Friday night I picked up my new Ultra Classic which my wife had surprised me with for my 50th birthday. It's my first Harley (finally my dream come true after 23 years of riding) and also my first air cooled bike. It's that air cooled business that I have a question about.

I've just been reading my owner's manual about the EITMS feature that stops fuel to the rear cylinder when a certain temp is reached. First of all, is it a good idea to go ahead and enable that feature? The manual says it comes disabled from the factory. Secondly, how essential is it to always keep moving with an air cooled engine? In other words, how long do you have to be stopped at idle, or creeping along in bumper to bumper traffic before you need to start worrying about engine temperature?

Sorry if these questions seem a little basic, but I just want to make sure I know what I'm up against when some day I'm stuck in traffic and I don't want to fry my engine. Thanks for any feedback.

Hugh

 

Hello, and welcome to the forum. You will find a lot of useful info here. As for the EITMS, I would leave it enabled all the time. It is controlled by the ECM, and turns on only when needed. As far as how long You can be stopped at idle in traffic depends on the temps You ride in. As a rule, I myself won't set any longer than 5 min., and will start looking for a place to pull over. But that's just me. I'm sure a lot of others will chime in with more info. Enjoy Your Ride.

 

Wow! You should keep that wife, she's quite a lady.
Had the same concerns and turned the EITMS on after about a 1000km and leave it on all the time.
Doesn't often come on and there is no lag when you accelerate from the reduced idle so I can't see why you wouldn't use it. I don't like to run any engine hot but have never felt any concern about my 2008 Ultra Classic despite being very cautious and sensitive the first 12 months. Feel comfortable in stop start traffic as far as the engine is concerned. Would turn off if I was halted for 5 mins though but that is just me.
My wife and I have had so much fun out of our bike and I hope you both really enjoy it. They are a beautiful machine. Ride safe.

 

Was heading South on I75 over memorial weekend and got stuck in traffic in Dayton, Oh. If I had to sit in traffic for any longer than about 5 minutes, I would shut my bike off. When there was a 20' to 25' gap, I would start her up and move on up to cool her down. '05 Electra Glide Classic is the bike I have.

 

Hey Hugh, Congrats on the new Ultra and for having an awsome wife.. I agree with Dionico and leave my EITMS enabled all the time. Another thing to consider is that these new bikes definitely run lean and hot from the factory. Thank the EPA. The CAT on your 2010 doesn't help any either. You might want to consider looking into a Stage 1 to add some more air and fuel to both cool it down and to wake it up. You'll find lots of opinions and options here.

Good luck

 

Get a stage 1 kit from Fuel Moto, add an oil cooler and you will be good to go.

I think it is great that your wife finally got you an Ultra, but why did it take her 23 years to do the right thing?

 

Absolutely stage 1. Get it flowing enough air and fuel and it will greatly reduce the overheating problem. I could hardly stand to sit in hot summer afternoon traffic before I put on a real air cleaner, pipes and PC III. The fuel management made the most notable difference in performance and engine heat. I no longer arrive at the destination feeling like my chestnuts have been roasted over an open fire.

 

If you get stuck in traffic you will find the heat off the engine will encourage you to switch it off, long before the engine is likely to suffer any harm! That was the case over thirty years ago when I bought my first Harley and hasn't changed since. Harleys have survived for decades now, so while recent bikes have far leaner air/fuel ratios than of old (as does every new vehicle) I haven't heard of any actual problems, although there is plenty of discussion like this!

Ride and enjoy - and give your wife a hug from us!

 

I never noticed a huge difference between water cooled and air cooler. I had an '85 V-Max and, despite being water cooled, it immediately put the temp. gauge into the red when stopped. I always switch off when stopped for any significant amount of time. I only ran 20,000 on it as it was not a comfortable ride (and preferred my '73 Harley).

I have not engaged the feature on my 2010 Limited - currently 5,000 miles and gaining day by day. I continue to simply switch off when stopped. I do not get it into heavy stop and go traffic as I avoid major metro areas on motorcycles!

The 2010 does seem to run a mite hotter than my EVO (95 - 84,000 miles), but it is 103 as opposed to 88. I don't notice it much as the stock additions to deflect heat work extremely well.

At first I was going to figure out how to remove the cat. and O2 sensors, but have decided to run stock until at least the first rebuild at 50,000 miles or so. The more miles I run on the bike, the better it runs! The 2010 motors are very tight and the break in is longer than I'm used to, not that I've bought many new machines.

I inquired about the Stage 1 download and my dealer told me it was a waste of good money. I've found him honest: doesn't recommend spending money for no benefit and has consistently given me great advise on Harleys.

A great wife is a wonderful thing! Mine is one too! She didn't buy me a Harley, but she did buy me a new pick-up truck and few years back and put up with my garbage and stupidity all these years. I over achieved also!

Ride safe and enjoy the Ultra! Its a great machine!

 

I recommend leaving the feature enabled all the time. Summer is coming, and I have already had it come on just waiting for a dang stop light to change, but this is in 100 deg. weather...It won't cost your bike any performance or otherwise heartache to leave it on. You'll never know it's there until it's activated. As far as the oil cooler goes...there are hundreds of thousands of these engines out there in all kinds of climates, for a long time, without a cooler. Keep some air moving across the fins and it will be fine. Like us, these babies are made to move, not sit! Enjoy the ride safely...!