This is accurate. The enigne will run cooler but the cat will run hotter.

 

Since the heat is coming from the cats, I do not believe there is a solution that will not entitle removing the cats.

 

Just have the OL ride on the cooler days. She won't complain then.

 

1st want to say if i am not mistaken your bike comes stock with an HD oil cooler that BTW is basically useless when needed most like for example when sitting in traffic at stoplights or when in slow moving traffic in summer cond all because of lack of airflow without elec cooling fans.

Ok with that said,my wife used to have the same complaint as your OL on our stock 09 flhtcu .

Its not just heat from the pipes ,its also heat coming off the motor/cyls that collectively together is coming back & roasting/overheating her.

But now my wife doesnt have that complaint anymore even after riding 200miles in 95 deg HHH heat yesterday in mixed riding cond and the question of the day is " how'd i do that? " .

I installed an untracool oil w-twin elec cooling fans (targets reducing oil temp & overall engine temp) along with Wards twin cooling fans (targets cooling heads & upper cyls) both at the same on my bike with working collectively together as a cooling team reduced oil temp 50deg f in summer heat which significantly reduced the amount of heat the motor in general was generating and sending back to the wife enough so to satisfy her.

Now keep in mind its also part of the oils job in an air colled motorcycle motor to reduce engine temp too so when oil temp was redeuced 50 deg in summer heat overall engine temp was also reduced x-amount at thee same time too.

But there were multiple benefits right off the post INSTALLING THE 2 COOLING MODS BOTH AT THE SAME TIME WHICH ARE AS FOLLOWS:

* REDUCED OIL TEMP 50 DEG F IN SUMMER HEAT

* VALVE TRAIN NOW REMAINS QUIET IN SUMMER HEAT

* OIL PRESSURE IN SUMMER HEAT WENT FROM 7-8PSI @ IDLE & 32-35 @ CRUISE WITHOUT 2 COOLING MODS TO NOW 18PSI @ IDLE & 45PSI + @ CRUISE IN SUMMER HEAT WITH THE 2 COOLING MODS

* MOTOR STOPPED DETONATING ON HD'S REC 91 OCTANE FUEL FOR MY BIKE SO I DONT HAVE TO RUN MORE EXPENSIVE 93 OCTANE FUEL ANYMORE THAT STILL USED TO DETONATE ONCE IN A WHILE BEFORE INSTALLING THE 2 COOLING MODS THAT LOWERED OIL TEMP 50 DEG F IN SUMMER HEAT.

* MOTOR RETAINS MOST OF ITS PWR/TRW & CRISP THROTTLE RESPONSE BECAUSE MOTOR/INTAKE/FUEL SYSTEM IN GENERAL ARENT AS HEAT SOAKED ANYMORE.

* MOTOR NOW HOT STARTS FASTER/EASIER LIKE FOR EXAMPLE AFTER FUELING UP ON A HOT DAY BECAUSE THE STARTER/BATTERY/MOTOR ARENT AS HEAT SOAKED ANYMORE.

* RIDER COMFORT HAS IMPROVED DUE TO OIL/ENGINE TEMP BEING SIGNIFICANTLY REDUCED SO LESS INTENSE LVL OF HEAT BEING GENERATED BY THE MOTOR RESULTS IN A BIT MORE COMFY/MORE TOLERABLE RIDE ESPECIALLY IN SUMMER HEAT.

NOTE; If i owned your newer bike i'd gut the cat & install nightrider tuning resistors if retaining stock setup or a tuner if going with diff pipes ,aircleaner etc to fatten up overall fuel curve a bit which should also add to the above benefits especially if you do them all at the same time you install the 2 cooling mods should you decide to go for it.

And dont make the mistake of just trying 1 of the 2 cooling mods i rec becaseu doing that will significantly reduce cooling and you will not get near as good as result so either go for the max cooling effort you bike needs by installing the same 2 cooling mods i did & dont bother trying only 1/half of what i rec because it's not gonna cut it & or do near as good at reducing temps.

Those are the issues the avg lrg disp air cooled HD twin cam motor experiences in summer time cond that IMHO are more then enough justification for installing both those 2 cooling systems at the same time like i did on my bike .

Many guys here on hdforums post their air cooled hd's dont need & or wont benefit from the 2 cooling systems i installed on my bike that couldn't in reality be more off base & simply wrong about especially when they have never tried installing the same 2 cooling mods i did at the same time.

I go by results & the truth is i got those great results/benefits right off the bat post addressing the excessive heat my HD was generating in summer cond which was the best $$$$ i had spent on the bike thus far that resulted in so many positive benefits in engine perf & overall riding comfort right off the bat.

But also realize that no matter how well a lrg air cooled v-twin is tuned or cooled with cooling modslike i installed it will still generate a considerable a mount of heat in summer cond which there is no getting away from unless its completely water cooled (Cyls & heads) and not just partially water cooled like the heads are in newer hd's @ this time.

