Ongoing 2014 Tri-Glide build-out, lots of pics and thoughts on the differences

[Lizard]

Something new to the 2014's that the Tech apparently didn't know....engine temp is irrelevant. If EITMS is active )on a 2014) and you go to idle, it will kick on each and every time. Why, I have no clue...seems a bit retarded to me.

Looking at your pics, I saw the tank lift info and I am a bit interested. One problem I see and am curious about...does raising the tank make it hit your thighs more?

[vettriker68]

Rode my 14 tg In fl. This winter & the eitms was kicking the rear cylinder out a lot and the fans would hardly ever come on. Asked the hd dealer to look to see if everything was right, of course they said yep. Got back up north asked the same at the dealer I bought it from, when I got it back they had disabled the eitms and said everything thing was aok. I had a 11 tg and it didn't kick out near as much as the 14 doing the same riding

[Sloufoot]

I haven't been into the '14's ECM, but on the '09 thru '13's the EITMS on-off temp is adjustable. I would think the '14's are also.

[DK Custom Products]

Two ???'s --- how does one disable the EIMTS ?

and


What brand of clearcoat did you use on the wheels ?? --- was thinking about taking them to a local auto paint shop and having them do that and then noticed you used a rattle can approach
TKS

G

What Montgomery said about the EITMS.

Clear coat I used was Rustoleum Acrylic Enamel Crystal Clear.

I've ridden in the rain several times since, and they just wipe clean with some pledge. No Stains!

Only question now, is how will it hold up over time.

Something new to the 2014's that the Tech apparently didn't know....engine temp is irrelevant. If EITMS is active )on a 2014) and you go to idle, it will kick on each and every time. Why, I have no clue...seems a bit retarded to me.

Looking at your pics, I saw the tank lift info and I am a bit interested. One problem I see and am curious about...does raising the tank make it hit your thighs more?

If you do just the tank lift, it raise the front but not the back, if you use the Deluxe option, it does raise the rear of the tank 1/2", so depending on how you sit, the extra 1/2" higher may make the tank hit your thighs more.

Myself, I never have had an issue with my thighs hitting the tank in normal riding. Taking corners fast, (with or without a tank lift) I will pinch the tank between my thighs to help stay in place.

I haven't been into the '14's ECM, but on the '09 thru '13's the EITMS on-off temp is adjustable. I would think the '14's are also.

Yeah, this is interesting, because the EITMS on-off does have a place to adjust for engine temp in the Power Vision on the 14's, BUT, the EITMS seems to be kicking on via the ambient temps.

Still gotta chase this info down with Harley.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Saturday I did not get any work done on the TG. I did get about 200 miles riding in.

Sometime during the ride my front rocker box started leaking (not seeping, it was a pretty good leak...oil everywhere). I went over to the HD Dealer and got an appointment for them to fix it today. Dropped it off last night and picked it back up today.

They replaced the rocker box gasket and the rocker cover gasket. They checked all surfaces and they were flat. Hope this one holds better than the last.



Saturday night Mary and I rode back to Southern Thunder HD for their Re-opening Celebration. I wanted to hear the new owner, Bob Parsons, (founder of godaddy.com) speak.

On the way there we hit some pretty strong rain.

We pulled over for 15 minutes during the strongest part, and by the time we got there we were pretty well dry.



Bob- The atmosphere at the dealership has greatly improved since he purchased it a few months back.




Preparing for the National Anthem.



Cute kid that was near us in the crowd.



Mary & ???

getting their pic with Bob.




Last pic of the night there.

Later on Molly Hatchet played...didn't take a single picture.




Sunday I got a few things done on the TG.

Did a Tank Lift with the Deluxe Option.

Bikes pretty dirty from riding in the rain and wet roads Saturday night.

Here's how the tank sits on top of the rockers in stock condition. Trapping heat, blocking air flow, and covering up all that chrome.




