Personally I don't care what any dealer says. Here is my experience with the matter if your interested.

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/new-r...015-ultra.html

Page 44 of the owners manual says, "If the coolant level is normal and the lamp is still lit, stop the engine at once and do not ride further until the trouble is located and the necessary repairs are made. Failure to do so may result in engine damage."

I agree with everyone here that it shouldn't damage the engine. That being said when I sat in depositions it was one of the questions that came up. With it being in writing in the book, I wouldn't chance it unless you know your dealership is going to stand behind their word.

 

Lets see here, They took an air cooled head which has mass to dissipate heat and drilled holes in it to create passages for the cooling fluid to remove heat to the radiators. This works well in my experience. Now if that fluid leaks out you are left with hollow spaces inside the head castings. Heat will not dissipate through these voids. Uneven heating will now end up warping heads. If mine leaks it is shut down till it is repaired.

 

Aren't the water cooled bikes running higher compression than air/oil cooled? Isn't the higher compression a result of water cooling? So wouldn't it make sense that a nonfunctioning cooling system would create more heat than the heads were designed for?

 

Bingo, and that is the problem with just riding it. Letting it cool down and riding 10 miles to a dealer, sure. I wouldn't do much more than that.

 

When my water pump died, my dealer service guy said I shouldn't ride it without the cooling system functioning. But, I think it was because they had it all torn apart and didn't want to put it back together for me to ride home. It took a few days to get the parts in. Still can't believe they didn't stock a Rushmore water pump.

 

I will be going back to the dealer to discuss this further. Are potential liquid cooling failure issues specific to model years? What kind of issues? When not to ride? I do not want to risk any motor damage if such issues would occur. Some of us were told it's okay to ride, others not so much.

 

The only function of the TC twin cooled is a loop around each exhaust valve to keep that area cooler. The rest of the engine runs as usual.

With no coolant the engine will run the same temp as the non twin cooled. It doesn't hurt them it can't hurt the twin cooled. The only question is the water pump impacted without coolant.

 

I, for one, would not ride if the cooling system on my bike has an issue, unless I was either in a dangerous situation (roadway) or just a few miles to a dealership. That being said, I would not let the fact that the engine is a twin cooled one deter you from buying it. There are only a bazillion things that can cause you to get stranded on a motorcycle. In the past 90k miles on my '14 Limited, I have been stranded, but never for the cooling system. I do however, wish that it doesn't happen, but I still ride it and it's the best HD I have ever owned.

 

I surely wouldn't worry too much about it now that the bugs have been ironed out.
Do you know how many sensors that bikes/cars have these days? Any one of them fails your stranded.
Best bet is to stay home and look out the window if this is going to be a worrisome problem for you.

 

If the cooling system fails for one reason or another and the coolant isn't moving, I would think the coolant that is inside the head would reach a critical heat point and cause a boil over.
Any body experience a boil over with one of these?