Hi Fired00d,
I´m certainly baffled by the cover I have. I was in a bike meetig a couple of weeks ago and it poured like cats and dogs and I covered my bike so as my friends. In the morning there was a huge pool between the bikes on the cover (half a gallon or so) and tiny dew drops in the rest of the fabric. Pushing from below, I got rid of the artificial fish pond and was then able to remove the cover. Both bikes were bone dry and touching the fabric I could feel that no rain water had gone through; not a single drop! This fabric is no light stuff you might think about, on the contrary, it is thick and heavy. It does not have any silver lining or protection on the sides for the exhausts, but it still bears the heat without fuss.
After your comments and since my bike and cover are about 170 miles from where I stay, since I have the bag where it comes in, I decided to put it under the tap in the kitchen to try and get the interior wet; tried cold and hot water, but the water just slides on the external surface. After five minutes, my wife kindly asked me to stop what I was doing by hitting me with a broom on the head... The fact is I had water all over the place and had made a mess of the kitchen, but not a single drop or moist could be seen or felt on the inside of the tough fabric..
I am sure this is not a simple piece of cloth, but something much better designed and engineered. I would no doubt leave my bike under this cover outside any time, any weather. It must be something Harley ordered Dowco to manufacture for some of their bikes. I'm afraid I can't check if some digits are missing from the pic I included, but I see no reason why we at the other side of the pond would get such a great cover while you only get a "dust cover"... it makes no sense. I will however check if the H-D ref nº has more digits as soon as I get to my bike this weekend.
Maybe it is a case that you never tried your cover outside.... One thing I can say, or repeat, it is heavy woven cloth, it is matt black, weighs a ton and is waterproof.
Have a round of virtual spanish beers, my time to invite.
Spanish Flyer