Need your opinion

[mstxbeeotch]

Which to you think is better, air cooled engine or liquis cooled engine?
:rolleyes:
Thanks

[KaJuN]

Air cooled. To me, bikes should be simple machines and a cooling system makes them a little overly complicated.

[CB750F]

Liquid cooled is technically better because you can hold a tighter tolerance with engine parts because of a known heat range. Liquid cooled is more complicated as there are more parts involved and costs more.

[greyboyfan]

I have heard a guy( Harley owner) say that He had seen new evolution engines "melt down" in stop & go slow moving parades in hot climates, like Sturgis.
You can still buy Harleys that are aircooled and carborated, but not for long. In the future,I heard it said, by the harley salesman, that all new models will be liquid cooled and fuel injected. I havent heard about any other makes.
It's technology baby! ;)

[Uesque]

Harley is already testing a liquid cooled Sportster, look for that to be first. Emissions and noise requirements are driving the change.

[Uesque]

I have heard a guy( Harley owner) say that He had seen new evolution engines "melt down" in stop & go slow moving parades in hot climates, like Sturgis.


The melting point of aluminum is 1220.666 degrees F. I doubt that the engine itself would melt. I can see if the oil was low and had some sort of breakdown in viscosity the engine might seize.

[sanford]

I always thought air cooled would possibly be better, but they look clumsy from what I see around, air cooled has been around for ages, would think it must be stable..

[Biker Dash]

WOW! You just set a Necro-record here I think... This thread is almost 5 years old! O_O

[sanford]

WOW! You just set a Necro-record here I think... This thread is almost 5 years old! O_O


have to admit, was filling in a few posts, so that I could post a newbie thread

lol never even seen the date, oh well better late then never :icon_cool:

[Ride The Spiral]

Liquid cooled is technically better because you can hold a tighter tolerance with engine parts because of a known heat range. Liquid cooled is more complicated as there are more parts involved and costs more.

Agreed.

[markk53]

Not much else to do if the weather sucks. Besides it's kind of funny to see how predictions turn out - HD still air cooled along with the big Star engines and some others.

[Badlands-4-2]

WOW! You just set a Necro-record here I think... This thread is almost 5 years old! O_O

The best threads never die!:biggrin:
A couple of years ago Harley put a parade mode in thier bikes. It shuts off fuel to the rear cylinder if the bike is at idle and hot. The fact that it is still moving air through the cylinder actualy cools the entire motor nicely. They used to have a video that they shot with a heat camera on the website show the cooling effect when it kicked in. It has been removed since the tech is no longer new. I can tell you it is interesting to hear your bike go from a Vtwin to a single when it kicks in.

[ecvaughn]

From a thermodynamics perspective liquid has a much higher heat transfer coefficient, than air (because it's denser). plus you can completely surround the engine so the whole engine can be kept within a narrower temperature range, and since all metal expands under heat, this would allow the engine to be designed with much tighter specifications which would allow for both more power and greater fuel efficiency (and last a lot longer due to less wear and tear). But it is heavier, which I guess is why street bikes use liquid and off road uses air because off road is more concerned with weight than power, efficiency, and reliability.

[Full_throttle]

I prefer aircooled. The more simple something is the better!

[sanford]

I prefer aircooled. The more simple something is the better!



I tend to agree with that also:coffeescreen:

[Biker Dash]

From a thermodynamics perspective liquid has a much higher heat transfer coefficient, than air (because it's denser). plus you can completely surround the engine so the whole engine can be kept within a narrower temperature range, and since all metal expands under heat, this would allow the engine to be designed with much tighter specifications which would allow for both more power and greater fuel efficiency (and last a lot longer due to less wear and tear). But it is heavier, which I guess is why street bikes use liquid and off road uses air because off road is more concerned with weight than power, efficiency, and reliability.

To a limited degree, your right.

