it will not be water-cooled. the moco is adding a larger oil pan and forced air cooling--hence the need to re-design the fairing. the batwings..ultras and limiteds..are going to have some nice features for '14. lots of people that were going to wait another year for the new roadglides are going to be buying these bikes instead. the '14 models will be shown to the dealers within the next month or so...so we should know a lot more shortly.

 

And where did this information come from?

 

If the new one is not watercooled, the general motorcycle press and some folks on this board and other forums are going to need a WAAAMMMBULLANCE to come pick them up !

 

info came from a long time salesman/manager at harley dealerships that also raced harleys for years-dirt and drag. he knows a lot of harley employees and people in the industry. not known to be a b.s. artist, and what i usually hear from him turns out pretty close to the mark.

 

That's a shame. I would like to see a hopped up V-rod engine in at least one of the baggers. I know some of the HD die hards would throw a fit, but it would be cool to see.

 

This should send the watercooled guys into a seizure. I'm in!

 

He's wrong.... it's gone.

We'll just wait and see.

Beav

 

you are not going to see a v-rod motor in a touring bike. someday, there will be a water-cooled twin--but the motor will be similar to what they are using now. touring bikes need torque and not high revving v-rod type motors. i would like to see the road glide as a water-cooled v-twin with horsepower and torque comparable to a honda goldwing...with the reliability and handling too. not sure i am going to live that long, but you young whipper snappers in your 40's and 50's should see a water-cooled harley touring bike.

 

Dan...
It's here (water,) and no V-rod engine either. Not all, but it's introduced.

And no more roady's... got mine, so it's no concern.

Like I said.... just wait and see. 8-)

Beav

 

I will never understand the resistance to water cooled motors. How many are driving air cooled cars/trucks, have black & white TVs, still using 8 tracks stereos and are using rotary dial land line telephones? Products can evolve while respecting tradition. Look at the new Camaro and Challenger. Late 60s, early 70s muscle car look with the latest technology. Heck if you are a traditionalist, why did you purchase a fuel injected bike? You should have kept the last made Harley Davidson with a carburetor.

I do get the tradition but I can tell you the Vrod engine and transmission is sweet. The only negative (beside the departure from the HD exhaust sound) was that it was not very good on gas and baggage looks horrible on it. If they throw one into a larger bike you might see mpg in the 20s but you can sit in traffic with it running all day long in the summer and not worry about your motor overheating.

I now have an air cooled engine but had there been an option for watercooled I would have purchased it. This one actually has an automatic (as well as manual) shut off for 1 cylinder when it gets too hot idling. Imangine the research and technology that went into engineering this system to overcome an air cooled motor problem. Would it have been cheaper to actually make the same motor water cooled?

I think it would make sense for HD to make 2 lines of bikes, traditional with air cooled and modern with water cooled. As long as there are customers willing to pay top $ for older tech for tradition's sake, HD will continue to make them.