2011 Tri-Glide Heat

[OlBandit]

Hello All,

Well, it has been 2 months since I got my 2011 Tri-Glide and as you all know the heat is a killer. So, I have been looking at mods to reduce the heat, in the meatime I have reached 7000 miles on her and needed to take her in for service. Yesterday was the day she got her service, went into the local Harley dealer and explained that the heat was killing me and Harley had put out an upgraded ECM map. The service manager looked at me like I had 3 heads and mutters, I know nothing about it. I leave the trike there and head home, 4 hours later they call and tell me the 5000k service and oil change was complete (with snyc oil) and I could pick it up.

Went to pick it up and the service manager explains that an upgraded ECM map was installed, HUH? Well, how would I know if it was upgraded? First thing I notice when I turn the ignition on is that all the gauges pin to the right, all the lights, light up in the speedometer, this has never happened before and is something new for me to see. I take her home and on the way it does seem to be cooler, but the air temp here was only 80 degrees versus the 100 heat we have been having.

So, I guess I will see if this new ECM map cools things down, have not had much time to ride her since last night, so we shall see. I will let you all know what happenes in the next week or so.

Ride Safe!

[TaylorMcStrat]

The heat issue with the TGs seems to garner a lot of write-ups. I'd suggest you read through all the threads on this topic as well as the stickies above. I did while waiting for our TG to arrive at the dealership.

At the risk of being repetitive, I'll state what we did to our '12 before we even took it home from the dealership: we had the Kuryakyn Perfect Storm system wrenched on and uploaded. You get new exhaust, air cleaner, and TTS map. It's been at or over 100 degrees around these parts since we picked it up. My right leg gets a little toasty while idling at lights on these brutally hot days, but I get the impression it's nothing like the problem the guys with the catalytic converter and stock air cleaner get.

The Kuryakyn headpipes and mufflers are sourced from Vance & Hines. They are true duals with the Crusher exhaust. It's a bit more aggressive sound than I had anticipated, but the wife hasn't made me go back to the stock pipes, and I love the growl when you dig into the throttle.

I keep the vents open on the knee-knockers, and point the fairing side vents at the engine. ....and I have also avoided city driving when I can. Seems to work for us.

I will likely also be ordering a leather crotch cooler from our friend, Cap'n Itch.

[VaThumper]

I have done all the mods except the cams and for the money the Capt Itch Crotch Cooler got the best result. It doesn't cool the motor but it does indeed redirect the heat and makes it bareable. The mods did cool the motor but not enough for me

[Southern Man]

Here's the best modification I made on our 2010 tri-glide toaster overn.

[1550vt]

That's about the only way you will fix it completely. Face it folks...the air/oil cooled V-Twin is hot and the trike only makes an air-dam for it to collect around your bottom-end. It is what it is no matter how many $ you throw at it. You can reduce it with all these tuning and re-building efforts, but us that have never given-up on the Harley have to dance to the music and pay the tax. Those of you that are thrilled with it, either won't admit to the misery after spending the money, or live in places where summer temperatures rarely reach the 80's.

[Blondie Gal]

Here's the best modification I made on our 2010 tri-glide toaster overn.

(Us, too!!!)

[Rally]

The heat issue with Harleys seems to be a hot topic...pun intended

I live and ride 18k+ a year in Central Florida and the heat is what it is. The only mods I have made is Rush slip-ons & a K&N air filter...and that is all I plan to do at present. I use syn oil that doesn't break down till +300 degrees so I plan on a whole lot of carefree miles. Sure I've had issues like having the reverse and starter motors with associated other parts replaced but it will take a lot more than heat from an air cooled engine for me to back away from my Harley in favor of a liquid cooled.

I question some getting their operating temps down in the 180 range...water boils at 212...sounds like a whole lot of raw impurities to me not getting burned off...but that's a different thread.

[1550vt]

I agree. I would be concerned running oil temperatures much below 250. The motors are OIL COOLED....grin and bear it. I don't have a clue what my oil temperature is now, has been, or will be. I run synthetic also and have a good oil cooler on there. If it melts down, it just melts down. Not too long ago, Harley did not put an oil cooler on anything they made.

[screwball]

Here is what I did to my '09 Tri-Glide and wife's '11 Tri-Glide. First we live in So. Cal. on the desert. It is hotter than hell here.

1. To quantify "too hot" I removed the air temp gage on both bikes and replaced them with oil temp gages.

2. Rush slip on mufflers on the '09, Reinhardt slip-ons on the '11

3. Stage 1 air cleaners on both, and re-maps on both.

Oil temp rarely gets above 260*, while riding it stays in the 230-240* range... perfectly acceptable! Remember, your car's coolant runs 230 to 240*

Then there is the the Hot Foot caused by the Catalytic Converter in the head pipe.

You could buy one of many aftermarket head pipe setups for around a grand, or you could have your head pipes cut, cat removed and re welded. All of which voids your warranty and could have inspection consequences down the road.

OR you can remove the lower fairings in the summer. 3 bolts, about 10 minutes time if you take a break. I ultimately replaced the lowers with Linby crash bars, gives me highway pegs and LOTS of air flow. Wife wants hers put back on for the winter, another 10 minutes....

Good Luck, enjoy the 3rd wheel, and ride that sucker!

[Ironhorsepilot]

Out last night, 100 degree air temp at 7 PM. Oil temp 235. Vane & Hines slash cut slip ons and PCV is all I've done for the heat. 09 Tri Glide. Still have on lowers with vents open and side vents partially open. Crotch Cooler and highway pegs for me.

