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The Shineray V1200 V-twin engine could be your answer to nostalgia for the discontinued Harley Evolution motor

If you’re familiar with your Harley-Davidson history, you’ll know that the all-American company nearly went bankrupt in the early 1980s. It took a dramatic, last minute bailout by Willie G. Davidson, the grandson of the founder of Harley-Davidson, to put the company back on track.

That process all began with refreshing the heart of any Harley-Davidson — the V-twin motor. The old pushrod Shovelhead and Ironhead engines were out, and the brand new Evolution V-twin designed by Willie G Davidson himself was in. It turned out to be the motor that would bring Harley-Davidson back from the brink of extinction. Available in two capacities, it powered pretty much every Harley that rolled off the assembly line.

Several years after it was first introduced in 1984 it was finally discontinued in certain markets thanks to tightening emission norms. It’s only still available in the Harley-Davidson 48 in its larger capacity in the US, which is a shame because for a lot of Harley-purists, the Evo’s torque and sound aren’t really matched in the newer motors that Harley’s pushed out.

But now Shineray is bringing the Evo engine back! Sort of. The Shineray V1200 V-twin is the Chinese manufacturer’s latest air-cooled motor and it looks exactly like the Harley Evo engine, down to the technical details too.

How does a Chinese bike maker end up making a clone of a discontiuned Harley-Davidson engine? The answer's more complex than you would think.

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Just by looking at Shineray’s new V-twin engine, you can tell where the inspiration comes from. But look closer and you’ll realize all the details from the Harley motor are carried forward pretty much unchanged. The Shineray motor retains Harley’s 45-degree cylinder bank configuration for starters. Since it’s air-cooled too, it’s got the same layout for the cooling fins, same placement for the rocker covers, the same chrome pushrod covers, and even the location of the oil tank… well it’s the same.

It seems like it’s even got the same bore and stroke of the Harley motor too, so the similarities run deeper. However, it’s got a lower compression ratio at 9.1:1 to the Harley’s 10:1 compression ratio. That means it puts out slightly less power and torque than the original, but only just. The Shineray V1200 makes 60 hp and 66.4 lb ft, compared to the Evo’s 67 hp and 73 lb ft as in its latest iteration in the Harley-Davidson 48. Shineray claims a 0-62mph in 4.5s but since we don’t yet know what motorcycles this engine is going into, that’s sort of a pointless metric. In Shineray’s promo video, they do run the new engine on a stand in front of the audience, and it does sound pretty good.

Importantly, we wonder if it inherited some of the Evo engine’s faults too. The Harley Evo engine, with its lightweight aluminum cases, is said to have a dislike of more horsepower being thrown at it. Because from its long history of riders adding more power, it had a tendency to split its cases, or pull the studs right out the bottom end. That said, the Shineray engine does seem to have some improvements, at least going by what the manufacturer claims.

According to Shineray, the V1200 V-twin has been built with strict tolerances, thanks to automatic precision machinery, on a smart production line. The company also claims a 25 percent improvement in durability when the engine’s held wide open for long times, thanks to improved structural stability, crank strength and more. We’re betting the Harley Evo engine is the obvious benchmark here.

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If you’re wondering why Shineray would clone an engine that’s at the end of its life thanks to emission norms, you can pin the blame on Harley-Davidson getting lazy with the patents for the Evolution engine in the first place. It’s the reason why several aftermarket crate clones of the Evo engine exist, built with stronger internals to handle more power. In Shineray’s case though, it could simply be because it’s the most cost effective way to bring the big, American power cruiser experience to its home market of China.

Even more confusingly, the Shineray V1200 V-twin was actually designed and engineered in Italy, by SWM Motorcycles, a boutique Italian manufacturer that Shineray owns. It would’ve made sense for Shineray to clone it in China itself, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. The lack of strong enough patents on the Evo motor mean SWM wouldn’t be in trouble, because Italy’s copyright laws are stronger than China’s. Perhaps this gives Shineray the opportunity to claim its new models in China were engineered in Italy, which we imagine could be quite the selling point. Whatever the reason, it’s great to see more life breathed into an iconic engine. We can only hope the motorcycles it finally powers come to be as iconic.

From playing with HotWheels to tracking his race toy, Sam's come a long way. A penchance for translating his automotive hijinks and geekery into the written word comes in handy every now and then...