15 minutes later I had the Tank Lift installed....now there is much better air flow over the engine, less air over the top of the tank causing buffeting, and more chrome is showing...also, as you can see, on the waterheads it makes the coolant hoses more visible also.




Next thing I did was remove the left side scoop/thigh protector. I left the right side on. This scoops air in behind the rear cylinder, and with the left side scoop deleted, it leaves a path for good air flow across the back of the rear cylinder for better cooling.



Got more stuff done, will be in next post.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Next up was a Tour Pak relocation. The TP was delivered to us in the rear most position (oem has two location choices).

As with other Tour Paks in the past, we decided to relocate this one another 2" further back than stock. This gives Mary plenty of room, but does not put the TP so far back that it compromises integrity of the mount or the handling of the TG.

For decades HD has used a tubular rack for the TP mounting. This is a fundamentally flawed design that is prone to cracking/breaking.

8 years ago we began producing a Tour Pak relocation kit that is essentially a flat plate that sits on top of the tubular rack and allows the TP to be moved back. Besides allowing for adjustment for TP placement, it also strengthens the flawed HD tubular rack.

When the Tri-Glide was introduced HD used the flat plate design instead of tubes for mounting the TP. Then in 2014, All Tour Paks are now mounted on a flat plate from the factory.

The first step was to unhook all the wiring to the Tour Pak, remove the speakers from the Tour Pak (there are no connectors on the wires to the speakers that you can detach without removing the speakers), and then remove the TP mounting rack from the trunk. There are 6 bolts that hold the rack to the top of the trunk and you can access them from inside the trunk.




Next step was to remove the mounting rack from the bottom of the TP.



4 nuts.




Next step was to use some masking tape to mark where we wanted to drill the new holes in the mounting rack for the front 2 bolts/studs.

This picture shows that I drilled pilot holes before the full size holes.





Here the holes are drilled and ready for fitment.





Next was placing the mounting rack on the TP so that we could mark where we wanted the new back holes to be in the TP.





Here is where we want to drill the new holes in the TP...thru the plastic AND the inside metal plate.





Before drill the new holes thru the TP and the inside metal plate, we removed the inside metal plate to make sure no wires were in the path of where we would be drilling.




Metal plate inside TP, below liner.

btw, to remove the liner, the bottom side of the retractable tether must be removed.





There were none, but in the past I have seen wires running right across the path of where we wanted to drill holes.





Now we drilled the new holes thru the TP and the inside metal plate, and then attached the TP to the mounting rack in the new position, 2 inches further back.

Note- in the past HD used bolts that ran thru the metal plate and then the TP.

Now they are using press fit studs in the metal plate. That is why you see the extra "bolts" in the following picture. I could have cut them off, but they are not visible unless you get your line of sigh lower than the bottom of the TP, so I left them there.




Tour Pak installed back on the TG...now with an extra 2 inches. We're ready for lots of miles for Mary to travel without feeling cramped at all.





btw, in case there's any concern that the rack or mounting is not strong enough with this modification...this is the same thing we did on the 2011 Tri-Glide and we had that TP loaded for 10's of thousands of miles at 2.5x over maximum rated load and never had a single problem, including on those "roads" up in the Yukon.

The last thing I started to do on Sunday was install my bumper on to the two cross braces under the trunk. I was well into the job before I realized that even though the holes are in the same spot on the cross braces, the holes on the back cross brace are blocked off.

Next week I will be modifying the bumper mount so that it will be able to attach securely.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Been a while since I posted any updates. Was gone for 4 days to a rally....see video at bottom.

Then been really busy with work. But I've still got a few things done.

Got my bumper mounting hardware revised to fit the 2014 and got it installed.



Did my first oil change at 700 miles...also installed the reusable oil filter off the 2011, and installed the Oil Bud oil cooler.

I have not finished evaluating the Oil Bud. Will have that done tomorrow.

Here's a pic of the filter and the Oil Bud adapter with thermostat sticking off the top.





