Suppose your coolant runs out or there is some other problem with the coolant. Cant you continue to operate the bike? Isn't it still an air cooled engine at that point. Just curious.
Gary

 

Yes.

A good friend of mine rode the skills competition in Milwaukee last month. The engineers that designed the system were the judges, he asked them this very question.

Their answer was yes, it is the same engine, with cooling ports, and can be ridden as an air cooled engine. The cooled heads were designed for rider comfort.

 

The owners manual for the 2014 Limiteds sez NO, don't do it. I am curious though how the liquid could just "run out". Seems to me one would notice that happening.

 

Very interested in what is the truth here.

 

I own a 14 LTD - it "seems" to be leak free now. But, if it leaks again. I will not ride it and will have the dealer come retrieve it. Eventually, we will have data to support one way or the other regarding how long or if its ok to ride with coolant gone. Time will tell.

 

Of course the manual says not to ride it, whatever caused the problem in the "cooling system" could be further damaged by continually running the engine. But that doesn't mean the engine can't run safely without coolent. I can't remember where I read it, but the article was a MOCO representative explainng that the liquid cooled heads are only for rider comfort and the engine would run fine without coolent if the situation required it.

Beary

 

Rider magazine says that the moco reps say they can be ridden without coolant until able to be serviced.

 

food for thought: the coolant caries the heat away, and the heads with out the coolant passage dissipate the heat through the solid aluminum. I believe that an empty head will not do the same because of the the air gap caused by the area being empty. I also believe that the wet heads being thinner may be susceptible to cracking. IMO

 

Dealers have received a Tech Tip from Harley that says do not continue to operate bike if coolant runs out or if coolant temperature light will not go off.

 

Very difficult to quantify because the cooling system attachements to the heads may themselves dissipate enough heat to keep the head metal materials stable. I can't imagine Harley hasn't tested this senario. In fact since they have said it doesn't hurt the engine, we should assume (I know) they have tested the engine without coolent.

Beary