Vented Lowers on a '09 RG
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Road Captain
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 554
Likes: 0
From: SoCal
They made two different sets of lowers up to 2009. One set is vented and fits all the Batwing models and the other set is for the Road Glide and is not vented. The design is also slightly different. Up to and including 2009 you couldn't use the vented set on a Road Glide without doing some major surgery on the lowers. They are too tall and the caps interfere with the chrome lower fairing supports.
For 2010 they raised the Road Glide fairing up by 7/8" and tilted it forward 2 degrees. They also modified the chrome lower supports by angling them in toward the center of the bike. By making these adjustments the vented lowers from the Batwing now fit perfectly. According to those in the know there is a new model of the Road Glide coming which will have vented lowers as standard. As you can read in my first post, it is now quite easy to modify an earlier than 2010 Road Glide to accept vented lowers by switching to the 2010 main fairing mount and chrome lower supports.
Marc
Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 6,146
Likes: 471
From: along the Front Range in Colorado
>> Whats the difference between the RG and RG hard lowers?
...... if your question is really about the diff. btwn RG & 'S'G lowers, the answer is simple ....... the RG lowers are faster !
...... if your question is really about the diff. btwn RG & 'S'G lowers, the answer is simple ....... the RG lowers are faster !
Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,726
Likes: 12
To summarize the thread:
2 choices on lowers for RG's
RG lowers w/o vents (until the moco discontinues)
Bat wing lowers (with the use of new fairing brackets)
Road glide lowers:
Pros
Easy bolt on
Effective blocking wind
Better when its cooler
Cons
No vents
Hotter in the summer
Glove boxes separate (overpriced)
Bat wing lowers:
Pros
Has vents
Higher fairing mounting
(good if your tall)
Cooler in the summer
Cons
Fairing bracket has to be replaced
Less wind protection
Last edited by Sincecrazy; Oct 17, 2009 at 08:08 AM.
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Road Captain
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 554
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From: SoCal
The last couple of days it got hot here again with temps in the high 80's. I would have been miserable with the original non-vented RG lowers. With the vented lowers I didn't notice any excessive heat at all. This was the clinger. It was well worth it
Marc
Marc
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Joined: Apr 2009
Posts: 62
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From: Bellevue, WA
Sounds like your new setup is giving you more air flow than your earlier Hoppe modified set up. Can you note some of the differences? BTW, I'm enjoying those Hoppe vented lowers in the cool PNW, at least at the moment. Summer touring -- they're coming off.
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Road Captain
Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 554
Likes: 0
From: SoCal
There is definitely more air coming through but yesterday it was really hot, like almost 100, and the heat from the right side where the cat-in-header is was pretty bad. The left side was fine. All the 2009 California bikes have the cat in the header. I bought a 49 state header yesterday evening out of Texas without the integral cat which I'm going to install this coming week. Jamie at FuelMoto did some testing and found an increase of over 150F on the r/s comparing a bike without the cat in the header compared to a 2010 with the cat. Overall it was still better than the OE RG lowers with Hoppe vents but if I can get it better it's worth it. Fortunately you don't have a California bike so no cat in the header to deal with.
Marc
Marc
