Hey guys, new to harleys, my last bike had a temp gage, how do you know if a harley is getting hot in heavy traffic, and do you need to worry about it getting hot?
gunnut said it GOOD... the only problem with him is; ALWAYS on the WRONG SIDE of the STREET....Haha
I just didn't drive on a visit to that side of the world...
If you are talking about the 883 sporty....
YES you need to be CONCERNED about HEAT,,, always..
I have found the sporty to be a COOL riding bike... more ways than one!
YOU can help it out a lot by your choices of OIL...AND FILTER...
being a 2002 883, I would tell you that the big difference from 883 to a 1200 in cylinder size is a 1/2 inch over-all THICKER WALL..The 883 uses the SAME SIZED cyl bbls. that are a 1/4 inch thicker on the cyl. walls..
a 1200 is 3.5" bore and the 883 is 3" bore....
so ONCE the 883 GETS HOT, it takes more TIME and AIR to cool it back down..(MY OPINION)
Usually with stage one(FULL) exhaust and air..and a proper slow and high JET to make it run correct fuel mix. and IDLE cap removed to adjust IDLE AIR-GAS mix..
YOU should have one of the better bikes to keep COOL...
LIKE said : the BIG BIKES have a lot more problem with slow moving and HIGH temperatures than you shoul EVER HAVE..
YOU CAN HELP the bike out by going to a GOOD 20/50 FULL synthetic oil for the engine I,,,, like gunnut,,,, USE REDLINE....
MOBIL I V twin 20/50.... AMSOIL..... ROYAL PURPLE are also reccomended by MANY here and THAT is a personal choice ISSUE..
JUST make sure it is FOR the AIR-COOLED harley engine.... THEN FIND a good place to obtain the product...
I still perfer the RED...
THE oil filter here MANY will say NO to but I always USE a LONG DYNA FILTER on that OLDER motor 2002 should be ok with it....ck on the filter MICRON size the motor calls out for BEFORE adding the longer filter... BUT I did find the extra cup of oil and cooling surface offered by the LONGER filter to be a +
MY 883's/1200's many from 1995 thru to the 2006 roadster (still have it) ALL I have owned seamed to NEVER have a OVERHEAT problem!!!! even down in HOT AZ. never did need a oil cooler on them.... synthetic oil made a big diffeerence...
REMEMBER ,,,,,,, IT IS AIR AND OIL COOLED so don't let it sit long WITHOUT the proper AIR passing by the engine....
I also would recommend using the FORMAL+ harley suggest to use in the primary clutch-gear case.... BUT a good synthetic 20/50 in engine and NEVER the SYN3,,,, syn3 is a SIN!
YOUR TRANNY AND CLUTCH SHARE THE SAME BATHROOM! so you have TWO oils to change.. while the BIG bikes have THREE...
signed....BUBBIE