I also replace the factory tranny fluid with Redline Heavy Duty Shockproof. Tranny is still breaking in, but it was immediately smoother after the switch.

Side Note-I've personally owned 7 Twin Cams, and never had one that had the "neutral rattle". Good luck I guess. Well, this one has had it since day one. I was sort of hoping the Redline would get rid of it. No such luck.




Have not changed out the primary fluid yet.



Got my handlebars welded up. Monday I'll be taking them to get powdered. I forgot to take a pic before boxing them up. Will get a pic Monday when I pull them from the box.

It was a simple deal. Took the stock bars, and added almost 9" of length between where the exit the fairing and before the bend for the grips. They should be very comfortable.




Next up was getting a rack on top of the Tour Pak. I picked up a Kury rack that has bungie loops built into each corner.

Taped off the lid, drilled pilot holes and then the 1/4" hole for the bolts.



Here's the inside of the lid. The kit has good hardware with it, good heavy washers and heavy rubber cushions, top and bottom. The bolts were 10mm hex. Been awhile since I broke out the metric sockets.

lol




And a pic of it installed...the top side has the cushion and a nice foot for each leg.




Got the left side Highway peg set up installed this afternoon. Will be doing the right side in the morning.

There was never any doubt that I would use a peg/heel rest set up. This set-up is light years more comfortable than just a peg, and it can look really good too.

As far as what pegs to use, I really agonized over this. On my Heritage I went for looks at the sacrifice of some comfort. So much of the Heritage is about looks, and I just "had" to keep the classic theme consistent.

On the Tri-Glide, I ended up going for function over form. We put serious miles on the TG, sometimes very long days. If I don't have a lot of comfortable (and stable) foot/leg positions, the pain from the previously broken pelvis, broken knee, and 9 broken bones in the right foot can turn a fun day into, well, not so fun.

I ended up using the same combo that served us well on the 2011 TG. Triple Traps for the Pegs and Trap Shift peg for the heel rest. Mary painted them with the "chrome" paint...but they don't really match. They are not as poorly matched in person...the camera with the flash really does them no favors. lol

This is a proven set-up, the pegs rotate with firm pressure for endless foot and leg positions.

So I know I'll be comfortable, as some point I may chrome them or give them some other finish.




Overall Impressions of 2014 so far:

Due to the front rocker leak occurring, I just ran out of time to have the TG ready for the 1800 mile trip...so that did not happen.

However, I have put more miles on it, both one up and with Mary. I am not going crazy with the throttle, but I am getting on it some.

Marys' first longish ride (120 miles) last week, and she kept tapping me on the shoulder saying "I really like this much better!"

The combination of less heat, a larger/better seat, much improved backrest, better riding front forks, & linked brakes...lots of little things that add up to a much improved experience for her.

Why does she like linked brakes better? Decades of riding have me using primarily my front brakes...without linked brakes the front dives a bit, whereas the rear brakes are more comfortable for her...but I have never gotten into that habit of using the rear brakes as primary stopping power.

With the linked brakes, when I squeeze the "front" brake lever, it applies both front and rear brakes...less dive, she's more comfortable.

While talking about brakes....I do not like the linked brakes. It is not a huge irritant, but I just don't like it. I want to control which brakes get how much use. Something that surprised me when I first started riding the TG-trail braking works in the curves...would have never thought it would, but it does...maybe not as much as on 2 wheels, but certainly enough to be able to be more aggressive in the curves.

With the linked brakes, trail braking does not work so good...maybe I will find a sweet spot, but so far I have not.

A few more comments on the brakes-

I never had any problem with the rear brakes on the 2011. I could lock them up at will...but it did take some pressure, and being generous, the feedback was weak...but they got the job done for me and I never felt I was in a compromised situation because of them.

On the 2014 the rear brakes are much more effective, with better feedback.

Related to that...I thought the linked brakes would work with the same proportioning whether I used the "front" brake lever or the "rear" brake pedal.

