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[dbrillha]

I'm looking into the SE Pro Heavy Breather for my 2008 FXDF.

I live in Orlando and it rain a lot in the summer... Not long, but I'm sure I'll end up riding in the rain here and there.

An old salt Harley employee told me that the Heavy Breather will suck water into the engine, even with the rain sock on, in a heavy rain. And that could result in hydro lock, in which the piston will instantly stop! This is because water doesn't burn or compress. You'll destroy the engine if that happens.

Any thoughts? Ever heard of this happening?

-- Dave

[ice6900]

forcewinder have had a similar style air filter out 4 years, never heard thats wives tales!

[OILCAN1]

I think it would be quite unrealistic to hydro lock an engine. Run likt Chit, cough, spit, sputter, weez, definatley but hydro lock your gona have to be sucking a bunch of water.

[Kool Rider]

You would have to ride the bike into a lake to hydrolock an engine.

[RedDevil]

Had the Heavy Breather on my 08 Street Glide and rode it through a down pour with the sock on and didn't have a problem.  Filter didn't even appear to be wet when I took the sock off when I got it back in the garage.   Never heard of anyone hydro-locking their engine because of the heavy breather.  It's been out for three years now, so there are a few of them out there now.

[TBird]

I've had one for 2 years, rode in heavy rain many times never had a problem.

[Thatguycvo]

A group of us rode through a storm that was unbelievable. We could not stop due to the road and traffic. When we were going up the last hill into this town my friend riding next to me who has similar air cleaner on his bike was sputtering and coughing. I didn't think he was going to make it up the hill. My springer never missed a beat the difference was that I had stopped and put the sock on.

[ice6900]

i agree i run all year with the sock on, the sock doesnt impair performance enough to warrant taking it off.

[grc]

Assuming the oiled filter is properly oiled, even without the rain sock it would be nearly impossible to ingest enough water to damage an engine.  You might wind up with a rich mixture due to insufficient air, but hydro-lock isn't anything I'd worry about.

I agree with ice6900, the rain sock doesn't hurt flow enough to worry about on the street.  Even without rain, it will extend the time between filter cleanings by keeping the bigger stuff out of the filter.

Jerry

[Chains]

Ran a previous bike for 4 years with a FORCE unit on it, rode in the rain a lot, never had an issue. Notice the color of the filter, always kept clean and oiled.

[WestCoastRuss]

I agree with ice6900, the rain sock doesn't hurt flow enough to worry about on the street.  Even without rain, it will extend the time between filter cleanings by keeping the bigger stuff out of the filter.

Jerry

Same here, It sure seems to keep the filter cleaner for a longer period....

[mrmagloo]

I've ran in the rain a number of times with the Stock open backed SE aircleaner and ran into alot of problems in heavy rain.  I switched to the heavy breather and it works much better. At highway speeds no problems at all. As along as the air is moving over the rain sock, it blows off in the wind. However, while idling and such, it did sputter a bit, but nothing a couple of rev's didn't clear.

[willymax4]

i've sprayed water thru the carb using a spray bottle to cut carbon build up and not once has the engine ever hydrolocked.
it'll run like chit while the water's being sprayed thru it but that clears up and it'll puke all kinds of black crud out the mufflers for a little bit but as far as locking up, not gonna happen.

[mrmagloo]

Unless you totally submerge the intake there's no way you're going to hydrolock an engine. You definitely can cause it to sutter a quit, but even with no filter or protection at all, it's almost impossible to hydrolock it. I've flipped and submerged boats that didn't hydrolock, so it's a pretty hard thing to do.