my '08 1098 was the hottest bike I ever owned, as mentioned above.

And yes, the water cooling is for the engine and not the rider, and the water cooling is so that you can run the engine leaner, therefore hotter, but at more stable temps.

 

Yup my FZ1 had a temp gauge with supposedly an auto fan that turned on somewhere around 180d .....I ended up bypassing the relay and put an on-off switch that I would leave on most of the time in the summer out here in Creamatoria.....off course they get hot, in fact I bet if we could get temp data on the VRod we would see the same thing from it.

 

What he said. So many misconceptions regarding water cooling.

 

HD's run hotter, for sure. But, it's a different experience. You don't get the extreme hot air from the radiator blown right at you. That sh*t is hot! It's an almost constant thing too.

 

just because the oil temp or head temp says a hd is hotter doesn't mean the perceived temperature is hotter, actually probably just the opposite..as the heat is staying in the motor, compared to a water cooled bike where the heat is tranferred to the radiator and then to the air , where you feel it...

 

My Goldwing gets hot that's for sure but at least I don't have to turn it off and push it through the long line-up on a warm day like I did at the border crosssing the other day haha.

 

Just where I was headed with my statement.

BTW I still drool over the 1198S's....

 

I debated the VFR1200 when they were offering $5k off but my FLHTP was more fun.

 

Ever wonder what happens when you break a cooling hose on a water cooled bike on the highway?

I saw it happen to a guy on a Goldwing. It wasn't pretty. He got scalded pretty bad on the lower half of his body. The steam hit him until he managed to get the bike stopped. It wasn't a graceful stop. He hit the brakes until the bike stopped, then let it fall over.

 

motorcycles are hot period, you get the heat from the sun, you get heat off the road,you get heat off the engine or you can drive your car with climate control