Can the new TWIN COOLED v-twin be driven WITHOUT any coolant in the system ?

May be good info to have - in case of - well you know ...

 

I think you need a test subject. I don't know how the pump would like running dry though.

Mike

 

Owners manual says if you loose coolant or bike overheats stop it & don't ride it.

 

Well that sucks! You would think that you could still ride it air cooled.

 

I think the biggest issue would be without coolant the water pump impeller would be damaged.

 

Yes, you can continue to ride it as in it won't overheat at cruise and the engine will just retard timing like the air-cooled engines do. I wouldn't keep it at the HP peak, though.

The water pump is electric rather than engine-driven, so it's possible that the computer could shut it down during a loss-of-coolant situation. Not that that's common, even in bikes that require coolant.

 

The whole reason i discounted metric cruisers when I decided to leave the super bikes alone was a lack of liquid cooling. Throttle by wire and programmable ECU's I'm comfortable with but I hate motorcycle cooling systems. More maintenance items and possible points of failure. Nothing like being in the middle of nowhere at 4am in the morning looking for a piece of wire so you can jump the fan switch on your gold wing since the temperature activated sensor took a dump.

 

Not what HD says about the timing.

"You also get better performance in hot conditions as, unlike the air cooled version, the ignition won't retard and start to lose power when both the bike and weather start to heat up."

You can find that same information on several sites about the Twin Cooled Harley engines.

 

I'm sure this subject has been thrashed to death in the dedicated Rushmore forum!

 

Metric water cooled bikes are pretty GD reliable. When was the last time you saw a GoldWing on the side of the road? And since 90% of the parts interchange with a Honda Accord your local Pep Boys will have any sensor you need

Last I heard, when the Rushmore models were having "issues" with the cooling systems, the MoCO said do not ride them and trailer them into the stealership for service.

(to be fair HD uses many commonly available parts on our bikes, and if you know parts you can get most of the sensors, connectors, pressure regulators, fuel line fittings, injectors and stuff from NAPA)