Wrong year

[sgl0226]

Let me get this straight. You say the Road King 103 you rented was hotter to ride than the R3. And that is why you sold your Street Glide because it was too hot to ride? Have you ever rode an R3? I can tell you right now, living in the HOT So Ca desert area, my 07 Street Glide that I sold and my wife's 05 Road King that she rides, were and are WAY cooler than my 011 R3T to ride in traffic!

The heat the R3 radiator puts off is like an oven in front of you on hot days! Great in the winter. That was the first thing I noticed about the bike when I rode it home 130 miles from the dealer in Los Angeles. Unless you live in a cold/cool area, I don't think anyone would say the R3 is a cooler bike, engine heat wise, to ride than the Harley. Cool bike to ride, but a hot sucker in the heat!

I only road the R3 for a weekend but it was hot and it really didn't bother me as much as the RK.

 

[vanguard138]

Road my 2013 R3T across the country. Nine straight days of over 100 degrees. Went through Death Valley at 111. It is a HOT machine. I want that ****** cooler I mentioned in another post! Hope someone comes up with some type oc deflector that works and looks good.

 

[muleskinner]

What area were you in and what was the ambient temperature where you rode the R3? Around here it gets over 100 degrees daily in the summer. It was 107 here today and around 115 in the Palm Springs area. Not good riding weather.

I rode my Street Glide 627 miles straight through the HOT Nevada desert in the last part of July last year and I can tell you it did not put off as much engine heat as my 011 R3T radiator does in traffic here!

I've rode both my wifes 05 RK and my old 07 SG down in the Palm Springs area in heavy traffic on hot summer days and neither was as hot as the R3! On the road the R3 is acceptable, hot but acceptable. There is no getting around 140 CI being cooled by a radiator mounted in front of your legs. It's hot.

What was the ambient temperature in Sturgis this year? I'll bet it was not as hot as it is around here!

 

[sgl0226]

Sturgis was in the low to mid 90's on the days that I rode. My wife complains more about the heat than I do and she was uncomfortable on the RK. The rear cylinder does shut off on the RK at a stop when it gets hot. Unfortunately, the one we rented kept stalling everytime the rear cylinder shut off.

 

[rocketpockets05]

Rented harley

Rental harleys are detuned and gutless.

 

[rocketpockets05]

Rented harley

Rental harleys are detuned and gutless.

 

[Dennsell]

Comon Guys don't be whimps we are Rocket Men...

In W.A. austr-air-iia we get 110 deg days too... :flame:
Hell, some people pay 100's dollars to use health club Sauna's.....
Our Sauna's are Free !!!

Manup....Drink plenty of fluids...

 

[muleskinner]

ALL stock off the showroom Harleys are gut less and run HOT! Harley uses cams with negative overlap and run the engines so lean to pass emissions the bikes run like crap. Try to meet emission standards with an air cooled motor! Hard to do. I'm surprised Harley still can!

That's why Harley changed the position of the rear cylinder head pipe and put the rear ward motion throttle that kills the rear cylinder at idle on the bike! All Harleys need mild cams, tuners, exhaust and air filters to run right. Once you do, the heat from the engine goes way down. And they run great then also!

 

[sgl0226]

So here's an update. My dealer found a 2012. I'm not sure where, but they did find it and had it delivered. I tried calling a number of dealers who had a 2012 listed on Cycle Trader but none of them actually had the bike. So I do think the 2012s were rare in the US. The bike is at the dealer waiting for the accessories I wanted. The 2012s did not come with the longhaul seat, rider and passenger backrests, luggage rack, engine guard, accessory lights, and a few more things. It was an extremely stripped down bike so the final cost is not cheap. It did come with the shorter shield that I wanted and of course the ABS which was the deal breaker on the otherwise fully loaded 2011. So I ordered all those other parts and most of them are here. But the part that we are still waiting for is the conversion kit. Because the 2012s were only shipped to Canada by Triumph, the instruments are all metric. The conversion speedometer is on it's way and then the bike will be ready.
I can tell you that after riding a Rocket Touring for a weekend and then renting a Road King in Sturgis, getting back on my Tbird seemed very strange. It is a great bike and a blast to ride, but it really does seem compact after riding the other two bikes. I know my wife will be happier on the Rocket. And so after everything that I have gone through trying to get a Rocket Touring with ABS, I think it will be well worthwhile. I even turned down going on a ride with my group today because I still have the Tbird. It's a 250 mile run up into the NC mountains and back. My wife would go with me and I know she wouldn't be nearly as comfortable on the Tbird as she was on the RK in Sturgis. It had the 103 motor and it really was a smooth bike, much smoother than my 2008 RK. Sturgis got her very excited about riding with me and I don't want to chance ruining that. 5-6 hours on the Tbird would be too much for her. Since we are living in a new place and she doesn't have many friends yet, if she doesn't come with me on all day rides then I don't go. So I gotta keep her happy. After all, she's the one who told me in Sturgis that I needed a bigger bike.

 

[Cam1963]

Viva Powersports in El Paso has 2 newly delivered R3Ts on the floor Viva Powersports carries parts, and accessories for Arctic Cat, Aprilia, CF Moto, Ducati, Honda, Hyosung, KTM, Moto Guzzi, Piaggio, Suzuki, Triumph, Vespa, Yamaha. We also Sell and Service Arctic Cat, Aprilia, CF Moto, Ducati, Honda, Hyosung, KTM, Mo