They do not. No matter how hard I squeeze the brake lever, I do not get as much feedback OR rear braking as I do when I step on the brake pedal.

Interesting.

Bottom line- brakes work better, Mary's more comfortable, and I don't like them being linked. lol

As I stated before, the 2014 is much stronger...and I have not even done a Stage 1 yet. I am playing around with the tune a bit, yes, I will have to redo it when I get the Stage 1 done, but I'm still exploring.

The water cooled heads seem to be doing a really good job of keeping the CHT down. Will have more on that once I get the Stage 1 installed, AND get the oil temp under control.

On the 2011 I got it so even two up, loaded, running 85 mph on a 110* day, the CHT and oil temp did not exceed 230*, and it was never an issue in stop & go either.

On the 2014 the CHT is even better in stop & go, and about the same on the interstate ( I have the Wards fans on the 2014 like on the 2011, plus all my other little mods...tank lift, deluxe option, thigh shield removed on one side) But the oil temps of as high as 270* at the tank on a day that is 90* ambient is not close to acceptable for me.

The rider seat is different on the 14 than the 11. Not better, not worse, just different. Not sure what the difference is, but I good with it.

I've cleaned the rear wheels that we painted several times...it sure is nice to just wipe them down and have them look new...no more staining!

Will report more as I get more of the mods done, and get some more miles.

Here's the vid of the rally we went to on the Heritage, instead of the 1800 mile trip on the Tri-Glide.




Kevin

[jackt]

Congratulations you will love it.
I just added the lift kit and took off east.
Have 2014 Tri Glide love it so far 4000 in 17 days been busy, just go back from NC and TN rode Blue Ridge Parkway And the Dragon and A few other roads got wet 4 time (did I mention real wet).
Anyway when I took in 1000 service before trip told dealer it had a squeal on deceleration sounds like the noise car brakes make when pads are gone.
They said could not find anything, but it made that noise all the time on trip.
Any ideas ?
Other than that love the Trike has way more power than my 2013 with stage one I traded in. and really rides a lot better had lift kit and also the 2014 has lift kit.
This noise sounds like cars when the brake pads are gone, really hear it when I let off throttle using no brake.
ANY IDEA?????
HELP

[DK Custom Products]

Congratulations you will love it.
I just added the lift kit and took off east.
Have 2014 Tri Glide love it so far 4000 in 17 days been busy, just go back from NC and TN rode Blue Ridge Parkway And the Dragon and A few other roads got wet 4 time (did I mention real wet).
Anyway when I took in 1000 service before trip told dealer it had a squeal on deceleration sounds like the noise car brakes make when pads are gone.
They said could not find anything, but it made that noise all the time on trip.
Any ideas ?
Other than that love the Trike has way more power than my 2013 with stage one I traded in. and really rides a lot better had lift kit and also the 2014 has lift kit.
This noise sounds like cars when the brake pads are gone, really hear it when I let off throttle using no brake.
ANY IDEA?????
HELP

Sounds like you are making lots of good memories on your TG.

Not sure at all on the sound...is it coming from back at the wheels, or maybe from the primary?

[DK Custom Products]

Yesterday I discovered a new thing.

Can't put your highway pegs up very high on the engine guard without getting some very hot air from the radiators blowing on your feet/ankles. That will be very nice in the winter...but with it in the 90's and getting warmer, I've already lowered them a bit.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

It's been awhile since I updated this thread...not because I'm ignoring the TG, just been really busy between a couple of rallies and work.

The TG is at the dealers right now...been there for a week. Nothing wrong with it, but when I purchased it, part of the deal was that they would install my custom handlebars...no extra $.

Well, I provided the handlebars, and they were able to find everything else needed except the brake line. So last week they pulled the brake line off and I carried it to a local shop that specializes in hydraulic lines. They made up a custom line which I delivered back to the dealer last week.

This afternoon the dealer called and said it was all finished up. Will be heading over tomorrow to pick it up.

