Oil Cooler

[The Tourist]

I'm glad you reported that. I didn't even know the new Harley oil coolers had a thremostat option. The last oil cooler I had was on a new 1973 Sportster XLH, also ridden on the highway.

Personally, I think Harley leaned out the fuel mixer too much, probably to meet EPA demands. I notice the dressers have those heat shields. Something seems fishy to me.

Ya' know, Harley had a skunk works bike with a radiator hidden from view. Obviously it just cooled the bike down a bit, not as a total system like a V-Rod. If these new bikes are stretched that thin, why can't that transparent idea be resurrected now?

The big twin guys (and I'm one of them, too) don't want a radiator on the front down tubes, but let me tell you, the heat off my Sportster can't be right. My 2004 Dyna doesn't have this problem.

 

[Jack Klarich]

I'm glad you reported that. I didn't even know the new Harley oil coolers had a thremostat option. The last oil cooler I had was on a new 1973 Sportster XLH, also ridden on the highway.

Personally, I think Harley leaned out the fuel mixer too much, probably to meet EPA demands. I notice the dressers have those heat shields. Something seems fishy to me.

Ya' know, Harley had a skunk works bike with a radiator hidden from view. Obviously it just cooled the bike down a bit, not as a total system like a V-Rod. If these new bikes are stretched that thin, why can't that transparent idea be resurrected now?

The big twin guys (and I'm one of them, too) don't want a radiator on the front down tubes, but let me tell you, the heat off my Sportster can't be right. My 2004 Dyna doesn't have this problem.

HD will continue to have EPA problems with all air cooled motors. One way around this would be oil cooling the heads and adding more fuel like a TFI EFI - Electronic Fuel Injection Controllers - ATVs, UTVs, Motorcycles, Snowmobiles, Scooters, Sport Bikes, Watercraft

 

[The Tourist]

I think you're right.

At the reommendation of the mechanics, I have Screaming Beagle pipes and fuel enhancement on both bikes. (Super-tuner on the Dyna, and standard download on the Sportster. Both run great.)

But consider that report. Both bikes had plugged up pipes and less than optimum air-filtration. My bikes aren't loud, but they run better.

In a sense, I simply returned the bikes to the proper performance--as we all pay real money to buy in the first place. If the EPA stats cannot be met, then the design needs some work. Remember this problem/solution with cars? I'm surprised those motors could even breathe.

I find the entry of 103 and 110 motors a telling factor. If you plug up an engine, or detune it, a cheap way to get it to perform like previous models is to bore it out. Sadly, I think we're witnessing the last gasp of the air-cooled 1936 design.

 

[Hoople]

Sadly, I think we're witnessing the last gasp of the air-cooled 1936 design.

The really strange thing is I know of no state which has emission testing for motorcycles as of yet.
Even California & New York do not sniff exhaust as far as I know. Which makes me think we have awhile to go. (?)

 

[The Tourist]

Granted, but I also think good R/D takes years, while legislation takes only the stroke of a pen.

MoCo prides itself in the design we know now. I think the initial response to the V-Rod was tepid. In fact, I read in the MoCo house rag that Willie G demanded that early water cooled designs completely hide the radiator. If memory serves, Porsche and MoCo called that model the Nova. (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.)

I doubt that MoCo wants to take the V-Twin design and phase it out in a dramatic roll-out. In other words, one year we have Electra-Glides, and the next year we have Water-Glides.

However, my guess is that deep within the skunk works of MoCo there's a 1936 engine with water jackets.

I found the Nova article.

It is in the Spring 2007 edition of "The Enthusiast."

It reports on the Porsche collaboration and Willie G's insistence that the radiator be hidden under the seat.

 

[SilverFoXD]

Granted, but I also think good R/D takes years, while legislation takes only the stroke of a pen.

. . . . If memory serves, Porsche and MoCo called that model the Nova. (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.) . . . .

For what its worth, years ago Chevrolet came out with the Nova, which did not sell well in the Spanish speaking areas. Reason? "Nova" translates roughly as "doesn't go."

 

[The Tourist]

dbmg, thank's for the merge edit. I did not know how to do that here.

SilverFoXD, my wife had a 1976 Chevy Nova years ago, and people told the same joke. In the case of this Porsche/Harley it was a foreshadowing--the bike never did *go* into production.

On the plus side, I think MoCo is seriously looking at water-cooling. And frankly, the time has come. It's just that the V-Rod was a poor rendition.

The V-Rod 'Muscle' showed what it could do, even if that muscle increase over a standard V-Rod was relatively minor. But I can only dream about just how much power we could get from a liquid cooled 120R motor!