Baggers Get Wet, FLH Harleys Liquid Cooled

A wise man once said, “…..predictions are hard, especially about the future”. That little truism is ringing painfully true through the moss covered halls here at the Asylum. Not only did we go “0 for” in our prognostications as to the Motor Company’s 2014 line-up, we said that without question, Harley would NOT introduce liquid cooling on any platform for the upcoming year. Oopsie. Yeah, Milwaukee pulled a fast one and jumped into the water-cooled pool, albeit at the shallow end.

New for 2014 is the Twin Cooled High Output Twin Cam 103 to be found for the time being in the Ultra Limited, CVO Limited and Tr-Glide Ultra models. The motors in these three models employ essentially a combination of air and liquid cooling, meaning for the first time in 110 years of Harley history (sorry V-Rod, don’t count) an HD v-twin will not be utterly dependent on the atmosphere to keep its cool. And trust us fellow Chromies, this is huge, especially for the tradition bound folks in Milwaukee. No wonder they code named this “Project Rushmore”, there are truly historic ramifications in this long anticipated first step.

Liquid Cooling And Fresh Batwing Fairing

The system is well disguised into the fairing lowers on either side of the machine. This is key, because had HD adopted the styling/design cues found on the V-Rod’s radiator (about as subtle as a small billboard) there would have been pitchforks and torches marching on Juneau Ave. No way it would have been accepted by the faithful, which would in turn have negatively impacted the Motor Company’s ability to reach out to new customers with these wet willies. The bikes would have started out as damaged goods. Not cool.

Radiators Are Hardly Noticed

With two radiators (heat exchangers) , one in each lower, accompanied by individual cooling fans liquid coolant is funneled through the cylinder heads, around the exhaust valves and into the radiators. The fans are thermostatically controlled with an electric pump moving the coolant along its way. If you look at the photos it seems that the airflow drawn through the radiators will exit on the outside edge of the lowers, which makes total sense as having them blow directly through would only serve to toast the rider’s shins. All in all, this new system should provide a more stable operating temperature range for the 103’s, which in turn could boast performance levels.

Straight Forward and Simple, HD's New Cooling System

The issue with this system is that it has limited applications across the HD product range. For instance, say you wanted a bagger sans the lowers, bam, there go your radiators. Same goes for Softail and Dyna platforms, no way the current system will work. Clearly this first hurtle, while huge, is not the only one HD has to clear as the Motor Company rolls out liquid cooling throughout the line. There are some real challenges ahead. That said, we think they’ve managed to accomplish a significant goal (and a sadly necessary one given increasingly harsh EPA/CARB regulations) while mitigating negative blowback from the Harley community. They handled that whole form verses function thing pretty well, at least in round one.

Project Rushmore was even more comprehensive in its scope than the addition of liquid cooling on select models, it also included the following; a redesign of the iconic “batwing” fairing (and we have to say in the opinion of the crew at the Asylum, they nailed it) which includes adjustable air ducting for reduced helmet buffeting and increased rider comfort. Touring models were outfitted with a new high-output fuel injected Twin Cam 103 motors, a linked braking system  (we’re not thrilled about this one, let us determine which brakes we’re gonna use and when thank you very much, you had us at ABS), and LED “Daymaker” headlights, the former of which I have on my Road Glide and they are truly amazing, worth every ducket.

Sensory Overload? Up To You

In an effort to at least keep some of the more sophisticated touring rigs from the “other guys” in sight from a technological point of view, Harley upgraded the audio systems which is augmented by Bluetooth connectivity and voice-recognition software with text to speech (awesome….right?!). Step up to the Boom! Box option on the Street Glide and the Electra Glide Ultra Classic and a high resolution, glove friendly 4.3in touch screen can be yours. Other wiz-bang electric crap include Terrain Modeling, Point of Interest Library, Sirius/XM satellite radio……..the list goes on and on, as they say. Who needs this stuff??

All told there are eight Project Rushmore bikes comprised of the following models; Road King, Street Glide, Street Glide Special, Electra Glide Ultra Classic, Ultra Limited, Tri Glide Ultra, CVO Ultra Limited and CVO Road King.

Clearly Harley-Davidson feels 2014 represents major change for the Motor Company, and they’re right. How can you get much bigger than liquid cooling on a bagger platform? Simple answer, you can’t. They are clearly edging in a new direction, not there yet, but on the path. That said, we can’t help but say, “…..is that it?” Seriously, we have no completely new models, CVO lumps stay at 110ci, and there’s still nothing on the “sport touring” front. While we applaud most of the technological innovations (except for that damn linked braking system) we just felt they could have gone even further. Then again maybe we’re just still bitter that we goose egged our predictions……yeah, that’s probably it.

Harley Davidson 2014 Prognostications

With less than two months to go before the Motor Company’s 2014 Dealer Show, we thought the timing was just about perfect to jump in with some “WAG’s” as to what the Motor Company was cooking up for 2014. Best to get in all the juicy, pie-in-the-sky, no basis in fact rumor mongering we could; rather than wait to report on real “after the fact” news. Where’s the fun in that? So in no particular order, the best and the brightest at the Asylum (OK, me, the dog, and an intern….an unpaid intern) have put together the following list for your speculative pleasure.

1) No liquid cooling for 2014. This one has been coming up every year for the last decade, and sadly one of these days it will be true, just not this year. That said, we hear there’s a chance that some of the big twins maybe equipped with some sort of additional oil cooling of the heads ala the late great XR1200x. Expect to see true liquid cooling when the Road Glide reappears in one to two years.

          2) There will be an introduction of a truly new model or platform this year. There’s lots of buzz in the aftermarket, rumors of a “major announcement” coming, much more intense than in recent years. We know for a fact that Harley has been in talks with IMS (Indianapolis Motor Speedway) about activating some sort of promotion at this years MotoGP. No details, but there was concern about timing relative to their August Dealer Meeting, that tells us there’s more to the story than “bold new graphics”. In addition, we talked to an XR1200 race team owner at Daytona this year, and he indicated that the factory hinted that this would be the last year for the XR’s to compete in the series, even though there are two years left on the V&H agreement with the AMA. Could this mean another “sport bike” for the Motor Company? Highly unlikely, given the recent demise of the XR1200x, but it is interesting. Stay tuned on that one. What we see is the real possibility of the introduction of a “sport touring” machine with a completely new frame, state of the art suspension and brakes. We think Harley is looking to get after the metric guys in their own backyard without alienating the faithful. Remember, you read it here first people.

3)  CVO’s to 120. This is a no brainer, the only question is will it happen this year or the next. Harley simply can’t have its flagship premium model line-up sport a displacement that’s literally just inches away from the now common place 103, the preferred lump of the great unwashed. Also expect  the 103 to creep to 110, maybe with the intro of the water jacketed powerplants.

4) Look for some new touring model to pick up the slack left in the line-up with the elimination of the Road Glide and Road King Custom. Those two bikes alone accounted for way too much revenue just to let them go without a near term replacement. Most likely the new rig will be based on the existing chassis to keep it cheap………..expect the words “Road” or “Street” to be incorporated into the name. Just sayin’

There you have it, our best guess as what’s in store for 2014……….but as a wise man once said, “…..predictions are tough, especially about the future”.  So don’t be “that guy” and bust our chops when none of the above pans out……….unless of course we nail it, in which case, we like Jack, we’ll supply the Coke.