2012 Harleys to be Water Cooled

2012 Harley-Davidson Lineup to Break Tradition With Water-Cooled Engines

That really is a small step in updating these legendary engines. Another small step would be to go with 4 valves per cyl. and overhead cams. Say what you will, but H-D will have to do these changes in order to stay in the game.

As always, die-hards will condemn these changes. But if you listen to them, we'd still be riding shovel heads or pan heads with points and carbs.

Lets face it, tradition is always going to be H-D's calling card to a large degree. Why wouldn't we want to see modern improvements to our venerable beasts? Victory exists today because many are tired of the same old technology, and if H-D had done these things 10-12 years ago, Polaris would probably still be making only snowmobiles and atv's. That's not blasting Victory for their offerings, they just saw a chance to get in the game. H-D is still light years ahead in quality.

For 100 years, everyone copied H-D. We should not be offended, but honored. Now, it's Harley's time to do some copying of technology that works, so they can be here for another 100 years.

Ha! I feel better now since I fell for it initially! Thanks CB.:roflmao:

No !

The article is For Real Man....:cussing:

OMG please, please tell me it isn't so! WTF. I'm gonna be sick again. These freakin no good fn regulators! $%^&*()@

EPA regulations are making em do it.:cussing:

EPA regulations are making em do it.:cussing:
Straight down from California

Cardboard, you're only half right. The market is forcing the changes that should have evolved naturally many years ago. If H-D had made some of the designs that they dreamt up for prototypes 30 years ago, it wouldn't be such a sour pill to swallow today.

The V-Rod is a modern production design that was meant to be an alternative to the air-cooled twin cam at that time. But, it was also a sign of the future for H-D that we've all been ignoring for 10 years now. And it's not gonna go away.

Don't get me wrong--I love my FL. I also knew when I bought it, that it was just a breath away from extinction like all our other favorite US made cars from the '60's.

Don't think I will ever own a Water Cooled Harley.
Chucktx was lookin at a Water Cooled Goldwing Trike a dude had last year.
He will probaly git one first.

You know, with me it's a Harley thing. There are so many copies out there that are watercooled but they ain't Harleys and they are copies. Frankly, if I wanted a water cooled bike, there are others out there that are less expensive to own (purchase and maintain) (Although I wouldn't be caught dead on a copy). The V-Rod is a great bike for what it is. I can't see a radiator on any of the long time, "traditional" HOGS. The only saving grace is I believe the value of our air cooled v-twins will only go up now.

Yes, that is true. Try to buy one of those '60's muscle cars today--you better have a truck-load of money!

I feel the same way about all the clones out there--truly forgettable bikes every one. But if a radiator was the only change in the twin cam engine, that would be OK with me. I know H-D would design it in so you'd hardly see it.

Look at the effort they put into making the ABS system practically invisible. The only visible clue is the different cut in the brake rotors.

No other mfr. in the world goes to such lengths to incorporate new technology while still looking traditional. They (every other mfr.) think H-D never updates it's designs because they can't see it. When the others come up with something new, they usually paint it lime green or dayglow colors to scream about it. Ha!

Know what kind of heat comes out of a Radiator.
And if it has a Radiator it will problay have a fan for the Radiator. No thank you.
Ever look at a Goldwing at all the plastic, know why its on the bike.
To keep from cookin you.

KNow somebody that went to Sturgis with one. Got up there and it was runnin Hot. They trailered it home.
Found it it has a overflow tank and a radiator Tank. Kinda tricky
And there is a dealership that has a Honda shop, A Victory shop and a Harley Shop. Was talkin to a salesman that used to work at the Honda shop.
He said folks come into the Harley shop complainin about some of the repair prices.
And he said if'n you have problems with Them Goldwingers it can git up into the money fast.

Can't speak for a Goldwing, but watercooling a motor is simple and should be reliably cheap to maintain. Change the coolant every 2 years, and that should be it.

FLHTbiker, I already knew that. Everyone is always bragging about "japanese engineering" as though it is superior. I know from a professional experience that it is just the opposite.

They whittle away at a good design (usually an American product) making it much lighter-duty and cheaper to build, until it is virtually guaranteed to break right after the warranty expires (they can tell exactly at which HOUR of operation it will break!).

They over-complicate everything they make, never designing anything for longevity, and spend untold hours trying to make it look high-tech when it's purely cosmetic.

I've seen this in industrial, automotive, and motorcycle engineering for 40 years. Higher precision and higher quality, my a$$!!! It's always the same--lighter duty and cheaper is their mantra.

Germans are just the opposite. They analyze everything to death: they re-compose the metalurgy until it costs 20 times more to manufacture; re-invent the machine tools for atomic-level precision; spend untold hours making even the nuts and bolts complicated; and lastly, push legions of engineers to make things LOOK even more complicated. All this effort to watch the thing break the first time it's barely bumped into it's stress limit. But it's a BEAUTIFUL broken part.