When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
That settles it then. I'm getting a V-Rod with apes and bags.
I know, or at least believe, you are joking. But seriously, check out some of the VROD-centric forums on the Internet and look at the heat complaints when they went closed-loop EMS for 08. They were reporting blisters and burnt jeans, etc. Water cooling does very little for heat management. It mostly relocates the emission of some of the heat.
Why all the whinning about liquid cooling? Real motorcycles are air cooled.
Buy a car or buy a wing!
 \\;
A water-cooled engine is manufactored to tighter tolerances, and should (in theory) run better, and longer. if staying "true" was what everyone was about.... we'd all be riding one cylinder beasts with wooden wheels....
It just goes on and on when it comes to change. At one time guys with front brake were kittens, fuel injection is for punks, radios are for the car, belts are for pants , etc. etc.
Huh? but I'll answer this. The greatest improvement of a liquid verses air cooled motor is the liquid cooled has tighter clearance tolerances in the engine. How'd you like to have a Harley with .0005" tolerance on the piston-to-cylinder clearance? It's called a V-Rod!
There are 2 distinct "crowds" here concerning this topic.
The first one, is the crowd that likes the H/D tradition. It is of a bike that is simplistic, and has a direct connection to all the Halrey's going back to the wood shed where the frist one was assembled in 1903. Once someone gets used to it....nothing else feels the same.
The second, that sees lower operating temps and tighter engine tolerances as the way to go. They see that EPA reg's are pushing the MOCO that direction, and that it is an enevitability.....that we should "embrace" the future.
MY TAKE. I like all bikes. My heart is with the past. S&S created their new Wedge motor to server as a compromise. I still don't like it. I PERSONALLY prefer Air Cooled traditional 45 degree V-twin, single throw crank, because it is simple, and has that tie to the first bike built in milwaukee.
When Water cooling finally does take over, there will be, as there is now, a large number of used bikes with the Air Cooled drivetrain.
I plan on keeping my Superglide. Wouldn't mind getting a Road King sometime down the road....perhaps one of the last Air Cooled motors.
~Joe
Last edited by traveler; Feb 21, 2009 at 08:25 PM.
This is hilarious!! Really, some of the most cave manish answers I have ever heard! But, this is why HD still has that century old technology because some people think it's better or the only way to go.
I have one thing to say to you guys that think it is the only way a bike should be. Airplanes were air cooled way back then too. You know what happened to them don't cha? Planes engines evolved and newer and better technologies were invented and pioneered. These newer engines were faster, lighter, and were far more easier to maintain. They also found that these new water-cooled engines were better at producing power when they were cooled and they were better at fuel usage and they could get more power and longer distances out of these engines. Just thing, if the airplane builders thought like some of the people here, there would be no supersonic jets.
Get over it, HD will be water-cooled soon enough. I don't see the problem with them going to water-cooled really. All it will do is make a good product better.
7 Surprising Harley-Davidson Products that Are Not Motorcycles
Slideshow: The bar-and-shield logo shows up on far more than motorcycles, some of the company's most unexpected products have nothing to do with riding.
Slideshow: From the troubled AMF years to modern misfires, these bikes earned reputations for reliability issues, questionable engineering, or disappointing performance.
Crazy Bunderbike Build Looks Amazing, But Is It Impossible to Ride?
Slideshow: The Swiss custom shop has taken a Harley Softail and stretched it into something so long and low that it looks closer to a rolling sculpture than a conventional motorcycle.
Engraved Rebellion: Inside Bundnerbike's Glam Rock II
Slideshow: A standard cruiser becomes an intricate metal canvas in the hands of a Swiss custom house known for pushing Harley-Davidson platforms far beyond their factory brief.
Slideshow: Harley-Davidson's challenges aren't abstract; they show up in dropping shipments, shrinking dealer traffic, and strategic decisions that aren't yet translating into growth.