When a HOT motorcycle is NOT cool!
You hear it from Harley- Davidson riders all the time, “damned my bike is hot”, but they aren’t always talking about the way it looks.
Many a rider, especially those who ride Harley’s have experienced that excruciating thigh burn that comes from creeping along in stop and start traffic during high the heat of the summer.
It’s not a pleasant feeling and it’s definitely not good for the engine of your motorcycle. Extreme heat can reduce the life of your engine significantly.
I got a set of Cool Master Love-Jugs this summer from Konquer Motorcycles in Kelowna BC. They are the exclusive Canadian distributor for Love-Jugs.
My husband installed them for me. According to him, the install was very straightforward and was accomplished in about an hour and a half.
Unfortunately I was not home when the install took place however he was kind enough to take photos as he went through the process.
As for how they perform and what they do, I am here to tell you that they work well, very well in fact.
Anyone who rides an older Harley in particular knows how hard idling in traffic is on the engine and even with the shields, the heat on your thigh can be mind numbing.
Riding hard for long periods in high heat is also not good for your engine unless of course you ride hard for a bit and then stop to let the engine cool. But if you are running Love-Jugs on your bike, neither of these scenarios needs to materialize.
I do a lot of highway riding. I’m not one to enjoy stop and start traffic and traffic jams so I tend to avoid the larger centers when I am on my bike. But even in a really poor riding season of only 6,5000 K (thanks to being sick most of the spring and summer), I still found myself in rush hour traffic once and creeping along in road construction zones a number of times.
We here in the north don’t get as much extreme heat as say, the Okanagan, Drumheller and southern Alberta or the deep south of the US, but it does get hot 30-35 C, or about 100 F for a few weeks every summer. And if in the north was the only place I rode, maybe I wouldn’t feel the need to protect my investment. But, in a decent riding season I’ll put on 35,000 – 40,000 KM’s and I ride in places that get hot and uncomfortable.
Because the engine in my bike is air cooled, anything that can be done to increase the amount of air getting to the back cylinder in particular is beneficial.
Keeping the engine cooler does a few things:
1) It protects the engine oils from breaking down prematurely.
2) It keeps your fuel burning more consistently, meaning that horsepower is less affected.
3) Bearings and other moveable parts are protected better, making them last longer.
With the frame mount kit and the vibration master installed along with the Cool Master Love-Jugs, my motorcycle has become a new to me ride. (The vibration master & the frame mount kit together helps eliminate the amount of vibration coming from the cylinders meaning that you have reduced vibration on the horn and the fans.)
My 2010 Ultra runs way better in high temperatures now that I have these beauties on and they look good too. Their nice low profile means that they are out of the way and cause no discomfort.
Hubby wired my Cool Master Love-Jugs into the accessory switch on the dash.
It makes using them super easy. You can shut the fans off manually right on the fans too, though why you would, I can’t really imagine. (Oh and just an FYI, the fans are marine quality and will not short out due to riding in inclement weather.)
As you can see my Love-Jugs are the stainless, high polish finish but you can get them in gloss black and flat black powder coat too.
They are available for Indian and Harley-Davidson motors.
Visit Konquer Motorcycles web site: www.konquer.ca to purchase if you live in Canada
Visit: www.love-jugs.com to learn a lot more about this amazingly cool product.
I truly love my Love-Jugs and the Harley or Indian rider in your life might just appreciate these as a very thoughtful birthday, anniversary or Christmas present!
Belt Drive Betty,
Editor & Rider