Yes cooling the heads helps ,that's for sure ,but the fact remains it doesnt fully address the overall heat issues hd's mfg'd today still have with partial cooling of heads only which was likely done to retain the classic look & styling of the beautiful looking HD v-twin motor design which i get & am happy for.

I'd rather have to spend the $$$/time & effort installing the 2 cooling mods i did to keep heat under control on my hd then loose the classic look of the motor.

Scott

 

Trust me, this info is spot on. I've changed headers, muffler cores and added a TTS Mastertuner with a tune up from Doc. My wife's right leg is red after a day of riding unless she wears her boots and tall socks. Even with the twin cool and added mods that 110" motor throws off a ton of heat. The 103" is not much better. As for the pocket of hot air pools in the saddlebag area that is a perfect description as well.

 

Many guys here on hdforums post their air cooled hd's dont need & or wont benefit from the 2 cooling systems i installed on my bike that couldn't in reality be more off base & simply wrong about especially when they have never tried installing the same 2 cooling mods i did at the same time.


Have you tried using just one of the 2 systems you suggest? I have neither on my current bike but if I were to install one of the two it would be the Ward's fans. However most of the heat from my bike is from the exhaust headers. It is twin cooled and while that has lowered cylinder head and oil temps the exhaust is what is really hot. The real heat is around 70-75 mph. with 2 up. Alone the interstate speeds and the heat generated are tolerable 1 up. 2 up is totally different. The '14 and later bikes have an updated fairing to address the buffeting problems on the touring bikes, especially the RG's. While that issue seems resolved for the most part the latest issue appears extra heat has been transferred to the right side of the bikes in the saddlebag area. This higher temp is directly related to the exhaust header temps and what seems to be misdirected or nonexistant air flow over the headers. I fail to see how an oil cooler or a set of fans will help this current problem.

 

==========================

" Have you tried using just one of the 2 systems you suggest? "

Yes & i found the ultracool oil cooler to have most affect on reducing actual oil temp on my bike .

But the wards fans are worth the investment because they are effective at reducing head temp a bit more too as beta testing results showed was the case which can be seen on the Wards cooling fans website.

Together they work very well as a cooling team with the multiple improvements & benefits in engine perf & overall riding comfort i got on my bike proved to me how well an air cooled hd responds to cooling in summer heat using the 2 cooling mods i did.

Only using 1 of the 2 cooling mods i rec will result it significantly less improvement in engine perf & overall riding comfort.

BTW,you may not realize it but there is plenty of heat coming from the cyls thats also affecting rider comfort too and all the heat your wifes getting hit with isnt mainly heat from ex pipes,its a mix of heat coming from those 2 areas.

Who knows,maybe its approx 60% heat from ex pipes and 40% heat from cyls, but the fact remains if you reduce oil/engine temp that will lower temp of the heat coming from cyls & motor thats hitting the riders which will help, then gut the cat & fatten fuel mix and things should get much better after doing those things.

But if your bike already has head cooling from factory your much better off dumping the stock oil cooler & installing an ultracool oil cooler with it's twin elec cooling fans or additional cooling then wards fans that mainly target the heads if your bike is new enough to already have water cooling of the heads from the mfg.

To gut the cat check out threads here in hdforums and youtube vids showing how to do it too .

Then get nightrider xieds or vieds that are correct for your bike along with the ultracool oil cooler with twin elec cooling fans that will actually reduce oil/engine temp sitting in traffic at lights or when at slower road speed along with also gutting the cat & richening up the mix a bit and you should have a much better situation when riding in summer heat.

Scott

 

WSSCOTT, so you have the two systems. I'm interested in a pic or two. As you say we are riding a really good looking bike. How much are you covering up. Also would like to see install pics? Are they switched or run by temp?

Thanks for the info.

I'm riding a 16 RGU with a stage 1 kit and a FP3. It's helped but my right leg and other area are really hot in the summer. Thinking of designing a forced air intake to move the air from the dead space.

 

Guy's we have been told from customers that our crotch coolers did help the passenger with the heat as it does redirect the air downward and away from the passenger.I personally can not say if this is true as I have always ran a solo seat on all of our bikes. Maybe someone will chime in that has some actual experience with this issue. If we can answer any other questions please just email or give us a call Thank you Itch here is a link to our crotch cooler http://shop.captain-itch.com/Harley-...hields_c58.htm

 

Twin-cooled bikes do not have an external oil cooler to replace and you cannot mount an Ultra Cool nor does it need one (with twin-cooling) as oil temps are controlled much better as is. Head temp is obviously down so a Ward's fan is typically not needed either.

What works for the "heat on passenger legs at speed" is to use a crotch cooler or similar, and also playing with the fairing and lower vents to direct/push air past the rear footing area. Do de-cat plus tuner for best results.