In the past I've complained about how much hotter the 96ci motor in my '10 Heritage runs vs the 88ci motor in my '06 Street Bob. But it turns out I'm partly to blame.

When I bought my '10 Heritage new (in '10) I also purchased Harley's Signature series touring seat. It's a very comfortable deep bucket seat with adjustable rider backrest and Heritage styled stitching & chrome studs. The deep bucket gives you incredible lower back support even with the rider backrest removed! Shortly afterwards I bought Captain Itch's Crotch Cooler which resolved the heat issues I was having. And as many others have posted - it works like a charm!

But a few weeks ago I re-installed the factory Heritage seat just for fun. I wanted the factory look so I removed the crotch cooler. I thought this would only last a day or so before tiring of the heat and burned legs. But it's been 3 weeks now and no heat issues whatsoever! That's even riding in the middle of a record setting heat wave here in the northeast! So what gives? Why does my bike seem to run so much cooler with the stock seat?

Of course it's not running cooler at all. Late model engines really do run hotter for various reasons (stricter emissions, larger displacement). But the stock Heritage seat is wider all around than the signature series seat - especially in front by the rear cylinder and the oil tank! The slight overhang seems to channel the heat from the rear cylinder and oil tank away from you. Every now and then I'd get some heat under my right leg riding around town. But it was no big deal - hardly noticeable! And where have I read that before? Right here just about any time I mentioned my bike running hotter! Turns out those folks were right. Were they also running a wider stock seat?

I plan to swap out the stock seat for the Signature seat & crotch cooler in the near future. I like the stock seat but am missing the rider back rest and deep bucket of HD's signature seat. I'm wondering how many others here have had a similar experience with their hotter running 96+ci motors and aftermarket seats (inc Harley). And if so, could you post your experiences (postive & negative)?

Pic of my bike showing the HD Signature seat's amazing lower back support and Captain Itch's Crotch Cooler which I highly recommend with this seat:

 

My buddy has that same seat on his Heritage and he too loves it. I have an HD Brawler seat for my Fatboy (it's in my sig pic) that I hardly ever use any more. One reason was the heat, my inner thigh could actually touch the head on the rear cylinder. It also pushes me forward about an inch and I like to stretch out.

 

I recently changed to a Mustang Squareback and noticed a real heat reduction over the badlander & LePera. Must have something to do with the factors you mentioned. I got the Squareback for 2-up riding but it feels so great with the back support I can't take it off. Doesn't look so bad for a comfortable seat...

 

It would seem that it has all to do with airflow. The better fix is to richen the bike and cool the motor a little. The heat flaps and blockers they make will keep the heat off of you but always better to fix the problem than mask it

 

How do you do the richen thing? I had the HD race tuner done and it still seems hot in the summer.

 

If you've had the adjustments properly done (richen'd up), it is running "cooler" not "cool". These are relative terms. There's still a lot of heat coming off those heads/cylinders when things are set-up correctly.

 

Yup. I noticed a significant change with my new seat, and then again even more so after I put a different style oil tank on.