Been cold out here in sunny CA lately. My iron seems to love the cold weather, seems like its running stronger. Anyone else notice that there sportster likes the cold air?

 

yup... they are air cooled so the engine loves it. i noticed longer gear ranges, smoother idling and better gas milage with mine

 

All engines run better, in cool air!

 

Cold air is denser and contains more oxygen than hot air so it does improve power output on all internal combustion engines, that plus the air cooled engine running cooler makes a noticable difference.
That's the reason almost all turbo diesel engines have an intercooler.

 

Harleys love the cold!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Mine loves the cold...once it's started. Getting it started is another issue. If the trickle charger isn't put on it the morning of it won't start. My bike stays outside under a cover and tarp though.

 

I ride year round here in NC, and my Sporty likes it as well. My mileage sucks though with the winter gas, or is it just me?

 

This is one of the reasons why it is important to run and External Breather System (EBS) to prevent that hot air from going into the intake.

It is also why getting the engine to run at the Optimum Operating Temps is so important in the warmer months.

As most can tell, they run stronger when not so hot.

 

^ you probably ride it harder since it performs better.... my guess RKzen

 

It's not the temperature of the air that improves the performance it's the density. Colder air at the surface is more dense. Air temperature changes about 4 degrees per thousand feet on a standard day. So at 10,000 feet the air will be 40 degrees colder but the air density will be less and your mixture way to rich. It's called density altitude which is air pressure corrected for temperature. On a hot summer day at sea level the density altitude could be 2000 ft and that's the way the engine will perform. On a cold winter day the density altitude could be -1000 ft below sea level at the same place. Think of cold dense air as a miniature nos system. More o2 molecules per volume of air.