Anyone ever experimented with heat shields
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 139
Likes: 94
From: New Hampshire
Anyone ever experimented with heat shields
OK I own a 2013 Ultra Classic, coming from a 1997 ultra. Followed all the steps everyone says to cool down the right side of the bike with the stage one setup. Big sucker intake, free flowing mufflers ( mine are rinehart ), cat removed from stock headers and proper tune. I have the V&H FP3 with their recommended map setting. The bike runs better but the heat is still there like it was before I spent all the $ to supposedly get rid of the heat problem. My better half refuses to ride this bike unless I can solve the problem.
I think I have come up with a solution but you must be warned. At the moment, it is but ugly and is probably making the rear cylinder run hotter, but I don't care. At least my right leg isn't on fire any more and my wife has been happier as I keep modifying the shield and hopefully soon, she will give me her approval. As soon as I get approval, I will post pictures.
Ah, and no, the stuff out there that people can buy like from "Captain itch" are just a bandaid and an expensive option that sort of works. The stock shields from Moco are a joke.
Can't figure how Moco can continually produce these machines like this when Yamaha came out with their V-TwinAir Cooled Road Star with no Cat in the exhaust, stock motorcycle and no heat problems whatsoever for the rider.. I jump on mine whenever I get frustrated with my ultra which has been a lot lately. Seriously looking at their new v-twin tourer.
What's really frustrating to me is that with all the years that have passed with the twinkie engines, no one has come up with a real solution to the heat problem. And I am tired of hearing from the HD faithful that you get used to the heat? Are you kidding me? I don't care if I destroy the rear cylinder on my bike if that's what it takes to make the bike comfortable to ride while it does.
I think I have come up with a solution but you must be warned. At the moment, it is but ugly and is probably making the rear cylinder run hotter, but I don't care. At least my right leg isn't on fire any more and my wife has been happier as I keep modifying the shield and hopefully soon, she will give me her approval. As soon as I get approval, I will post pictures.
Ah, and no, the stuff out there that people can buy like from "Captain itch" are just a bandaid and an expensive option that sort of works. The stock shields from Moco are a joke.
Can't figure how Moco can continually produce these machines like this when Yamaha came out with their V-TwinAir Cooled Road Star with no Cat in the exhaust, stock motorcycle and no heat problems whatsoever for the rider.. I jump on mine whenever I get frustrated with my ultra which has been a lot lately. Seriously looking at their new v-twin tourer.
What's really frustrating to me is that with all the years that have passed with the twinkie engines, no one has come up with a real solution to the heat problem. And I am tired of hearing from the HD faithful that you get used to the heat? Are you kidding me? I don't care if I destroy the rear cylinder on my bike if that's what it takes to make the bike comfortable to ride while it does.
Last edited by grubsie; Sep 5, 2018 at 09:19 PM.
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 4,816
Likes: 1,320
From: Good roads, cold beer
OK I own a 2013 Ultra Classic, coming from a 1997 ultra. Followed all the steps everyone says to cool down the right side of the bike with the stage one setup. Big sucker intake, free flowing mufflers ( mine are rinehart ), cat removed from stock headers and proper tune. I have the V&H FP3 with their recommended map setting. The bike runs better but the heat is still there like it was before I spent all the $ to supposedly get rid of the heat problem. My better half refuses to ride this bike unless I can solve the problem.
I think I have come up with a solution but you must be warned. At the moment, it is but ugly and is probably making the rear cylinder run hotter, but I don't care. At least my right leg isn't on fire any more and my wife has been happier as I keep modifying the shield and hopefully soon, she will give me her approval. As soon as I get approval, I will post pictures.
Ah, and no, the stuff out there that people can buy like from "Captain itch" are just a bandaid and an expensive option that sort of works. The stock shields from Moco are a joke.