Here are a couple of pics I took when I stopped by to pick up the stock brake line-







I don't remember if I mentioned it or not, but I am really surprised at the new Can-bus system on the '14's. Amazingly there are only 4 wires running to each side of the handlebars (besides the throttle). Those 4 lines carry ALL the signals from all the different buttons, switches and paddles.

The weekend before taking it in for the handlebar install, Mary and I took a little trip down to south-central Alabama. Had a good ride down, good time there, and a good ride back.

I am very impressed with the '14. The little fairing vent does reduce buffeting a little. Everything seems to work the same or better than the '11.

One thing I noticed that was very different.

On the '11 if I took my hands of the handlebars it was only a matter of a second or two and it would start drifting right or left. Regardless of the camber (or lack thereof) of the road, the '11 just would not hold a straight line.

The '14 is much better. It holds a straight line unless there is significant camber to the road, and even then it only drifts slightly. Much, much nicer than the '11 I had.

Not sure if it is an improvement made, or if my '11 just drifted more than others.

It wasn't very hot...upper 80's to mid 90's. Engine temp (actually the front CHT as measured by the stock HD sensor) stayed down between 207 and 230. I'm happy with that.

The oil temps are still too high for me...I have not decided what to do about that yet. I am going to wait until the cats' gone and the Stage 1 is installed and then address it further. I saw it as high as 265* in the tank.

As I mentioned before, it has significantly more power than the '11. And the '11, which only had a Stage 1, was pretty good with 97 ft lbs at the rear tires.

I will be posting more soon, as I hope to be getting the Stage 1 taken care of within the next week.

Here's the link to the thread on the Ride Report to Bama...lots of pics.

http://www.triketalk.com/forum/threa...e-lots-of-pics

Kevin

[HDB0B]

In regards to Post #31:

Rear brake is linked proportionaly to the Front brakes (Not 100%). Front brake lever IS NOT linked to Rear brakes.
Applying Front brakes gives FULL Front braking ONLY.

Bob

[DK Custom Products]

In regards to Post #31:

Rear brake is linked proportionaly to the Front brakes (Not 100%). Front brake lever IS NOT linked to Rear brakes.
Applying Front brakes gives FULL Front braking ONLY.

Bob

Thank you!

That explains my experience.

Unreliable info from the Dealership had me confused. The parts manager insisted that the TG had ABS also. I knew that wasn't a fact, but did not know about only the foot brake being linked til just now when reading your post and then doing some research.

[irmagoo]

nice trike kevin !!
magoo

[beezak]

Hello,
I too have installed the kit to move the floorboards out on my bike in the past including my Ultra. I ordered the kit for my 2014 TG and did the right one, no problem. Then I looked at the left one and wasn't sure what to do. I see that you move your left one out and I would like to do the same. I still have what's left in the kit. Can you give me instructions on what I need to do to move my left one out?

If it's easier my email is beezak@windstream.net

Thanks,
Beezak

Yes, it would go active with the fans on and with the fans off....because it was activating independent of the engine temperature.



Thanks!

This week has flown by!

Have not done much on the list. Today, after work I put the floorboard extensions on.

I ordered the kit from VTwinGoodies.com I knew it would only fit the right side and I would have to do some other work to make the left side work because of the parking brake.

But I thought it would be a good jumping off point.

This is the 4th kit I've purchased from VTwinGoodies, as always, it was delivered quickly.

It does not seem like moving the floorboards out 1" would make that big a difference....but it really is Much more comfortable for me.

Here is the right side stock- Foot is way up against the engine/pipes.



This is a pic of the parts from VTwinGoodies-



Here is a pic of the right side with one of the round spacers and one of the squarish spacers installed.

The hardware with the kit is Grade 8.

Much better, I can move my foot around more, and much less likely to get my boot heel scuffing up the exhaust shield.



Here is a pic of the left side in stock form. It does not feel as tight against the engine/primary, but there is still very little room to move my foot around.



