I didn't know how much until I rotated them to get some air flow. Boy was that a mistake. Air moving around the engine makes heat in the summer.
I didn't know how much until I rotated them to get some air flow. Boy was that a mistake. Air moving around the engine makes heat in the summer.
"Life is hard. Harder when you are stupid"-- John Wayne[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
Yes, I know.... Zombie thread.
However, after being out on the F6B this past weekend and riding it for the first time with temps back in the upper 80's and 90's I will say that I was amazed by how much heat the radiators put off. There was plenty of cool air to be had, but I had to put my arm through a 12" curtain of hot bleed air coming out of the radiators to confirm that I wasn't riding in Death Valley. Wow, I had no idea! My 1998 CBR1100XX was water cooled and would get hot, but a t speed it was evacuated quite nicely through two huge vents on either side of the bike.
Our CVO with it's 110" air cooled motor puts out an insane amount of heat, registering 400°F+ at the rear exhaust header with oil temps pushing close to 285°F. Of course, on the Harley its a very concentrated heat issue in that it's your thighs, tweeners and passengers lower legs that get cooked, and I do mean cooked on a hot day. Upper body, head, etc. all get to bask in the ambient air flow.
Not so on the F6B; the envelope of heat that surrounds the rider and passenger is really quite amazing, and not in a great way. Not sure I'm ready to hang a bunch of wind deflectors on the bike to address it so I'll be doing a lot more research to see how best to address it without resorting to plastic farkle.
Oh, my fix for the 110" -- after only making margin reductions in the heat via changing out the intake & exhaust, putting "screens" in the lower air deflectors to increase air flow past the engine, etc. -- is a recent decision to sell the CVO and replace it with a Road Glide Ultra (FLTRU) sporting the water-cooled Milwaukee 8 engine...
... wait for it, because my wife just likes the Harleys. Yup, it it was me we'd use the F6B for our road trips or add a NOS 40th Annniv. GL1800 to the stable for our two-up road trips but she says no way: we have to have a Harley!
Any, I had to search long and hard to come up with something to complain about on the F6B: this is all I got. Not too bad, we'll just harden-the-f-up" and deal with it like we have with the other hot bikes we own or previously owned.
maybe the new models will have optional Air conditioning!cueman
Careful.... I don't think anyone saw the airbags coming.Originally Posted by cueman
maybe the new models will have optional Air conditioning!
I recently returned from a ride to Vegas. It was 114 degrees between Reno and Vegas. I didn't notice any heat from the bike. My buddies on their harleys sure felt the heat. One was complaining that his leg was burnt.
Well I just completed 700 miles in just over 12 hours with ambient temps reaching 100+ and I don't share your observations.....did you try taking it out of 1st?
Floats Like a Butterfly, Stings Like a "B"
What does the B stand for? B-Courteous. B-Safe. B-Seen.....B-CNU on the road!
To be fair, our freeway / highway time on the bike has been minimal as we're between road trips. So my observations are based on urban riding at urban riding speeds with stops at traffic lights and sitting in traffic on the afternoon commute home.
I have no doubt that when crusing along at freeway speeds it's far less noticeable. But by design, radiators draw heat out of coolant and that heat has to go somewhere.
Again, it was an unexpected discovery having been away from water cooled motorcycles for the past 7 years. My BMW oil heads and the air cooled Harleys definitely generate a bunch of heat as well, such is the nature of machines with large displacement engines.
No doubt. We've ridden our CVO 110 Road King to Key West the past three years in July and if you don't position your leg just right the engine heat even cruising along at 80 with 95°F + ambient will give you a 1st degree burn through denim. It's the one thing that there is no fix for other than moving to a water cooled Harley which is our next move.
Yes, I tried to sell my wife on just using F6B as our only big bike and also attempted to woo her with a 40th anniv GL1800. No dice, she likes the Harleys.
She needs to take the course and get her own bike!
Why should you have to burn your bits for her aesthetic inclinations?
Wait, don't answer that...we don't need to know...
Really?She needs to take the course and get her own bike!
Why should you have to burn your bits for her aesthetic inclinations?
Wait, don't answer that...we don't need to know...
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