harley + heat

[snoof]

yet another opportunity to display my mechanical ineptitude, but what the hey

tho i don't see 232 degree temps here like lv does in vegas, it get's pretty hot, 90 - 100 degrees. though my hiney and legs can pretty much handle the heat i worry about my 08 road king. i ride mostly in the say 50 to highway 80 mph range. i've kind of felt that as long as i'm moving at that speed i'm keeping the bike cool enough. however it's not unusual for me to ride at 80 for an hour and a half or more before i stop to rest, gas up etc.

i've also come to traffic jams while on a long ride like this and am forced to get into the stop, slow and go traffic.

i've not noticed any real performance problems but i worry about damage i might be doing to the bike. the only thing i've noticed is after some hard riding in the heat then stopping for gas and heading out quicky, she doesn't start right up with the first crank, but will the next one.

am f'ing up by riding this hard in the heat?

should i stop more frequently to cool her down?

what should i look for as signs that she's getting too hot?

preciate your help.

[ezR1der750]

Just to follow up a little on Snoof's question. My 06 Ultra Classic came with an air temperature guage. I have seen some that have replaced that with an oil temperature guage. Is that something that you all would recommend?

[Sniper338]

Snoof don't worry agout hurting the motor. Your ignition module will let you know if the motor is getting hot. It will start shutting down cylinders. I think it shuts off one every other time it’s supposed to fire a plug. On the forth of July I did an escort in 105 degrees. I have a oil temp gauge, it was up to 258 when we got to the cemetery. I rode 100 miles home in 100 to 105 degree heat. The motor was up around 240 most of the way home. I didn’t have any problem with it. You are right it is a little temperamental on a hot motor start up. One difference is I have a carburetor instead of the FI on your bike.

[Kagan]

In my experience, every bike since the Shovel has performed well with 20/50. Oil temps are only a concern when you try to strectch oil changes. "OR MORE OFTEN" is the factory recommended interval caveat. I routinely run my 05 FLHRI with a 98" kit for hours at 75/80 mph and have never seen the oil temp get above 220. I have a digital readout dipstick.

Now, are oil coolers a good idea? Sure, for some folks. Ambient temps shouldn't really be factored. The head temp is what matters. Heads run around the 400* mark at combustion. Depending on the ability of the engine to disperse that heat, oil may suffer.

Get an oil temp gauge. It'll run around $100 but for the peace of mind it's worth it to me.

[snoof]

thanks sniper and kagan. feel better. i've diligently changed the oil every 2500 miles for the 20k i've got on it.

[Kagan]

I really need to watch the SYN3 video again. It was pretty nuts. It was like an engine ran for 40 hours straight at redline and then had the oil drained out of it and ran for 4 more hours before total seizure. When I watched it I was thinking "Cool test", but never thought about what it really meant.

The only reason that SYN3 isn't recommended for Knuckles, Pans or Shovels is that there weren't any of 'em around to test to detonation.

2500 miles per interval is so safe that even if you ran the whole damned thing in a parade you'd burn your clutch out before the oil failed.

[blkfalc4]

08's run hot outta the box, EPA and all.
gets too hot and the rear cylinder will start shutting down anyways.

What ppl have been doing is installing xied's which is a device that goes between the oxy sensors and the harness, making the ECM run a tad richer, going from like 14.5 to 13.8 AFR.
All the feedback is that bike runs much cooler and better.

[wreckerman]

hay guys just jumping in with my 2 cents worth ......first always keep clean oil in your bike for high temps......i like to add luckies or STP to my oil, gives the oil more hang time on the moving parts....like they said it will go in shut down mode if it is too hot....also i don't like temp gages just make you worry about something you cant really control.... and last most of the damage that is done to a engine is done when starting the bike up!! because all the moving parts are grinding away before the oil gets pumped to them , that is why the additive to the oil so it has some coating on the parts

[harley53glide]

After a hard day riding and shutdown the glides like a heater takes a few hours to coool down thats on a 04 thats ok aint it.

[firestopper]

Put SE 2 slip ons, stage 1 breather and A sert on my wife's 08 road king classic and put syn 3 in all three holes. Better breathing and slicker synthetic in an air cooled engine will definately help IMHO Snoop.