I know what you mean about humidity, it can kick your butt. Last year when the wife and I went to Nashville we left with a pleasant 73 degrees and low humidity, about the time we reached the middle of KY it was in the mid 90's and humid as all get out. The wife wasn't taking in enough fluids and ended up getting sick about 10 miles out side of Nashville. Once I pumped a Gatoraid into her she perked right up, bad thing is it happened on the way back home. Temp reached the high 90's with humidity in the upper 70's, by the time we reached Cincinnati she was sick again.

I've been out west when the temps have been in the high 90's and its warm but not like 90's with 70+ percent humidity.

 

Just got back from Leesburg Bikefest, no mods. The trike did get warm but like any Harley, learn to keep your feet out of the oven. If /when I go with mods it would be for a little more response from the engine.

 

I had Colorado Chaps make me some heat shield chats for my right leg. The come in two pieces and clip to the upper right leg and the lower right calf. I can wear both or either. I can wear them over jeans or bare legs with shorts. I haven't used them yet on a hot day, so the verdit is out, but I think they will be my answer. The attach through quick connect fasteners. I am the first one Colorado Chaps has made these for and they are a prototype. I will give feedback once I have good data.

 

I have looked at their site also and have been interested with some of their stuff, Kevlar chaps...seem to have a good idea of what people are looking for....please keep us up on your findings.

 

I have read several threads here about the heat of the Tri Glide. I really don't want to remove my lower fairing and I slide the vent open in the Summer.

That said, I took my 2011 Tri Glide (it has 15,000 miles on it) with my wife on the back to Santa Clarita from Barstow, CA last month. My right leg was miserably uncomfortable due to the excessive heat. My wife's leg was actually scarlet red when we got to Santa Clarita and she was wearing levis. On the way home, she kept her leg wrapped around my waist and I kept my legs on the highway pegs that I installed and still my leg was scarlet through my jeans when I got home.

So my questions are: I am told that the cats are in the header and they cause a lot of heat, if I switch pipes, should I replace the headers also or will just slip on reduce the heat?

Will changing the pipes and / or slip ons reduce the heat dramatically? The amount of heat I have is ridiculous. Mind you, I am not some newby to the heat. I grew up in the Palmdale / Lancaster area and have been in Barstow for the last 37 years and I have been riding on and off road for over 45 years. I really am a Mojave Desert rat.

Any advice from any of you would be awesome.

 

I went with a stock de-catted header I found on eBay. That way I still have my original header in case I need to return to stock. I also installed FCS Wards Werks fans at the same time.

These two changes significantly reduced my heat issues - to the point I'm not seeking further mods.

And, as a side benefit, going cat-less noticeably changed the level and tone of my exhaust. It's louder and lower when under load - but not obnoxious. Now I don't need to change out my mufflers to get better sound.

Bill

 

i bought a 2011 flhxx last saturday,my gf went with me to pick it i told her to wear pants,boots because of the expected heat problems i've read about on this site,it was in the low 90's(nashville)rode it home(50mi)it wasn't hot to her,rode it again sunday about a 150mi she wore shorts,still no complaints,installed oil temp gauge,stage one ac yesterday,took out to check oil temp,it was running under 230*,i have ordered the xied 02,they haven't come yet,i had them on my trade in and liked them but they only dropped the oil temp around 5*, this trike looks stock as far as exhaust,i can't tell if its decatted or not,i am pleased with the performance of the stage one ac,less downshifting,i'm in it to spend as little as possible on upgrades,so the x-ieds have been described as the poor mans tuner,thats just me,if i see 300* oil temps i will probably get these headers decatted...

 

I bought a 2013 Triglide four weeks ago. It was seriously hot but not leathal. I decided that engine longevity was my goal so I removed the cat, did a stage 1 remap and added a stage 1 air cleaner. I left the stock pipes on. The trike before the mods would run 285-300+ in normal Georgia summer temps (85-95). After the mods it now is much more comfortable and runs 220-250 in the same temps on the open road and 250-270 in heavy traffic. Air cleaner is only warm to the touch now. The exhaust is a little deeper and somewhat louder and gas mileage is about the same so it's at least not leaner than stock and I suspect a little richer.

 

day 2 after oil temp gauge install,cld the dealer to see if luggage rack/sissy bar had come in,it had it's 1:00pm cst(nashville) rode 50mi to dealer oil temp creeped up to 250*,i knew it was hot and humid but hadn't checked the air temp,got over there and picked up the parts and headed backed,got caught in traffic,temp creeps up to around 270*- 280* in stop & go traffic,finally got away from that and oil temp dropped back down to 250-260*....got home and watched the news and it got up to 97* today on the south side of town,i think the bike did better than i did,but i think the cats gonna go......high tomorrow is 95* so i will be staying close to ac tomorrow...lol...

 

I too have a 2011 XXX. Wait until you do a 300-400 mile road trip at speeds of 75-80 MPH on the interstate. You'll probably notice constant temps of 280 or higher. I ride mine down to S.C. once a month during the spring and summer and my beast is a toaster on I-95. I bought a pair of knee chaps from a leather shop in Maggie Valley just to be able to ride on the interstate for long periods of time without frying my legs. They seem to work fine, but I still stop at just about every rest area to cool the engine down.

Bubba