Ive always thought the EITMS was a pretty good function considering the challenges of keeping a big air cooled engine cooled at idle. I still do but this morning I got stuck in a situation that was just more than it could cope with. It was about 90 degrees and an accident ahead backed up traffic for miles. I was about 6 miles back with no way to get off. A small shoulder next to the passing lane and a wide shoulder next to the slow lane. My first reaction was to jump on the right shoulder and move to the front. Then fire trucks and ambulances starting coming down the shoulder so I passed on that. The problem was traffic moved just enough that people couldn't stop. For the first 30 minutes or so traffic moved about a 1/2 mile. The EITMS kicked in after the first 5 minutes and engine oil pressure stayed around 15 PSI at idle the whole time. After about 45 minutes the EITMS is still functioning normally but oil pressure is now around 10 PSI. We've crawled forward another 1/4 mile. Another 5 minutes and my right thigh is so hot I keep my right foot on the footboard because it feels like I'm getting burned, oil pressure is now 5 psi at idle and the light is flickering so I keep the RPMs @ round 1200 and pressure goes up to about 10. I'm just ready to admit defeat and shut down on the small shoulder when traffic stops and I see people ahead getting out of their cars. Great I can let this thing cool down now. Not so fast, within 5 minutes everyone ahead jumps back in their vehicles and traffic takes off normally. Of course all 5 minutes did was let my bike heat soak. It turned over fine but didn't want to lite off. It tried to but I wasn't going to run the battery down forcing the issue. I push it on the shoulder, I'm on a bridge no less and give it about 15 minutes to cool down. After that it started right up and everything was normal. I am glad I run synthetic oil although I didn't figure to test it quit like this. I will be changing it tomorrow out of general caution. I guess the moral of the story is....get on the right shoulder and pass all those SOBs!

 

The benefits of LA and lane sharing!

 

Tennessee will give you a hefty fine for that..................

 

Same thing happened to the ex and I while heading to Sturgis a few years back.
Got stuck in both Nashville and Atlanta behind accidents with slow moving traffic for hours without a shoulder to pull off to.
Both bikes were fine after but seeing our oil temp gauges peg to 350 was pretty unnerving.

Amazing what these bikes will take...

lp

 

A similar situation is what led me to buying the Wards FCS fans. Haven't had a problem since.

 

Your oil pressure was normal, I wouldnt worry about that.

I was always under the impression that EITMS was more for rider comfort than engine protection. I frequently see references to Harley testing their engines by letting them idle for hours in the desert. Personally I've never heard of a bike seizing up, but it is possible.

 

If I had a good clear emergency lane, that means no first response vehicles, I might have turned on the flashers and crept very slowly down that lane. Who knows, it might have been an emergency for you...maybe one of your relatives was involved in the crash causing the delay? Anything is possible. Emergencies are a relative thing. So if you are acting under the assumption that you are in an emergency situation, then it's not illegal, just debatable between you the LEO.

 

EITMS is NOT for engine protection in ANY way.. .strictly rider comfort. well documented on Harley's website.

 

I vote against using the shoulder too. It clogs up the easy way for us to get to the accident. It's hard enough to drive through gridlock behind an accident without people using the only clear path to the scene. Speaking from being the one driving the Engine/Squad/Ambo to the scene. Once one person does something to get ahead of others, 10 others will follow or try and block you, then that 3 lane highway with a shoulder is now 4 lanes wide with nowhere for people to move to to get out of OUR way. Many FF ride too, we know sitting in traffic sucks, but YOU would want US to get to YOUR loved one as fast as we can.
Just a thought

 

Yeah, they can take a beating and not seize up...what they do is oval out the cylinders and burn the valves...they keep running, but not with the power they had before being that hot.


OP

Check out the Wards Parts Werks fans, they are great for keeping the temps down regardless of how long stuck in traffic.