I know what you mean when you start looking at the cost of the bike and then doing a conversion. I used to think that way, then I bought a new 2010 Triglide and proceeded to put almost 50k in it and still wasn't happy. In the end I wished I would have went with my 1st plan which was taking a 2 wheel Harley Ultra Classic and building a stout engine making gobs of low end torque, or a new Honda Gold Wing and then having it converted. As you can see, I went with the new Gold Wing and a Hannigan conversion, I'd do it again without a second thought, especially after getting into some gnarly stop and go traffic .

A couple years ago my dad and I got caught in a nasty traffic jam while going through Chicago on a 90 degree day. I don't care how many fans you have on a Harley, you weren't going to survive it, even a Twin Cooled would have had a melt down. After about 45 minutes my dads 09 started smoking, pinging and his clutch was slipping pretty bad from being over heated. He ended up along side the road waiting for it to cool down, ended up hurting the rear cylinder which caused me to have to freshen up the top end that winter. My Wing was cool as a cucumber, the temperature stayed right in the safe zone.

 

^ main reason i went with the limited,wet head no overheating other is the rushmore beefier front end.

 

With the narrow rear track on an OEM HD TriGlide, you'll never notice the difference between a rigid rear and independent rear. Plus, the factory HD rear is lighter, simpler, cheaper, and easier to service. Then there is that factory versus conversion pArt. I'm all in on the factory rigid rear.

 

Let them sit in 95 degree heat and idle and just inch along for about 45 minutes or more and it'll get hot. The wet head just cools the exhaust valve which is more or less making it cooler for the rider. The rest of the engine is still all air cooled. The crank case and the primary are going to get hotter than the blue blazes.

 

This ! I want that factory warranty.

 

Before I bought my 2016 Triglide I test rode a 2004 Goldwing with a IRS "Motortrike" conversion.

Both my wife and I hated the ride so much we almost decided trikes were no good at all. We had been told that the MOTORTRIKE conversion was the best ride for comfort in a trike. I was crammed into a small space and the size of the engine made it hard to operate the shifter and the brake due to little space.

Then the ride. My wife felt as though she was going to get thrown off the thing. (Me too). That happened on slightly slanted road surfaces.

Long story short we decided we owed ourselves a test ride on the Harley. Once we got on it to test we didn't want to get off. We ended up buying the Triglide and are loving every minute of it.

As far as heat concerns go, I haven't been in 90 degree weather yet. We've gotten close (86). The heat coming off the sun is more noticeable on the tops of my legs and hands than the heat from the engine so far. I hope that doesn't change.

 

I couldn't wait to get off of the Tri Glide. Haven't tested a Wing conversion yet. I hope it's better.

 

Please explain how the above has anything to do with an IRS's ride quality. Rider and passenger ergonomics have nothing to do with suspension & ride quality. GW's are known for disagreeing with larger people.

Different strokes for different folks

 

I hated the suspension and ride quality of the 2004 Gold Wing Motortrike (IRS) conversion due to the ride being very unstable. (Got thrown around a bit).

The Harley is far more stable than that one GW with IRS I chose to test ride.

I did include other reasons why I rejected the GW which led to your confusion.

I traded a 2008 Gold Wing Motorcycle (which fit me well) for the HD Trike.

 

In the great scheme of things,as long as all of us are happy with our rides,that's all that really matters.