Just thought it would be interesting to go back to the beginning of the Harley heat problem and see how far Harley has come in over 3 years of customer complaints about the heat problem.

Note the post date is around April of 07 when the first round of EPA regs got Harley started on building bikes for the EPA.

Other than picking up a synthetic line of oil to sell and telling you to take your lower fairing off I have seen no effort to reduce the heat in over three years beyond the EITMS.

Note the mid frame heat deflectors don't reduce the heat, they just redirect it.


https://www.hdforums.com/forum/engin...-cam-96-a.html

 

EPA killed the air cooled VW.

 

And now they have the air cooled motorcycle engine in their sights! Yet even though the beast is wounded Harley could have applied some of the band aids the Forum Members have to eleviate some of the rider discomfort and heat related engine problems.

They could have offered the Parade Fan as Standard Equipment and a Premium Oil cooler. They should have not waited for the aftermarket to develop a large capacity oil cooler with a Fan they should have developed one and offered it as standard equipment on the touring bikes. There is an aftermarket headpipe manufacture that sells ceramic pipes, about a 50% reduction in radiated heat. Harley could have had the headpipes on the touring models ceramic coated inside and out and alleviated about half of that hot air that scalds your right leg. The mid frame heat deflector could have been a little larger and designed to throw some air back on that rear cylinder also. The aftermarket heat deflectors are larger and don't kill the looks of the bike/trike. If that thing was curved a little and acted more like a fresh air scoop some more air could be directed to that rear cylinder. Someone mentioned to me before that Buell was working this into their product line before Harley dropped them.

I know that Harley did not have many options with the fuel mix and probably could find no other way than to use the catalytic converter after the 2010 EPA standards got harder to meet. That had all the above options that they could have used to make a good faith effort to help with the heat problem instead of just dump it on the customer and the aftermarket. Those floor board extensions would not have been necessary also if HD had built the OEM's a little farther out away from the heat. Saved a lot of melted boot on that heat shield at least.

I know many of us went the extra mile to richin up the AFR and dump the Cat and EPA Cams, alterations that Harley or no other motorcycle company can do, but bare minimum they could have done some of the above and spared their customers some of the expense and heat.

 

Product loyalty will go just so far and for me I am pretty much at the end of my limit.

I am sure that most of the new trike and touring sales will be to customers who just do not know they are buying a toaster oven.

Had I known, I would have not bought the Heat Monster.

 

I know all of this is true, and we all would like a cooler running motorcycle...but I did get third degree burns from my 98 Ultra while sitting in a traffic jam on the interstate...so this heat monster has been around for a long time.....
What I feel Harley needs is a radiator on the touring line...I know a lot of riders will scream and say they would never buy a liquid cooled Harley...but they said the same about a total electric starting Harley, or a non-carb Harley....I think we'll see the H2O Harley real soon...

 

I love my FI softail twincams, I also like electric start.

If it is going to have a radiator on it though it might as well be a Honda.

 

The water cooled discussion is about as devisive as Al Gore at a Tea Party Meeting.

I'm just saying even though the EPA Mandated these ovens since 2007 Harley could have been doing more than just work on meeting the EPA Clean Air Standards and letting customer satisfaction with the product go to hell.

There had to be a better response to the heat than take your lowers off and the bike is designed to run that hot. With the premium price HD charges for a High End Touring most of the mods the forum members have had to do themselves should have been on the OEM bikes/trikes. The technology was already there or we would not have found it so easy. We took a back seat to Harley's bottom line and profit and it will cost HD in the long run for I as so many others I have read make the statement, will never buy another new Harley Davidson.

This forum has the members that are in the age and demographic group that has the discretionary cash to buy high end Harley's! If we decide to vote with our feet and our cash then the like minded people that are not on the forum will also. I still believe HD has hurt the brand over the last three years by not listening to their customers and doing some things to alleviate the heat problem.

I got the 2010 running cooler and a little better but the operative word here is I. We should not have to pay a premium price for a Trike then spend another 2 thousand on cooling if off, with half the mods being something HD could void your warranty for.

Just a little to much to ask for the sake of brand loyalty!

But taking the chance and making an inflamatory statement, those big water cooled, well engineered metrics that are sold by dealerships that are into service after the sell are looking better and better!

 

Obviously Coupe I agree with you. The only problem with resolving the heat problems ourselves is that you also void the warranty if you are on a trip and have a problem.

 

Coupe
believe me, I couldn't agree with you more...just saying these HD's have been hot for a long time.
The 2010 TG I just bought will most likely be the last new HD I will buy too...too expensive and not enough value for the dollar..
I've owned four wings...great motorcycle except for the foot position for the rider, it killed my knees and hip...
I looked hard at the Crossbow from Victory, and having a Roadstar, or Venture triked...because of the floorboards, but came back to HD...fool that I am maybe I just have too many t-shirts
I do like the TG, just put about 4200 miles on her on a trip out to Billings MT and back..it ran better as the miles racked up...yeah it was warm...but I can fix that ( not that HD couldn't too and should have)

But seriously, if not for the foot position ( for me anyway) the wing is the best platform for a trike....gobs of power and very comfy..dealer support just about anywhere, however you will run into dealerships that don't sell many wings ( some none) and have no parts on hand or techs that know about them....but ride one and while running down the road stick your hand out from the side grills...hot as the dickens...so heat does reach the rider....not as bad as HD, but still there...

But enough about the wing...
Maybe I'm lucky, maybe I just didn't feel it, but on the trip out west we ran though some awful heat, index 113 through South Dakota...but I wasn't that uncomfortable...go figure. Yeah it was hot, but nothing more than I have experienced before, I did sit on a gel pad and a Alaska sheepskin and maybe it say me high enough to relieve some of the heat...beats me. I do feel a lot when sitting still, traffic, lights etc...but again, not anymore than of previous HD's....
I going to do the fuel moto head pipe, PC-V, air cleaner and mufflers...but if I don't I can still enjoy the TG...as is.

All and all I'm OK with the TG...I knew about her shortcomings before I bought it...and what is needed to make it run better...mostly thanks to you guys that went before me and posted here...for that I'm very grateful...a BIG THANKS to all of you....

 

I'm pretty much at my limit, I won't give them any more of my money. I used to get all excited to see what the new model year would bring now I could really care less, its the same old same old use the buying public as beta testers.