I figured I was going to have to pull the bolts, see what I needed in the way of spacers and longer bolts, & then make a trip to the hardware store in the morning.

I was very happy to see there were only 3 bolts and all the same size.



I was able to use the second round spacer & a bolt from the VTwinGoodies kit. I thought I was going to have to go to the hardware store and get a couple of spacers and grade 8 bolts. Then I realized that the Sportster Passenger Comfort Peg Extensions we make would probably fit. They did!

So I was able to get it all bolted up (with lock washers and thread-locker) this evening. No need to go to the hardware store in the morning.

Here's a pic of the left side finished.



It went much easier than I thought it would.

There was plenty of wire for the parking brake to move out 1"

Tomorrow and Sunday I will be getting more items done on my list.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

Hello,
I too have installed the kit to move the floorboards out on my bike in the past including my Ultra. I ordered the kit for my 2014 TG and did the right one, no problem. Then I looked at the left one and wasn't sure what to do. I see that you move your left one out and I would like to do the same. I still have what's left in the kit. Can you give me instructions on what I need to do to move my left one out?

If it's easier my email is beezak@windstream.net

Thanks,
Beezak

Hi Beezak,

You can go to the hardware store and get two 1" spacers and two grade 8 bolts to match the leftover spacer and bolt you have in your kit. Or if you don't want to hassle with that, we have a kit where the spacers are already powdercoated and you can order it online or by phone.

http://www.dkcustomproducts.com/Left...-1-PCPE-14.htm

Even though the above kit is for the 2014 Sportster, it also happens to be exactly what is needed for the 2014 left side.

Kevin

[DK Custom Products]

nice trike kevin !!
magoo

Thank you!

[DK Custom Products]

Spent most of the day yesterday installing a Stage 1 Kit...Fuel Moto headers, Rush Slip-ons, Outlaw 636v with Shorty Filter(already had a Power Vision installed)and then doing a bunch of wiring-

Hooking up the two pigtails for heated gear, Isolater and canbus adapter for trailer, wiring for powerpoint in Tour-Pak.

Wiring is NOT my favorite, but everything works, so today will be cleaning up the wires, changing oil & primary fluid (trans already has redline shockproof in it).

Pictures to follow, as time allows.



Now that I have filled up 11-12 times, Another Observation-

It appears that HD has finally made an accurate fuel gauge. But I think they did it at the expense of not being able to fill all the way up. I have not taken apart the filler neck, nor looked at any diagrams, but it is different on the 14 TG and the 14 SG (only two 14's I've filled up).

When filling up with gas it goes to the top of the filler neck and looks like it's going to over flow, then it "burps" and the fuel level drops. But because of the new design it really cannot take anymore fuel.

The result is that I have gotten so low a few times that there was a sputter on acceleration or in a corner. But when I go to fill up, the 6 gallon tank will only take about 5.4 gallons.

I'm sure most like the gauge being accurate, I am just used to having another gallon in the tank after it is on E and the MTE is on 10.

On pre-14 models I have filled up countless times with 5.8 to 5.9, and even a couple of times with 6 gallons with no sputtering prior to fill up.

Not a big issue, but for long trips, it means stopping more often because of less range.

Kevin

[HDB0B]

Could your tank lift have ANYTHING to do with fuel levels in relationship to the fuel bung?

Thanks for alll you do here!

Bob

[DK Custom Products]

Could your tank lift have ANYTHING to do with fuel levels in relationship to the fuel bung?

Thanks for alll you do here!

Bob

The 14 has the same 1.5" Tank Lift with the Deluxe option as the 2011 TG, and the Ultra before that...all 6 gallon tanks, all with with the same tank lifts. The difference is in the internal (plastic) filler neck, and possibly some other components.

More relevant is that Devin's 2014 Street Glide is acting exactly the same as my 2014 Tri-Glide, and he has not put a tank lift on it yet.

Kevin