[barret]

My wife and I just returned from Louisville Ky., took the Softails and experienced some of the worse heat and traffic that we have ever had to ride in. A standing 4 lane parking lot on I65 in 100 degree heat one afternoon. The bikes got hot, real hot. It was a situation where they could not be turned off as we were moving about a mile an hour dragging our feet for balance. I got concerned that damage was going to be done so we found the shoulder and let them cool.

So are these bikes designed to be idled for extended periods of time? Can the engines be damaged? Can they be overheated and seize?

I work on cars and air cooled engines like the old beetles have large squirrel cage fans driven by the accessory belt to blow air over the jugs.

 

[Dave63]

No, not really, but there's fail-safe's built in.

VWs and Porsche had fans.

HD 2002-2006 had an ECU that would drop the idle if it got too hot.

2007-current, go into "PArade Mode", and stop the rear cylinder from working, using it as an air pump to lower engine temps.

Other models in the 2013-up flavor have oil coolers, and some with cooler fans.

You can get an aftermarket air fan that blows air on the cylinders as well.

 

[barret]

Dave thanks for the information. Its nice to know that there are fail safes of a sort. Parade mode probably explains the difference I experienced in the way it was running on throttle up. Your opinion on the aftermarket fans?