I'm calling BS on this BUT maybe I'm wrong. A friend of mine bought a new Ultra Limited which they are ecstatic about. I asked them if they had experienced any leaking problems yet. They said no that that was a bunch of bull and never happened to anyone, 1st red flag! Then they went on to say the Limited actually could run "just fine" without any coolant! That it would just revert back to being an air-cooled bike afterall it still has the cooling fins. I said "who told you that?" They said the OWNER of the dealership they bought the bike from. Who is right here?

 

so the owner wants to sell a bike, a brand new bike to boot. Yeah hes telling the truth.

UNLESS - he IS telling the truth, but only the truth as he knows it - refusing to accept that the bikes have a design flaw, but that's a pretty slim chance hes that naive.

 

There is no BS on the internet.
Everything I read is the truth.

 

Call his bluff. Tell him to sack up, drain the coolant and run it up the freeway at 80 mph in 3rd gear.

 

Bonjure

 

I could be wrong, but I thought I read that those were just regular air cooled engines with the radiator and plumbing added on? If that's the case they could go without the coolant fine, but seems kind of silly to have it and not use it

 

Half truth......


Yes there most certainly have been issues with the cooling system.


Yes the bike will run without coolant. It is still air cooled and still has EITMS. If the cooling system fails just keep riding. You can take it to the shop when you get back.

 

Why would he lie? What would he have to gain by it?

 

yes, it will run. but will it damage it? if there is no coolant in the passage, then there is nothing to pass the heat and it will build. if it were my bike, i'd be calling the dealer to come tow it. but if it's your bike, you can do what you want.

 

My thought on this is since there is a water pump on these bikes wouldn't it burn up the pump if there is no coolant to lubricate it? Afterall, the pump would continue "trying" to do it's job even if nothing was there to pump. I know in cars, particularly old cars, this would be the case.