I had a 2010 103 Limited with the oil cooler, and it was WARM...but not UNBEARABLE. i took off the "fried thigh" wings, and it was still bearable.

some stuff happened, and a guy wanted it more than I did,
so I got a 2011 96ci Road king (no lowers, and no oil cooler)

even without the lowers...the 96ci was HOT HOT HOT....the front head was 275, rear head was 300 (this was WITH a dyno tune & good AFR)
the rear exhaust pipe was over 300 degrees.
I had put on a cat-less head pipe too, hoping to drop temps. I put some coin into that roach...

the 96 was SO HOT...that it turned my black rinehart's white

note the whiteness where it slips on the head pipe:





so, after spending ~$1200 to get the RK to run right, and be cooler, and it still being 300 degrees...I just dumped it on a 2014.

wife wanted to vacation out of town this weekend, so I krylon'ed the rineharts, and JUST put on the slip-ons.


2014 had about a 100 miles on it yesterday, got stuck in stop & go "duck walk" traffic yesterday, and at first it wasnt too bad, but it got HOT HOT HOT...just as hot as my RK did, after about 20 minutes.

the "fried thigh" wings worked for about the first 15 minutes (i could just feel it BAKING my feet & calves, but then, it came up around those wings and was just baking all of me at the 20 minute mark. stayed that way for next 30 minutes of duck walking.

it got MISERABLE hot...the guy beside me, felt the air coming out of the lowers radiator vent, and said it was HOT (i had gloves on). i could feel the air pressure, so it was blowing.

i took it home, put it in garage with a fan on it, and when I went back out later, i could FEEL the heat of the motor in the gas tank (thru my jeans when I hugged the tank for turns), because all that heat had made the tank & fuel nice & toasty.

is there any easy way to cool down the Twin Cooled bikes more?
there's no where to add an oil cooler now.

 

One of the main problems I find is that the bikes are so lean to pass EPA regs. My 14 is a hell of a lot better than my 08 but I'm still getting tons of heat coming off of the catalytic converter. I have the Dynojet Power Vision on my list just have too much else going on at the moment.

 

In normal travel my 2014 Limited "wet head" is better than my '12 Limited for heat (the '12 had an oil cooler). The liquid cooling moves some heat off to the radiators and they dump the heat pretty well, while the bike is moving. At stop, any bike will get hot, because there is not much air flow. The '14 has fans in the radiators that helps some, but with no significant air movement past the bike, the engine just generates heat that doesn't get moved away. EIMTS helps some by shutting off the rear cylinder, so therefore it stops burning fuel and generating heat, but unless the bike gets moving it can't dump the engine heat into the surrounding air very well. All that the radiators and oil coolers do is use a fluid to transfer heat, and provide more surface area for dumping engine heat into the surrounding air.

You didn't mention whether EIMTS was activated or not on your bike. Again, IMHO it will help some but it isn't a magic solution.

 

I've got a 2014 FLHTK. I live in San Antonio.

I got stuck on I-35 at 103 degrees ambient, and I didn't experience any of the symptoms you describe. My primary was hotter on my left leg than anything was on my right.

I am running ceramic coated, inside and out, RUSH racing headpipes.

These things run hot from the factory, and by increasing the airflow by changing mufflers, they will run even hotter.

But if you think 300 is hot for exhaust, I might suggest some research. It is, of course, an internal combustion engine. If you've ever seen some at night that glow a dull red, that is around 1700 degrees f. Go where they are doing burnouts, your will see bright orange at night... over 2000 degrees.

I would say under normal conditions in the neighborhood of 800 on stock headpipes with cat, at the head isn't unheard of.

 

I have a 2014 Limited.

To be fair I only put 5 miles on mine before I did a full 1st stage from Fuelmoto. (Including headpipes, 4" Jackpots, Power Vision, Sreamin' Eagle breather) I can honestly say now, after the heat of summer, this is the coolest bike I've ever owned; including 2 GWs, 1 Yamaha Venture, 1 Suzuki Cav, and several smaller bikes. So, don't know your budget situation, but this can be a very comfortable bike.

 

I had a 2013 Limited with the cat taken out and 4" RC Component slip-ons. I now have a 2014 Limited CVO with Vance and Hinds power duels with 4" RC Component slip-ons. My 2014 is noticeable hotter than my 2013 was. I have tried the EIMTS and it does help some but it SOUNDS SOOOOO bad when it is idling.

 

Could always add Wards FCS fans and a good tune. Not sure what else would really help. My 2014 runs considerably cooler than my 12 did, but I haven't stuck it in parade conditions on a really hot day yet. Actually I hope I never do, but traffic happens sometimes.

 

'14 Ultra Classic, totally stock engine, live in Phoenix, AZ. No problems with excessive or uncomfortable heat unless stuck in stop and go traffic, and that is rare.

 

I've got a 2104 Limited. Stage 1 AC Rinehart 4" slip ons, stock head pipe. It is considerably cooler in hot stop and go traffic than my stage 1 2002 88cu fat boy was.

 

I had the EITMS enabled, and it had a bottom end knock that was so loud, it was embarrassing, but I left it on

i left it at dealer overnight for knock & heat,
the Dealer called back, said the Twin Cooled bikes were so lean by the factory, that even slips on's will make the TC103 bikes so lean as to be unbearably hot.


i have the full stage 1 off the RK (AC, no-cat head pipe, and a PC5)
so I am gonna load a tune in the PC5, and take it to the dealer, and install it & go riding today.

do the rest of the add-ons later in the week.

thanks guys, good comments all around.

edit: the PC5 for the 09-13 is 15-011,
the PC5 for the 2014 is 15-019


Powercommander V
Part Number: 15-019
Price: $ 379.95

Powercommander V (Fuel, Ignition, and Boost)
Part Number: 15-019-PTI
Price: $ 449.00