You are correct that liquid cooling is in general more effective, and can potentially allow for tighter tolerences, but materials and manufacturing have come a long way, and now, we can design an air cooled engine to be just as reliable as one with a radiator. As to liquid cooled bikes being heavier... when was the last time you checked out a Harley or a Victory? They aint light, and they are air cooled.

Nowdays, there are a LOT of factors that go into whether a bike will be air or liquid cooled. One of the big ones is what will the customers want. I bet thats a BIG reason why the biggest majority of Harleys are air cooled. And, as much as I pick on a few certain Harley riders here, I will be the first to admit that Harley Davidson makes a damm good bike!

[jhawk]

Which to you think is better, air cooled engine or liquis cooled engine?
:rolleyes:
Thanks

It does not matter as long as they work.

I have both kinds :biggrin:

[Biker Dash]

It does not matter as long as they work.

That sumes it up nicely

[ecvaughn]

To a limited degree, your right.

You are correct that liquid cooling is in general more effective, and can potentially allow for tighter tolerences, but materials and manufacturing have come a long way, and now, we can design an air cooled engine to be just as reliable as one with a radiator. As to liquid cooled bikes being heavier... when was the last time you checked out a Harley or a Victory? They aint light, and they are air cooled.

Nowdays, there are a LOT of factors that go into whether a bike will be air or liquid cooled. One of the big ones is what will the customers want. I bet thats a BIG reason why the biggest majority of Harleys are air cooled. And, as much as I pick on a few certain Harley riders here, I will be the first to admit that Harley Davidson makes a damm good bike!

What I meant was that the air cooled "system" was lighter, harleys are heavy but they would be even heavier with a liquid cooled engine, but I was mostly referring to dirt bikes, because they are very light, and I haven't seen one with a liquid cooled engine.

[goalie]

I am a HD owner and I would say that I normally prefer air-cooled ...BUT (and its a BIG but) ...it can result in a lot of heat being felt by the rider during stop-and-go traffic. There's a trade off to everything.

[Biker Dash]

What I meant was that the air cooled "system" was lighter, harleys are heavy but they would be even heavier with a liquid cooled engine, but I was mostly referring to dirt bikes, because they are very light, and I haven't seen one with a liquid cooled engine.

1300 VTX is comparable in weight to a lot of Harleys, and it is liquid cooled...
And if you care to expand your search some, you will find some good bikes for offroad that are liquid cooled

The big advantage to air cooled when it comes to serious offroad time is no radiator to put a hole in

[ecvaughn]

1300 VTX is comparable in weight to a lot of Harleys, and it is liquid cooled...
And if you care to expand your search some, you will find some good bikes for offroad that are liquid cooled

The big advantage to air cooled when it comes to serious offroad time is no radiator to put a hole in

Well again I was just referring to they "system" as in the air cooling vs. liquid cooling system, not the whole bike, because there are an infinite number of ways to make the whole bike heavier or lighter, so you can't compare the total weights of bikes. An air cooling system is just "fins" or extensions on the cylinders that act as a heat sink in order to aid in heat dispersion, some scooters also have fans to help with keeping the engine cool without moving. But that system is obviously lighter than surrounding the engine in fluid and attaching a radiator to disperse all the heat into the air, especially since the liquid cooled also probably has similar internal heat sinks anyway.

[Johnnystriple]

The best threads never die!:biggrin:
A couple of years ago Harley put a parade mode in thier bikes. It shuts off fuel to the rear cylinder if the bike is at idle and hot. The fact that it is still moving air through the cylinder actualy cools the entire motor nicely. They used to have a video that they shot with a heat camera on the website show the cooling effect when it kicked in. It has been removed since the tech is no longer new. I can tell you it is interesting to hear your bike go from a Vtwin to a single when it kicks in.
I have this parade thing going on some times when I don't want it to. You have to roll the throttle forward to deactivate it. If you don't when you take off at a stop you have very little power. This has caused a dump with my lady on the pillion.