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[DCFIREMANN]

Just a heads up if you are going to buy a new WATER HEAD!! They are having overheating issues on a lot of them and HARLEY doesn't know what the problem is. They don't know why but think it is an electrical component (or components) or the ECM are causing the issue. They first jumped right out there and said it had to be the race tuner. Problem is a bike in question had the problem before the race tuner was installed. Soooo I would say buy at your own risk till this problem is sorted out.

Be Safe

THE DAWG

[FLHTCUSE7]

I always buy at my own risk??

[2k]

Have ridden one since 1973, but with HD the risk is not if.......but when.

[Dan_Lockwood]

I have a question about the heads.

What's the difference between the water head and the stock air head?  I understand that there is a water loop going around the hot spots in the heads and that's about it.

So if you didn't have any coolant in the water head bike and rode it, what would be the difference than a non water head motor?  It isn't like the barrels are double wall like on the V-Rods with coolant through water jackets in both the heads and barrels.

If you're up to speed on the freeway and the water head is overheating, it's only relative to the water tube loops in the heads?

Just wondering about it...

[CVO Aqua-Glider]

ABSOLUTELY DON'T BUY A NEW '14 WATER HEAD!  By my 2011 FLHTK instead, to help pay for my water head.

[doublerunner]

I have a question about the heads.

What's the difference between the water head and the stock air head?  I understand that there is a water loop going around the hot spots in the heads and that's about it.

So if you didn't have any coolant in the water head bike and rode it, what would be the difference than a non water head motor?  It isn't like the barrels are double wall like on the V-Rods with coolant through water jackets in both the heads and barrels.

If you're up to speed on the freeway and the water head is overheating, it's only relative to the water tube loops in the heads?

Just wondering about it...

The air cooled engines have cooling fins. I do not believe the 14's do

[dlaws01]

Is anyone really surprised by these events?  Especially when the moco just slaps together some BS design for water cooling instead of applying some real engineering and modern technology to the approach?  Where is the team that championed the v-rod engine? 

[FLHTCUSE7]

They had to start this way because most of the customers are backwards and stuck in the past. The average HD customers is "old" and don't want liquid cooling. Doing it this way they ease in to it and get the emissions down for mainly CA. I am sure we will see a full liquid cooled version in the future.

Also, its an American made, with steelworkers Union labor product, so I do expect quality issues. If I wanted perfect I would buy Japanese 

[Tru-Blu]

Maybe it's urban myth, but didn't Porsche help the Moco with the design of the VRod engine?

[chiefs584ever]

Maybe it's urban myth, but didn't Porsche help the Moco with the design of the VRod engine?

Not a myth at all.  V rod motor was indeed a joint venture with Porshe on the design of the motor and cooling system.

[ridefar]

Harley's relationship with Porsche Design(separate entity, not car company) goes back many decades. Who do you think figured out how to make the air cooled motor not leak oil all over the yuppie's concrete garage floor? Porsche Design engineered the Revolution motor, they didn't "help" HD with it. HD engineers couldn't find their ass with both hands, as always, you get what you pay for. MoCo would rather spend the money on lawyers and tell customers that "they all do that".

[phato1]

The air cooled engines have cooling fins. I do not believe the 14's do

The engines appear the same on the outside. the liquid cooling feature is almost unnoticeable if you don't know what to look for -- like the water pump and hoses where the oil cooler is located on the other models. And yes the heads have cooling fins and can be ridden a "short" distance, like to the nearest dealer, in the event of a coolant leak - per the article I read  in this months RIDER magazine--

As far as the OP's statement about the unknown nature of the leaking, I think the issue has been traced to a faulty "plastic welding" job on one of the pump fittings or hose fittings creating porosity resulting in the leaks on some of the bikes. I think that there are updated parts being installed on those bikes experiencing the problem - provided they are available, I remember reading somewhere that there may be an issue with that.

[sadunbar]

The air cooled engines have cooling fins. I do not believe the 14's do

They do...

[CVO2FIXUP]

 So the "hot" new upgrade for the 2014's will be a retro fit to the regular air cooled heads and the removal of the H20 system.  I can just see that coming. If I owned one, I would be looking for a set of 110 heads on e-bay and calling my builder.

  But, aren't they all supposed do that? Leak I mean?

[Beak Boater]

The engines appear the same on the outside. the liquid cooling feature is almost unnoticeable if you don't know what to look for -- like the water pump and hoses where the oil cooler is located on the other models. And yes the heads have cooling fins and can be ridden a "short" distance, like to the nearest dealer, in the event of a coolant leak - per the article I read  in this months RIDER magazine--

As far as the OP's statement about the unknown nature of the leaking, I think the issue has been traced to a faulty "plastic welding" job on one of the pump fittings or hose fittings creating porosity resulting in the leaks on some of the bikes. I think that there are updated parts being installed on those bikes experiencing the problem - provided they are available, I remember reading somewhere that there may be an issue with that.

If you read some of the responses on HD Forums, and others, the fixes are all over the place for the ones puking coolant. Don't know about leaks. But everything from new caps on the coolant recovery tanks to reflashing the ECM. Every dealer it seems trys a different approach. If Harley really know how to fix the problem, they aren't telling the folks in the field about it. Several have filled lemon law suits, and complaints with NTSB.
Most have said they love the 2014 bikes, but cant live with the coolant problems.  Cant believe with all the testing that was done on Project Rushmore, that some of these problems didn't surface during testing and a fix was developed. Then again maybe they did and this was the fix.......nah HD wouldn't do that.........would they?