Just wondering, I haven't activated it till today to check it out, now I'm no expert and Harley wouldn't put it there without cause... but seems to me that turning off 1 cylinder...would damage the engine in the long run... any ideas/comments on that?

Should I use it, live and ride in Florida mostly, or not worth it?


thx.

 

I've gone back and forth on this since its inception and wondered as well, thinking the uneveness can't be good for the wear but I don't have enough technical knowledge to legitimately dispute my thinking here..what I've settled on with my M8 is to leave it enabled for the Summer because it works to mitigate felt heat, and the change in idle cadence is no big deal to me. I'll disable it 9 months of the year here because it comes on too frequently during those months at times and isn't necessary. I considered the Cool Flow Fan but decided why not use this feature since its there and am satisfied with its performance accomplishing its objective. It's been around long enough to determine if it causes issues and that doesn't appear to be a concern.

 

It's mainly for rider comfort. I have mine on currently on the SG because we two up a lot and it does help keep things a little cooler. No I don't think it hurts anything. The flex fuel in my truck shuts off 4 of the 8 cylinders in low load cruising and it's 10 years old. Chevy does if for fuel economy not temps but there are no ill effects from it other than a weird idle sound.

 

My only concern about it is what if the sensor fails and I go into some type of limp home mode. Other than that, mine is on and I don't even think about it.

 

I have actually been worrying about this. As far as performance goes.

 

I've had mine disabled since day one.. even my local shop said they usually disable them on their rides.. it was the first thing my sales guy showed me when I took it out for a test ride. None of the air cooled bikes I've owned had this feature so never worried about it.

Others said it was needed so for peace of mind I had the fan assisted oil cooler installed. Not sure if it really works but it does blow air onto the engine case when idling or during slow speeds. Once speed picks up I believe it turns off. I honestly can't feel any of the heat when on the bike. Even in stop and go traffic in 90 degree weather I can't tell it's hot unless I physically touch one of the cylinder heads with my leg.

The cat has also been eliminated with the header swap so I'm sure that has helped a lot too.

 

The fans actually draw the heat away, pushing it down towards the floor.

 

I don't think that's correct. The coolflow fan blows heat away from the rear of the engine to keep the rider/passenger cool. With that solution the heat that is coming from the engine is being blown away from the passenger/rider legs to make them more comfortable. It does nothing for engine or oil temps. The fan assisted oil cooler, which is a totally different product, is located in front of the engine and works to help cool the engine itself. It takes the cool air that comes from the outside, in the front of the bike, and blows it towards the engine's lower section. That's how it reduces close to 50 degrees in oil temp. The fan spins towards the engine and not away from it. I'm told it is designed to cool it from below.

 

this is correct..wife and I have the fan assist oil coolers on ours..not sure what real effect it has on cooling the engine as far as ET goes, but stands to reason that cooling the oil on its way to cool the heads helps it accomplish that goal