Can't figure how Moco can continually produce these machines like this when Yamaha came out with their V-TwinAir Cooled Road Star with no Cat in the exhaust, stock motorcycle and no heat problems whatsoever for the rider.. I jump on mine whenever I get frustrated with my ultra which has been a lot lately. Seriously looking at their new v-twin tourer.
What's really frustrating to me is that with all the years that have passed with the twinkie engines, no one has come up with a real solution to the heat problem. And I am tired of hearing from the HD faithful that you get used to the heat? Are you kidding me? I don't care if I destroy the rear cylinder on my bike if that's what it takes to make the bike comfortable to ride while it does.
I think I have come up with a solution but you must be warned. At the moment, it is but ugly and is probably making the rear cylinder run hotter, but I don't care. At least my right leg isn't on fire any more and my wife has been happier as I keep modifying the shield and hopefully soon, she will give me her approval. As soon as I get approval, I will post pictures.
Ah, and no, the stuff out there that people can buy like from "Captain itch" are just a bandaid and an expensive option that sort of works. The stock shields from Moco are a joke.
Can't figure how Moco can continually produce these machines like this when Yamaha came out with their V-TwinAir Cooled Road Star with no Cat in the exhaust, stock motorcycle and no heat problems whatsoever for the rider.. I jump on mine whenever I get frustrated with my ultra which has been a lot lately. Seriously looking at their new v-twin tourer.
What's really frustrating to me is that with all the years that have passed with the twinkie engines, no one has come up with a real solution to the heat problem. And I am tired of hearing from the HD faithful that you get used to the heat? Are you kidding me? I don't care if I destroy the rear cylinder on my bike if that's what it takes to make the bike comfortable to ride while it does.
Thread Starter
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Cruiser
Joined: Sep 2016
Posts: 139
Likes: 94
From: New Hampshire
And yes, the heat problem is all over this forum, so it is a "real" problem.
Last edited by grubsie; Sep 5, 2018 at 10:22 PM.
Intermediate
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 31
Likes: 13
From: Sharon Center, OH
You have a 2012 what? Compare to every other bike I have owned, metric and HD, nothing even comes close to the heat from this ultra. Love HD's, always have, but very disappointed in my "new to me" ultra.
And yes, the heat problem is all over this forum, so it is a "real" problem.
And yes, the heat problem is all over this forum, so it is a "real" problem.
Luckily with a '12 you don't have to deal with the warranty BS the new M8's have. I made the change on my 17.. new pipes, no cat - what a difference. Still hot - mmm yeah. But liveable - absolutely. 150% improvement over stock. Did a 350 mi day with a buddy through Badlands and some Indian territory on a day with 98* ambient temps. Normally I would have melted and had to stop every 30 mins.. side effect of a heart attack last year. Had NO issues like that, both wife and I noticed.
Anyway, enough rambling - get rid of the cat if you want to save your right leg. Search ebay for whatever your year or model code is and head pipe. Lots of guys selling de-catted oem pipes there.. good luck.
Grand HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2011
Posts: 4,816
Likes: 1,320
From: Good roads, cold beer
You have a 2012 what? Compare to every other bike I have owned, metric and HD, nothing even comes close to the heat from this ultra. Love HD's, always have, but very disappointed in my "new to me" ultra.
And yes, the heat problem is all over this forum, so it is a "real" problem.
And yes, the heat problem is all over this forum, so it is a "real" problem.
Road Master
Joined: Feb 2008
Posts: 832
Likes: 125
From: Parris Island
OK I own a 2013 Ultra Classic, coming from a 1997 ultra. Followed all the steps everyone says to cool down the right side of the bike with the stage one setup. Big sucker intake, free flowing mufflers ( mine are rinehart ), cat removed from stock headers and proper tune. I have the V&H FP3 with their recommended map setting. The bike runs better but the heat is still there like it was before I spent all the $ to supposedly get rid of the heat problem. My better half refuses to ride this bike unless I can solve the problem.
