Ok I am sure other people saw the TV show about the development of the V-rod. Remember how they showed the heat test. They have a test facility out in the desert with cinder block bunkers where they sat that V-rod and let it idle out in the desert sun for hours to test overheating. Now we have the 07 96 in twin cam. Can you imagine letting one of those motors sit in the desert sun and idle for hours. What engineer or plural, engineers signed off on that test saying that motor would be fine. Surely one of them, he's probably fired now though, said Holy Crap this thing is freakin hotter then s#$t!!!!! Do'no just venting, but I think it is pretty s#$tty of the MoCo to put out a piece of crap like that and we have to work and spend money to get them cooled down. Ahhhh so that's their plan, we spend money..... Then they wonder why they get trash talked.

 

My 07 is the hottest damn bike I've ever owned. My 3 previous harleys were 88", & I sure as hell never had one of them run as hot as this one. I love my bike though, I just deal with it. Goin down the road is fine, It's just when I'm in traffic or at a long light when my right thigh starts cooking.

 

Thanks to EPA regulations, these things are gonna keep running leaner and hotter until Harley is forced to go liquid cooled. I think I'll hold on to this bike.

 

That was a Vrod - it's water cooled.

 

No one buys an air cooled bike and be ignorant enough to think it could sit out in the desert and idle for "hours" and not over heat. Like tpmurray says "the v-rod is liquid cooled" There isn't a air cooled bike made anywhere in the world that wouldn't over heat under those conditions.

 

I think you are correct.

I am a little surprised that there are so many new first time Harley buyers that sound like they are surprised their air cooled engines put off so much eat. They must not have given the heat factor much thought before deciding to buy.

There are many Harley owners that have been riding air cooled bikes for a long time and they will continue to do so for a long time to come. Having said that, I think it's inevitable that Harley make the liquid cooled engines transformation.

What little I know about engineering motorcycle engines, I really don't believe it's going to be as bad as a lot of folks think it will be. The V-Rod is more of a Sports bike and it doesn't have the traditional Harley sound but I would gladly make that sacrifice for a more dependable smoother running engine.

There are still many old school Harley motorcycles around. When Harley starts manufacturing new liquid cooled bikes, there will still be lots of the current V-Twins around for a long time to come.

There will be a lot of disappointed Harley owners when Harley's become liquid cooled but if the recent poll is representative of the Harley buying public, almost 80% are looking forward to a liquid cooled scoot.

 

I like my new Harley, but having just switched from a water cooled bike, I don't understand why anyone would not want a water cooled engine.
Harley makes a great bike, but it could be better.

 

The liquid cooled V-Twins of the other manufacturers run hot too. Check out the size of the oil cooler on the new Victorys. The Yamahas run hot too. So do the Honda 1800s both the 6 cylinder with 2 radiators, and/or the VTX with one big radiator.

My 07 with a fuel-moto mapped PCiii and a Jag 6 row oil cooler runs the ***** at 200'F all day long in 80F degree weather.

I'm holding onto my 07, as I've got it running perfect.

 

Sounds like you have a big issue with air cooled motors.You would be much more comfortable with a radiator and water flowing around the jugs.There are plenty of choices.Good Luck!

 

My 07 was the hottest bike I ever owned too. My 10 runs noticably cooler and tolerable. I did lots of mods to the 07 and never got the temp low enough. Mike