This sounds like the Porsche boards circa 1998 when they introduced the first water cooled 911. It's almost like some of the same comments were cut and pasted in this forum. Eventually the "excitement" settled down and people started to realize that the "improvements" that water cooling afforded made it all worth it. There are still a lot of people driving old air cooled 911's but they're also selling the heck out of the new ones and their performance on track has never been better. I'd rather they stay air cooled as well but very much doubt that they will stay that way for long. I think eventually that EPA requirements will push them to water cooling just like they did Porsche. Just an opinion.

 

no reason they cant build a touring version of the v-rod. it is a good strong engine and they should have figured out by now they could sell a few full dressers with that engine in it. no reason they could'nt put on the showroom right next to the electra glides, street glides,road glides and let the customers pick which one they want.

 

Nope, air cooled Harleys are actually oil heated-not oil cooled.....Well, in a sense...

The oil picks up most of it's heat in the heads where it then drains back to the sump and is pumped back into the engine...The oil rapidly heats up and sacrifices it's heat to the air thru the engine cases and cylinder fins. You can add an oil cooler, but all that does is help control the upper limit temps, but the engine experiences a wide range of temps and can't be precisely tuned.

An oiled cooled engine like the early GSXR used the oil to act as a vehicle to carry the heat to a much larger oil cooler located directly behind the front wheel, the engine itself had much smaller fin depth and temps remained much more stable allowing a more precise tune.

Once you get stable temps you can increase valve duration and lift plus more timing advance resulting in both more power and MPG.

I'm predicting HD will be forced to go liquid cooled in the near future to satisfy tighter EPA regs.....Hell, you might end up with a radiator on your brigs lawn mower before it's over.

 

Whether we like it or not it's coming. Far more knowledgeable people than me agree. Donny Peterson's second book says exactly that although he uses at least 10,000 words to say it. If you have the book you will get the humor here.

 

I'm wondering if the internet had been around in 1909 would there be a discussion group where folks say things like, "A Harley is a single cylinder bike" or "want a twin then buy a BMW"? After all, prior to 1909 all HDs were single cylinder. And the first functional/effective design twin cylinder was BMW.

I also wonder if the "purist" who demand HDs must be air-cooled V-Twins realize that what they are riding is neither pure nor the best design. Imagine what HD would be today had they built the engine at 52 degrees rather than 45 ...

Even more fun to imagine ... I went through the Wheels Through Time museum a couple years ago while on a coast-2-coast run and the number of straight 4 and other designs from the early 20th century was impressive. I'm just wondering what HD would be like today had they mimicked the Indian 4-cylinder as much as they took from Indian twin designs.

As for water cooled ... I'm looking at trading from the '07 Heritage to an '09 Ultra ... but I have to admit that if I knew a water-cooled Ultra were on the horizon I'd be waiting. So maybe it's best if Harley doesn't release that information just yet. :-)

 

And I'll bet you want a drive shaft also.

 

I was riding a Honda VTX before I bought my ultra. Is my ultra hot in traffic on hot days, yes, but so was my VTX to a certain extent. In traffic with a radiator cooling fan running is no fun either.

I am guessing that when more strict EPA standards come in to effect, at some point HD will not have a choice. I may be wrong, and I hope I am. I am loving my air cooled ride!

 

Water cooled ultra with 125hp stock?..... Cutting edge technology?... Suspension that works?... sign me up for one, that would save me a lot of time changing everything and would give me a lot more time to ride. Let alone more power than most baggers will ever dream about.

 

Maybe a good compromise would be producing bikes with a liquid cooled engine as an option for those who want one. Personally, I wouldn't buy one, but a lot of other folks could if they wanted it.

 

I had a nite rod prior to my current 07 SG. Loved the motor and power. I will be all over a new SG if that put that motor in one. I am thinking the V-rod Muscle's dual side exhaust is a look in to the future of the the touring models. They will have to detune it a tad and improve the fuel mileage a bunch.