I think I have come up with a solution but you must be warned. At the moment, it is but ugly and is probably making the rear cylinder run hotter, but I don't care. At least my right leg isn't on fire any more and my wife has been happier as I keep modifying the shield and hopefully soon, she will give me her approval. As soon as I get approval, I will post pictures.
Ah, and no, the stuff out there that people can buy like from "Captain itch" are just a bandaid and an expensive option that sort of works. The stock shields from Moco are a joke.
Can't figure how Moco can continually produce these machines like this when Yamaha came out with their V-TwinAir Cooled Road Star with no Cat in the exhaust, stock motorcycle and no heat problems whatsoever for the rider.. I jump on mine whenever I get frustrated with my ultra which has been a lot lately. Seriously looking at their new v-twin tourer.
What's really frustrating to me is that with all the years that have passed with the twinkie engines, no one has come up with a real solution to the heat problem. And I am tired of hearing from the HD faithful that you get used to the heat? Are you kidding me? I don't care if I destroy the rear cylinder on my bike if that's what it takes to make the bike comfortable to ride while it does.
I think I have come up with a solution but you must be warned. At the moment, it is but ugly and is probably making the rear cylinder run hotter, but I don't care. At least my right leg isn't on fire any more and my wife has been happier as I keep modifying the shield and hopefully soon, she will give me her approval. As soon as I get approval, I will post pictures.
Ah, and no, the stuff out there that people can buy like from "Captain itch" are just a bandaid and an expensive option that sort of works. The stock shields from Moco are a joke.
Can't figure how Moco can continually produce these machines like this when Yamaha came out with their V-TwinAir Cooled Road Star with no Cat in the exhaust, stock motorcycle and no heat problems whatsoever for the rider.. I jump on mine whenever I get frustrated with my ultra which has been a lot lately. Seriously looking at their new v-twin tourer.
What's really frustrating to me is that with all the years that have passed with the twinkie engines, no one has come up with a real solution to the heat problem. And I am tired of hearing from the HD faithful that you get used to the heat? Are you kidding me? I don't care if I destroy the rear cylinder on my bike if that's what it takes to make the bike comfortable to ride while it does.
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Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 1,149
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From: Indianapolis, IN
I'm 100% new to HD, wanted one for ever, and now have a 2015 SG Special, I rode on Monday when it was 96-degrees in INDY, the heat is ridiculous, I rode my Triumph 1200 miles in 3 days over 4th of July, 93-97 degrees, on that trip with zero heat issues from the Street Triple, and yes it is a totally different bike, I agree.
I have considered modifying the heat shields as well, because half of the people that remove the catalytic... claim that it made no difference WITH that said, I am a week or two away from buying a Tuner and removing the cat and TIG welding it back together myself..... This... so I can see for myself.... going to leave stock mufflers and only remove the cat and tune it with a Dynojet Power Vision tuner. So I can post reworld results on mine before the end of Sept.
I have considered modifying the heat shields as well, because half of the people that remove the catalytic... claim that it made no difference WITH that said, I am a week or two away from buying a Tuner and removing the cat and TIG welding it back together myself..... This... so I can see for myself.... going to leave stock mufflers and only remove the cat and tune it with a Dynojet Power Vision tuner. So I can post reworld results on mine before the end of Sept.
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Ultimate HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2012
Posts: 6,129
Likes: 143
From: Santa Cruz
As you, my 09 had terrible heat burning my right calf. Could not keep foot on boards. First tourer I put highway pegs on. Did all the engine mods and tunes. Heat wrapped the stock noncat header. All made next to no difference. Finally replaced the stock non cat header with a Fullsac one. Fixed... my story.
Club Member
Joined: Jun 2017
Posts: 1,149
Likes: 386
From: Indianapolis, IN
As you, my 09 had terrible heat burning my right calf. Could not keep foot on boards. First tourer I put highway pegs on. Did all the engine mods and tunes. Heat wrapped the stock noncat header. All made next to no difference. Finally replaced the stock non cat header with a Fullsac one. Fixed... my story.