My 2012 Dyna Switchback has been running a bit hot lately - even on very mild days. According to the ET shown on the Dynojet Power Vision it gets up to 130-135C on an open freeway run, and climbs quickly above 150C in metro traffic. These temps are about 10-20c hotter than I remember a year ago. I always wanted a cooling fan for rides like the Christmas toy run so I bought a Jim's Forceflow unit while in Texas a few months ago. If it was good enough for the Texas HD dealer to recommend - should be good for SA conditions also. However, I still wanted to solve the general overheating issue as well. The bike was tuned by Neville Lush over a year ago and when he was tuning my Ducati a few weeks ago I asked him for any advice on what to check. Two pieces of advice were offered:
1. run some injector cleaner as clogged injectors with poor atomisation could cause an issue.
2. clean the MAP sensor in the air intake. HD's blow a fair bit of oil back into the intake and this might clog the sensor and make it run lean. My bike had a fair bit of oil residue around the air intake and air cleaner area.
So today I fitted the Jim's Forceflow fan which required the tank to be removed. It fitted up pretty easy but the instructions for the electrical/wiring weren't real relevant for my model. While the tank was removed it was easier to remove the sensors and idle solenoid in the air intake. There are 2 sensors - air intake temperature (AIT) and Manifold Air/Absolute Pressure (MAP). I had to remove the idle solenoid to get the MAP sensor out. Then I used some "Liqui Moly petrol engine intake decarb" spray to clean each of the items. There were several other similar products on the shelf at a Supercheap Auto where I bought it. It came with a handy tube with 90 deg nozzles that allowed me to spray/clean the whole intake right down past the injectors. I put the bike back together and threw some injector cleaner in the tank. Then ran the engine and sprayed the "decarb" spray in the intake while it ran at 3000rpm, 1-2 second pulses at a time.
The test ride into the city during mad Christmas shopping proved it was fixed - without the use of the Jim's fan - it was turned off. Temperature didn't get above 140C in the city. And typically sat at 125-135C on the metro roads. Perhaps the injector cleaner did the job but I'm more inclined to believe that a fouled MAP sensor was the cause.
Then I tested the performance of the Jim's Forceflow fan - and it does an amazing job at pullng the ET down. Keep in mind that it does blow between the cylinders just below the ET sender unit. It makes a fair bit of noise when the bike isn't running, is just noticeable when stationary with engine running, but not noticeable once moving over 50km/hr. I let the bike get up to 140C while stationary and idling then turned the fan on - within a few minutes it was down to 120-125C. It fits on the left side of the engine in place of the original horn - the Jim's fan includes an integrated horn which isn't quite as bold as the original. But hey - loud pipes do the job of a horn in most cases. The Jim's fan has an "on-off" switch and temp sensor. In "off" position it won't operate at all. In "on" position it automatically turns on when temp reaches a certain limit and off when it cools past a certain limit. It must be turned off while starting the bike if you have a hot engine - it seems to rob a few cranking amps.
Might take a few pics or short video and post up here later.
I read where this is happening....
"A federal judge ruled that a class action lawsuit against Harley Davidson claiming Harley engine run so hot that they pose a constant danger of burning their operators..........." "The sympathetic arbitrator sided with four bikers claiming their Harley Davidson motorcycles were defective in design..."
If you want the story, I found it here in the forums, .....search the forums for "things-getting-hot- for-harley-davidson-air-colled-engines"
Anyway, I noticed I can touch the cylinder head fins on my Triumph Bonneville America while riding down the highway. Not even hot.
I tried the same on my 2014 Switchback and nearly took the skin off my fingers!!
Why are the oil coolers (on page 564 of the 2015 accessories catalog) an accessory, and not fitted as standard? Is it that we rely soley on the ability of the synthetic oil to be able to withstand the heat, rather than fit an appropriate oil cooler to the bike?
Has anyone out there fit an external oil cooler? My America has one as standard - and there are bigger ones on the market if you want better cooling.
regards
Mick8
