I've started my winter maintenance projects on the cycle and today I replaced the coolant. Here are some observations from the afternoon -

1. My 2014 Ultra Limited has 27500 miles and had not had the coolant changed since new.
2. Based on previous forum comments I knew bleeding the system can be tedious so I set aside a whole afternoon on a crappy day to do it.
3. I drained 28 oz of coolant out of the system. 1st I drained on the jiffy stand then sat on it upright and then slightly to the right side. This helped get more coolant out.
4. Some have had difficulty getting the pressure cap off. Follow the shop manual - pull it out of the retainer and the cap will peek out of the lower fairing housing. Gently grab the neck with a pair of pliers and rotate the cap off counterclockwise. Its sticky the first time, but it got easier as the day progressed (more to come on this).
5. I used the opportunity to clean some oil/grease debris off the water pump cover and lube the cover housing studs with silicone grease so it comes off easier next time.
6. I measured what I drained out (28 oz). The overflow tank was a little low when I started - probably down 1/2" to 3/4" below the angled 'cold' fill line. After 3 1/2 years the fluid wasn't too bad, but not crystal clear. A good time to change it, but it hadn't gone critical either. You might get 4 or 5 years but I certainly wouldn't wait 10 years.
7. For the refill I measured out 16 oz fluid and started filling. Took my time and let it burp. Eventually I couldn't get any more in so I started the bleed & fill process in the shop manual.
8. I went through the bleed & fill process 5 to 6 times, running the pump each time and then waiting a bit. Eventually it wouldn't take any more.
9. By the way - I kept the battery tender hooked up all the time. I had the bike turned on quite a bit without the engine running and didn't want to stress the 3 1/2 year old battery anymore than necessary.
10. Next, I started the bike and let it idle in the garage about 15 minutes. As soon as I shut it down I turned the pump on and let it circulate a couple minutes. Each time I did this I could get more coolant into the radiator. I repeated this process three times until it would take no more (or so she said).
11. Overall I got 29 oz back into the system - a little more than what came out but the extra probably just filled the overflow up to the cold line. The shop manual says it holds about 1.1 quart (35 oz) but I wonder if that's after a complete tear-down.

If you have the time, a shop manual and some basic mechanical skills I think this is a good maintenance procedure to do yourself. I can't imagine a Harley dealer spending all afternoon to get the system exactly topped off like I did. It was more time consuming than changing the oil & filter, but not as big a PIA as pulling the oil filter off and spilling oil, even with the orange HD filter tray!

 

Nice write up. Thank you. I'll be doing mine next year.

 

one more thing, you may have to remove the cap a number of times to add more coolant as you ride it a couple of times. takes awhile to get all the air out, even after doing it as you did. i know because i did it the same way.

 

Yeah, not surprised. The cap got easier to remove. At the tail end I was adding half a shot glass at a time. Thanks though - I'll have to keep my eye on it.

 

That's pretty much the same procedure I used when I changed my coolant a couple of months ago at ~35K on my '14 Limited. Nice write-up!

 

Great summary, I will be doing this at the next service interval.

 

All good advice & I know how ya feel about the stink'n oil filter leaking all over the place...
Just changed mine this AM & as careful as one can be, same thing! Tried the punch a drain hole in bottom / vent hole in top of filter & funnel it away that way but always still some in the filter after unscrewing and same mess! Installing a different brand filter next time around. The Bro says he gets no mess?

 

me too ! about a shot glass everytime i ride the thing now. i think there is air in the overflow line going to the overflow tank to the cap. next time i'm going to stick some tubing onto the on the line going to the ground and blow into it to keep pressure in the tank while i install the cap. it may be alittle messy but it will keep coolant in that little hose going to the cap.

 

I bought a little mechanic's mirror at Walmart so I could see back in there. The oil filter basicaly butts up against a wall or flange of metal. Since that tray is hard plastic there really isn't a way to get a seal against that face, even in the best of conditions. When you figure in the tight space with little room to work...... I think next time I'll pop the water cover off and work some absorbant rag strips up in there to catch the leakage. Maybe less will end up on the wiring that's up in there. Sure seemed easier on the old Evo's I had. Progress!

 

I've tried a few tricks on the oil change, and have just decided it's going to be messy. I make a little tray out of aluminum foil and that catches most of it, and I stuff paper towels around to catch most of what the tray misses.