Harley motors and the MORGAN M3W are NOT compatible by just bolting it in place. Forget about the motor mounts as they are entirely different from '98 thru '05. I'm not that familiar with the M8 motors from '16 on, but I believe they may have an even different primary bolt pattern.

IF one were to consider a bolt in, kind of, replacement to utilize the Centa and Centa adapter housing to the Miata trans, you will need to stay with the '98/'05 motors. With that though, you can run the SMOOTH Softail twin cam motors. These are only used in Harley Softail bikes. These have twin counter-balance shafts and are VERY SMOOTH running. Softail and Touring Harleys do not use the same motor mount system. Softails of this era were bolt to the frame directly and the Touring Harleys used rubber mounting to smooth the motors out at idle and on the road. Since the Softail motors are internally balanced, they were still mounted solid to the frame and the actual crankcase was between the two were different for mounting locations.

I believe that Pete Larsen used all Twin Cam Softail motors. ACE# 10 has Harley's 120" double counter-balanced motor and with Pete's proprietary clutch drive setup. If salvaged from a Harley bike stock, these motors came in 88" - 1,442cc, 95" - 1,557cc and 103" - 1,688cc. S&S makes a 124" Hot Setup that will pump them obviously up to 124" and plenty of useful power. These are ALL 45-degree twins, not 56-degrees like the S&S X-Wedge.

There are options for use of these motors with carbs and standalone ignition. ThunderHeart makes a standalone ignition system that uses the crank sensor of the Harley and then you could easily use one of S&S's Super G or Super E carbs. You would need to convert the fuel system to a low-pressure system, 1 to 3 psi on the fuel is all a carb of this nature can handle. Then motor mounts would need to be fabbed up and exhaust would need to be redone probably back to the mufflers. All Harleys were 1.75" tube, not sure on the M3W, but probably 1.75" as well. With the '98 to '05 you can just bolt up the Centa once the rotor is modified for the Centa drive bolt pattern, not too difficult to do.

I hope this helps you all some.

The S&S X-Wedge has been used in many custom bike companies here in the US and along with the Morgan use, there must be 5k plus in use today. This should be ample demand for an upstart company to make replacement parts for the X-Wedge motors.

Good luck with your M3W's and your next motor choice.

Dan

I seem to remember that car manufacturers have an obligation to support customers in servicing and maintaining their vehicles for a predefined period from the end of production - is this the case and would it apply to low volume manufacturers such as Morgan?

In theory Yes, however horse and carts can be driven through the legislation. It would take a very well funded, motivated individual to go through the law or some kind of class action. Not going to happen with a low volume manufacturer. There is at least one vehicle that has suffered engine failure still under warranty and Morgan washed their hands of the customer so best not to expect any help from them.