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Thank you Dan for that response. I did replace the stator on my wife's Heritage softail, but it was a twin cam 96 and a few years ago and I have slept since then. There was a compensator in there. What would not be clear to me is how you maintain the stator which needs an oil bath. I say that admitting I have not gotten into the stator on my M3W(knock on wood)

Rodger,

Take a look at ALL of the aftermarket belt drives out there being used on Harley and Harley clone motors such as the S&S, RevTech and Ultima, just to name a few. Many of the Wedge motors used by low production motorcycle companies were make with belt drives right from the get go. The stator does get "some" primary oil, but it is far from an oil bath. Oil is only up to the bottom of the clutch pack in the rearward lower section of the primary cover. The rotor full covers the stator and by only shear desperation does any oil ever find its way into the dark recess of the stator.

The new Centa rotor has to be bored out in the center to fit the splined hub of the Centa drive end. Then drilled for the six or so flathead bolts to attach it with. I don't think that will be a hard thing to do. The original Harley M3W compensator's rotor just used the spline it had and slid over the crankshaft end and got smashed between the housing and the end of the crankshaft. These did have a tendency to to wear out in the splines a bit and rattle.

I'm sure there are regulations that if enforced, could give some hope of parts for the future needs of the M3W's.

There are aftermarket companies that make pistons for the S&S motors, so that should not be an issue and the cylinders can be bored a couple times too. I'm sure that companies like James Gaskets could supply the necessary gaskets and seals, if someone asked them to do so. There is really quite a market for such parts at this point. There could be as many as 4 to 5k of these similar motors used and still in use around the world.

Good luck guys!

Dan

Our MTW 3-speeder friends are able to keep their cars running with JAP and Matchless engines. Why shouldn't this also be possible with the X-Wedge in the future? I don't understand the worries about this. There will be small companies able to manufacture parts and overhaul the engines.

Dan: I guess you are right about oil to the stator. Even older goldwings have the stator in a place that oil cannot reach (easily). The first batch of 1200's just had a batch of poor quality stators, and so the whole run of 1200's had a reputation for that. I did have to replace the one on my 86 1200 after 28 years (not bad) and never replaced the one on my 78 1000 (which I bought new). It turned out on my wife's softail it was not the stator but a filing regulator. She is now getting a freewheeler and so the softail is on consignment at the dealer. The dealers people say it needs a new compensator.

I've talked to the motorcycle shop that has put in my Bleazey kit and routinely works on my 3 Wheeler about a replacement engine at some point in time. He says there is an S & S motor that they should have used. We haven't really explored what it would take to fit that engine but I'll talk to him in depth when I'm in his shop next.

And if that is done you would then have access to Tuners all over the USA and the unlocked ECU.

It looks like a HD Dyna engine would fit, especially as the cylinder angle is less and should fit between the suspension. There seems to be some debate if its legal to out a less compliant engine in, you wouldn't get away with it in a normal car where the MOT checks emissions. As they dont in the case I guess you could even fit an old shovel or pan - albeit it would be leaving a black line on the road!

If a counter balanced Harley would fit that would be great. I do not know if the current S&S engines are better balanced than the Xwedge but maybe so.

I suspect the first person to make a conversion kit for the USA folks ,who probably have less stringent inspections if any at all, will sella lot of them.

I would be one of the first ones in line :-)

The Wedge motor can be a bit better balanced at its 56.25 degree V versus all of the Harley motors, non counterbalanced, touring V's at 45 degrees. In the old days before rubber mounting of the FL series Harleys, motors were balanced to perform best at a "range" of rpms, usually in the 3,000 to 3,500 rpm range. Outside of that range, the balance is off and gets worse in both directions. 90 degree V motors can be perfectly balanced and are tons smoother. The Dyna motors are still rubber mounted in the 2000's and again, after 2006, they have the newer 5-bolt primary pattern versus the Wedge and older pre-2007 Harley motors.

I have to fall back to what I've been saying, the "B" counterbalanced Softail motors would make the best alternative to the Wedge S&S motor. Exhaust, motor mounts, fuel and a few misc items would need to be sorted out, but that base motor would make the most since. I've been checking this afternoon for the Harley SE-120ST crate motor that Harley produced and the one that's in ACE #10, seems to be non-existent at this point. S&S makes older style Twin Cam Harley clones, but again, they're the "A" version only, not counterbalanced. So, at this point it seems that building a Harley "B" motor to utilize the majority of the M3W parts is #1, but using a later, possibly even a M-8 Harley counterbalanced motor, would be a new motor application. Only that would require a complete new drive coupling system to what the M3W vehicles now use.

Nothing is going to be a bolt in at this point. Maybe not the most likely scenario would be a continuation of the Wedge motor in parts for maintenance or possibly someone else picking up the production of the motor.