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2008 Road King Classic Overheating? Pls. HELP!

Just a couple of comments/thoughts.

Nothing abnormal about overheating when stuck for in bumper to bumper traffic for long periods of time. Best thing to do is what you did, find a good place to pull over and kill some time; let the motor cool down and then resume the journey. Your bike should have EITMS; is it activated?. In any event, it only kicks in when the motor is idling and cylinder head temp reaches the set point. So, I can't explain the sluggish throttle response on the desert ride as the EITMS only kicks in at idle but the sluggish response could a have been heat related.

Dump the 5W40 oil and replace it with the Mobil One VTwin 20W50 or something similar; you are not doing your motor any favors running oil not designed for an air cooled vtwin motor. The Ultra Cool is not, IMHO, the best choice for an oil cooler. A frame mounted Jagg is a much better option. Having said that, it's not oil temperature that is the issue, it is cylinder head temperature. I can't speak to the state of tune but I would not rely on the fact that the settings match the manufacturer's recommendation that the AFR is correct. Forget about mileage as an indicator of whether the motor is running rich or lean; a very poor indicator.

Rod Stewart's suggestion of renting an AFR meter and using it to dial in the AFR would be a smart next step. Runing way rich can contribute to over heating as well.Get the AFR right first then take a look at fans.

As I said, cylinder head temp is the indicator, not oil temps; cool the heads and cool the oil. Some of these vtwin motors just run hot. A set of Love Jugs or Jason Ward's fans or Jim's Force Flow setup will solve your overheating problem. Jason may not be offering his fans since his war with the Love Jugs guys. Simple to install and they work. Get yourself a reliable infra red temp guage and next time the motor gets really hot, check the cylinder head temp in the general area of the spark plug. Install a set of Love Jugs Mighty Mites and you won't see that high head temp again.
 
Jeff Klarich said:
I’d ease off of 1/2 can of Sea-foam every other tank to a couple Oz every other tank. JMHO. Not that that has anything to do with your heat issues but in my opinion your overdosing it with Sea foam and spending money you don’t need to spend.
Click to expand...
Bro Jeff thank you! I think you just woke me up to reality... spending for and feeding her w/too much Sea foam just to make HER happy so I can ride and enjoy with no down time! hehehe...
RDKINGXX2_C.JPG (You know, I do it to make sure fuel injectors are squirting fuel properly.)
 
dolt said:
Just a couple of comments/thoughts.

Nothing abnormal about overheating when stuck for in bumper to bumper traffic for long periods of time. Best thing to do is what you did, find a good place to pull over and kill some time; let the motor cool down and then resume the journey. Your bike should have EITMS; is it activated?. In any event, it only kicks in when the motor is idling and cylinder head temp reaches the set point. So, I can't explain the sluggish throttle response on the desert ride as the EITMS only kicks in at idle but the sluggish response could a have been heat related.

Dump the 5W40 oil and replace it with the Mobil One VTwin 20W50 or something similar; you are not doing your motor any favors running oil not designed for an air cooled vtwin motor. The Ultra Cool is not, IMHO, the best choice for an oil cooler. A frame mounted Jagg is a much better option. Having said that, it's not oil temperature that is the issue, it is cylinder head temperature. I can't speak to the state of tune but I would not rely on the fact that the settings match the manufacturer's recommendation that the AFR is correct. Forget about mileage as an indicator of whether the motor is running rich or lean; a very poor indicator.

Rod Stewart's suggestion of renting an AFR meter and using it to dial in the AFR would be a smart next step. Runing way rich can contribute to over heating as well.Get the AFR right first then take a look at fans.

As I said, cylinder head temp is the indicator, not oil temps; cool the heads and cool the oil. Some of these vtwin motors just run hot. A set of Love Jugs or Jason Ward's fans or Jim's Force Flow setup will solve your overheating problem. Jason may not be offering his fans since his war with the Love Jugs guys. Simple to install and they work. Get yourself a reliable infra red temp guage and next time the motor gets really hot, check the cylinder head temp in the general area of the spark plug. Install a set of Love Jugs Mighty Mites and you won't see that high head temp again.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much DOLT! ...one of the Best comments/recommendations!!!
Been looking and reading about Love Jugs, which I personally thought, my next option/move to work on since everything I did lately did not get rid of my overheating issue. And will be switching back to MobilOne on my next crankcase oil change... Thanks again and will post further results of my future work toward solving my bike's issue. Till then...
 
An additional thought, visit the Vance and Hines site and check to see if the fuel/air settings are correct. There are spreadsheets displayed after you choose your year and make/model of bike and exhaust type. Easy to do and you can rule it out if settings are correct.
 
If you are getting the engine light, pull the code(s). Rather than just guessing, they could point you in a specific direction. From your description, I would suspect some electrical component breaking down in the heat, it happens and very difficult to pin down. People have had coils break down due to heat and kill the engines until they cool off some. No guaranty that is your problem, but it shouldn't just die.
 
Main circuit breaker is a long shot. Fairly common with early touring models but not so much with the later models. MCB in early models would open when hot and close after waiting a few minutes to cool down. Fix was replacing the 40A MCB with a 50A MCB. Just don't hear of that happening with later models since the OEM MCB replacement was upgraded to 50A in '02 IIRC.

Still think first step should be verifying AFR and adjusting if necessary, then Love Jugs, the Mighty Mites and I would be a six pack the problem goes away.
 
dolt said:
Main circuit breaker is a long shot. Fairly common with early touring models but not so much with the later models. MCB in early models would open when hot and close after waiting a few minutes to cool down. Fix was replacing the 40A MCB with a 50A MCB. Just don't hear of that happening with later models since the OEM MCB replacement was upgraded to 50A in '02 IIRC.

Still think first step should be verifying AFR and adjusting if necessary, then Love Jugs, the Mighty Mites and I would be a six pack the problem goes away.
Click to expand...

Just went back here to read again/review all the suggestions and recommendations I have received so far... and I saw this one in particular that says about the Main Circuit Breaker (or I thought is labeled Mighty Fuse in the fuse box) which is actually a 40 amps and not a 50A that is currently installed on my bike? I will definitely look into it and will try to replace it with a 50 amps fuse and see if it will make any difference after replacing. Again, thank you so much to you and to everyone for all your comments/suggestions. Later...
 
Ok, im hoping that i can get some advice from some of you all who may know wat im dealing with. Let me state ahead of time, if its an old topic - im sorry for bringing it up again. Im new to this site.
So i bought a harley ‘01 EFI RKclassic a few months ago. Since then i have replaced (and cleaned) fuel tank and internal fuel lines. Had its injectors cleaned and unclogged, as the outter fuel lines. Ive added apes, replaced the controls, battery and an air ride. When i try to start it up, all lights come on, as supposed to. It will crank but wont start. I have even tried putting starting fluid in the throttle body and NOTHING. Im not getting a SPARK.
We have checked the coil, plugs, relays and whatever else there needs to be checked. Its just not turning over.
one thing i have noticed is, 2 of my buddys have almost one the same as mine and when they start their bikes, red light key comes on and then the engine light soon after. On mines, it doesnt. Another thing, since installing the new controls, the left blinker light comes on once i turn the ignition to start. And i have read about the TSSM and when i try resetting the bike to reset the pin number, its not letting me. Maybe i am doing it wrong? Idk...
My buddy is thinking maybe the ECM could be burnt out. What do you all think? Or could it be the crank positioning sensor? Any advice would really be appreciated. At least before i really consider converting this bike into a carb ran RK
 
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