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2014's are out

the draggin said:
The water cooled head is a feeble attempt to rid the bike of heat, it might work but now you have added more destructive fluids to an already touchy design. I'm thinking since virtually every really great running car engine as well as motorcycle engine since somewhere back in ancient history has been using an overhead cam design and getting awsome results as far as performance and emissions management maybe that would be the route to go. Just sayin.....:hii
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Overhead cams? Radiator mounted on the down tubes as someone previously posted? Sounds like VRod to me.:newsmile091: The VRod motor in it's current configuration is not suitable for heavy tougin bike application. However, change in bore and stroke, different cams and compression and it could easily become the platform for real water cooling for the "non faired" bikes.:s
 
dolt said:
Spoke to the service manager at one of the three dealerships in my area last week. I asked him if his shop and techs were ready to deal with the introduction of the liquid cooled system and the impact on the shop. Things like, separate drain pans will be required to deal with anti-freeze; how will the shop dispose of the anti-freeze; what happens when the anti freeze spills out on anodized or painted finishes; how much time and expense will servicing the cooling system add to the standard 500/1000 mile service; etc. The service manager to the "deer in the headlights" look and admitted that he had not thought about such issues and the MoCo certainly hasn't prepared the dealers for this change. The impact of the liquid cooling is much more tha meets the eye.
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Seriously not difficult to service.......I have had watercooled bikes in the past and servicing that system every 25,000-50,000 miles is simple drain and refill just like your car.
 
JDPEagle said:
I guess I will continue to be in the minority here, but please don't call this a "water cooled" engine. It is NOT. Even the MoCo is marketing this as "Twin-Cooled" in order to avoid the false-advertising stigma. This is little more than a band-aid fix to the ever increasing restrictions by the EPA.

This merely cools the heads and the exhaust ports. Draw your own conclusions, but this partial cooling system caused disproportionate cooling down the cylinder walls, and thus contributed to seal and gasket issues in late 1970's Cessna aircraft engines. The design was later scraped. They filed patents for this design only 3 years ago (that couldn't have allowed for a lot of longevity R&D).

Don't get me wrong, Harley needed to do something. I would have respected an FLHTK with the V-Rod engine (a TRUE water cooled engine). We have all been saying that the days of the air cooled engines were numbered due to the ridiculous EPA requirements and phony gas (with ethanol + water). I just would have expected more than a half-hearted band-aid from H-D with a shiny bow (ie. LCD displays).
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I'm suspecting that in the 2015 Road Glide. A bigger displacement version of the V-Rod.
 
I looked at a 2014 Limited the other day. The two missing gauges (Oil pressure and air temp) are brought up in the LCD radio. I asked the service writer how often the coolant needed servicing and he did not know yet. I also asked what cam they went to like a 255 or something. He said he was not the 255, but was a new cam that HD has not named yet. I did like the easy one hand opening of the saddle bags and I did like the new shape of the tour pak and larger passenger seating area. Other than the addition of the two radiators, it did not look like the average person that works on their own bike would have any problems, except for the electronics of that radio.
 
Joyflyin said:
IMO, no more reliable/accurate than the oil pressure gauge read, I wouldn't miss it, as far as the air temp, well, if I'm cold, I add a layer, if I'm hot, I take a layer off. :D
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Exactly. I always thought the air temp gauge was a total waste anyway. I'd much rather have an oil temp gauge instead. I can already tell if it's hot or cold outside. Being able to monitor oil temp while riding seems much more important.
"You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows" :D
 
Back to the water cooling thing. I have seen some bagger V-rods out there they look really sharp. They can use either fairing and what appear to be real H-D saddlebags and the low slung look is really appealing kinda reminds me of old Arlen Ness work:hii. Now if someone else can do it then why can't the MoCo. Just seems like a logical move over trying to make the lipstick stay on a sweaty hog. If I were to buy a new machine it would be the bagger-rod if it were available, if not then I'm thinkin Victory CCT. I'd still keep my Evo and my Shovel so I could still have some real fun.........
 
the draggin said:
Back to the water cooling thing. I have seen some bagger V-rods out there they look really sharp. They can use either fairing and what appear to be real H-D saddlebags and the low slung look is really appealing kinda reminds me of old Arlen Ness work:hii. Now if someone else can do it then why can't the MoCo. Just seems like a logical move over trying to make the lipstick stay on a sweaty hog. If I were to buy a new machine it would be the bagger-rod if it were available, if not then I'm thinkin Victory CCT. I'd still keep my Evo and my Shovel so I could still have some real fun.........
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You mean like disssss

2005 V-Rod Custom Bagger :: FOR SALE by Insite Trading Limited - YouTube
 
HDSickness said:
Seriously not difficult to service.......I have had watercooled bikes in the past and servicing that system every 25,000-50,000 miles is simple drain and refill just like your car.
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It's not so much the servicing; techs can be trained for that. H-D shops have not had to deal with the EPA regs on handling hazmat; anti-freeze is hazmat and you can't just toss it out the back door of the shop. A whole new world for HD shops which will carry a cost to be passed on to the customer.

Persoally, I didn't care for the later models before the '14s came out, own two early models myself. I flirted with the possibility of trading up when the 2010s came out so scheduled a test ride of a SG and Heritage softail. After the rides, there was no way I would get off my '02 FLHT for either of those bikes. The '14s are even less attractive to me and I will probably never own any H-D later than '09.

Now if the MoCo comes out with a bagger powered by a re-configured VRod motor, I would be impressed and could be talked into buying one of those.:hii
 
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