Lots of air cooled Porsche too.

 

Comfort is important but engine failure is far more important to me. I can sweat for 10mn and I'll survive. If I blow the engine, that's more problematic and costly.

In stop and go traffic on a hot day, it's been my experience that a water cooled engine doesn't run dramatically cooler to the point of being more comfortable for the rider/passenger. I'm talking about comparable bikes, like let's say, a Kawasaki Nomad and a HD Road King. Comparing a Goldwing to an Ultra is like comparing apples and oranges.

Plus, heat comes also from the pipes and that's what used to roast my right leg and my passenger's right calf, not the engine. Water cooling will do absolutely nothing to reduce the heat of the exhaust. That's a pipe dream (pun intended).

As soon as I replaced my headers by true duals and used a richer PC-V map, the heat from the exhaust dropped very significantly.

Once again, unless someone can prove me that the head temp of a water cooled engine is significantly cooler than the head temp of an air cooled engine when stuck in traffic, I'll continue to prefer air cooled. I don't like to roast on my bike when it's stopped in traffic but it rarely happens. 90% of the time, I ride on open roads which is what I bought my bike for and heat isn't an issue.

 

Ok after going a very short google search, I think the new standards require a reduction of emissions by 20-30%. How does the temp of the engine (the purpose of air, oil, water cooled) effect the emissions of said engine?

 

Is that the new standard for motorcycles? With the current Twin Cam platform bumping up to 103 for 2012, the only way to reduce emissions another 20-30% will be to expand the closed loop cruise range, reduce the degree of enrichment in open loop, and run a larger catalytic converter. Tranlation; compliance to new EPA standards will result in more heat and less power, proportionally. Controlling temperatue will allow leaner and cleaner AFRs.

 

So the question now is: Does a reduction of 25* (what a previous poster said his oil cooler accomplished at speed) meet the requirements from above or would it take a more drastic change to water cooled to fall in line with the EPA?

 

Have any of you guys seen the UltraCool with the built in fan? We all run them on our bikes at the shop. I find that it does a really good job of cooling and the fan is automatic. It turns on at 210* and stays on until teh oil ahs been coooled down so no matter if you are sitting still or not. Mine has been on for about 5000 miles without issue so far. Just put it on in April or so.

They make two different versions for touring bikes. The older version does not hook to the oil temp gauge, but the newer version does.

Drew

Drew

 

I have observed several water cooled bikes (my son's Honda included) pull off the road because their bikes overheated. That has happened on both the highway and in town driving, and both Vtwins and strait 4 cylinder bikes.

The way I look at the Harley cooled heads is basically just replacing the oil cooler with a little bit more efficent cooling through the heads. It is still an air cooled engine.

Beary

 

I laughed out loud on this one! Riding is in my blood, has been for 35 years, but I would have to go your route too...no offense to GW owners, but it's Harley, air cooled, or nothing.

Here's a thought, simple perhaps, but are the displacement increases causing the cooling problems? Why go bigger and bigger? Seems like that is driving the need for more and more cooling. Guessing that's what people are asking for. My tc88 had enough for me, but obviously some folks want more.

 

probably not a complete redesign but some modifications--as posted earlier S&S has 50 state legal motors if they can do it certainly HD can(QUOTE=iceman5218;8537290]So basically my answer is H-D will have to redesign or water cool to meet the new EPA mark?[/QUOTE]

 

It would also be significant to watch what BMW does with its Boxer engine, as they are in the same boat with their "old faithful" design.