The Shovelhead was in production so long during a time of significant innovation and competition that it was considered a relic long before it was replaced. By the standards of the late 70's and early 80's, the Shovelhead's oil management systems, reliability, maintenance schedule, and overall performance were woefully out of date.
Currently, a number of third-party engine manufacturers produce custom Shovelhead-style engines, in a variety of bores, many much larger than the original design displacements. Each manufacturer includes significant subtle upgrades to the original design to drastically improve the performance and reliability while still providing the original styling and overall engine structure.
If
the engine came with a feature called
the FLH Electra-Glide Package, it was
identified as a shovel head engine for
police bikes. This feature was also
sometimes called the Police Option as
it made it easier for them to run cars
off the road. This was a skill that
was often also emulated by pranksters
who road choppers at the time.
The
FLH Electra-Glide package also enabled
the engine to turn over longer while
the machine was in idle. However this
feature also made for a heavy bike
that was not easy for the average
rider to maneuver or brake instantly.
Finding
a Harley SHOVELHEAD engine with the
original FLH Electra-Glide package is
very rare and is prized by motorcycle
and chopper part collectors.
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