Traffic stops for any length of time will get me 265 oil temps, but I very rarely get caught in traffic jams, so I am sure it could go higher. The ETMS has only cut in on me a handful of times since I've had the mods. That's been over two years. It cut in on me once this summer and I forgot what it was.

I thought something was wrong, until hubby told me the cylinder was shut down. OH!

[Roundabout]

[QUOTE=OlBandit;75576 First thing I notice when I turn the ignition on is that all the gauges pin to the right, all the lights, light up in the speedometer, this has never happened before and is something new for me to see.[/QUOTE]

I don't think this is the result of the new map. I'm willing to bet they washed your trike with a power wash just before they gave it back to you. I say this because last week when I took my trike to the self-wash and after I dried it all off and turned on the ignition the gauges did the exact same thing as yours. In my case I wasn't even using high pressure but more pressure than you get from a garden hose and nozzle. I think something somewhere in the TG's electronics is sensitive to moisture and that is what you were seeing. Up until last week I had always hand washed the TG and never once had the gauges go bonkers.

[Maryland Triker]

The problem I have with heat from my tri-glide was riding without a helmet and my head got sunburned, but that happened on a gold wing i rode also. Of course when I was younger I'[d ride no matter the temp in the 30s or the 100s. But now that I'm older if the humidity is above 90% and temps also I take to air conditioned comfort in my 4-wheeler. Now that I'm retired and don't have to commute to the city with its stop & go traffic I don't. I ride the shaded back roads and keep her moving. If you think a Harley is hot try riding a Boss Hoss now thats hot. Well I've meandered though this enough, time for another cold one to quench the heat. Oh and I have 8000 miles on my Tri-Glide

[msocko3]

I agree. I would be concerned running oil temperatures much below 250. The motors are OIL COOLED....grin and bear it. I don't have a clue what my oil temperature is now, has been, or will be. I run synthetic also and have a good oil cooler on there. If it melts down, it just melts down. Not too long ago, Harley did not put an oil cooler on anything they made.

Given the model year of yours and engine modes I'll bet your not getting above 230 on your oil temp.

[Trent]

Check it out...Dealer called and told me my new trunk lock had just arrived. Since I live 3 minutes away, I ran over there so they could install it. He told me he would put it on the computer also and see if there were any recent upgrades. I had been complaining to him about my bacon gettin' fried. Waited in the showroom and when they were finished, he said they did find a brand new upgrade and installed it. They had no idea what it was or what it would do, but let him know if I notice anything different. Then I came right home to do some work. Just got back from a 25 minute ride and I swear, it is running cooler. 95 degrees outside, and the cylinder cut-off did NOT kick in at a single light, which has never happened. I was wearing shorts and could actually leave my foot on the board at a light without fryin' my calf!!

Going on a 200 miler tomorrow and will report back how it does. Check with your dealers about recent computer upgrades!! See ya Sunday back on this board!....T.

[Trent]

Mine is a 2011 TG by the way. They had a 2012 in the showroom that they just got in this morning. New color...Big Blue metal flake with black trim. That bike looked bada$$!!!Still like my Cool Blue though!

[pettifogger1]

Is there any kind of service bulletin that describes this new map? Would be nice to have some solid information before talking to the local dealers. Heck, I've had some say there is no such thing as a download when you change air cleaners even though its in the catalog.

[Trent]

Hey....Got back from a 240 mile ride in the mountains...97 degrees this afternoon. The TG DOES run cooler with a new ECM map downloaded. I do not know what the name of it is. Service manager and mechanic both told me they didnt know it was available till they plugged it in and it started downloading it. Also didnt know what it would do to the bike either. But, it did run a lot cooler...cylinder cut off never activated a single time...took the wife to eat and she noticed immediatley how much cooler it was. Both of us wearing shorts and her wearing flip flops. Didnt even have to move my right foot to the hiway peg. Got way better milage also, but did not have a passenger which I am mostly used to for watching gas consumption. I am way happier with it now.

[pettifogger1]

Hey....Got back from a 240 mile ride in the mountains...97 degrees this afternoon. The TG DOES run cooler with a new ECM map downloaded. I do not know what the name of it is. Service manager and mechanic both told me they didnt know it was available till they plugged it in and it started downloading it. Also didnt know what it would do to the bike either. But, it did run a lot cooler...cylinder cut off never activated a single time...took the wife to eat and she noticed immediatley how much cooler it was. Both of us wearing shorts and her wearing flip flops. Didnt even have to move my right foot to the hiway peg. Got way better milage also, but did not have a passenger which I am mostly used to for watching gas consumption. I am way happier with it now.

That's fantastic.

Hope the local dealer knows about it. Spent the day removing the cat. If I had known this download worked so good, I would have skipped it.

[OlBandit]

Roundabout, not so sure about the power wash theory, the bike has been doing this since they upgraded the ECM or whatever they upgraded, the dealer did not give me any details. If it was a water problem it should have gone away by now, how ever just before I start it, instead of just the engine light coming on, now all lights come on and the guages pin to the right.

Trent, I agree over the last few days my 2011 TG feels different, it is cooler, seems to have more get up and go, so the new upgrade whatever it was, seems to be helping.

Ride Safe!

[Ironhorsepilot]

I hope someone will find out what this is called. I would like to check with my dealer. I am happy with mine per se, but if something works better, I am all for it.<br />
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Thanks. I am afraid if I ask my dealer or take it in, I will just get a Stage 1, which they promote to take care of the heat.