VOL. 50 ISSUE 36 SEPTEMBER 10, 2013
Harley-Davidson Street Glide Special
Harley's new Boom! Box
Infotainment system features all
sorts of bells and whistles to keep
you entertained while you ride.
couple of years, but the added
performance of the High Output
Twin Cam design is a step forward.
The Harley engineers heard
from their customers that they
needed more passing power so
they came up with a new cam
profile with increased lift and duration. A new high-flow air-box
was also fitted and the combined
package has given the 2014 High
Output Twin Cam 103 air-cooled
motor a five-percent increase in
torque.
The real scoop, though, is the
fact that the new Twin Cooled
High Output Twin Cam 103 motor
has liquid cooling, but you'd be
hard pressed to tell that the bike
is liquid cooled and we're sure
that's what the people at HarleyDavidson wanted.
By running coolant around the
exhaust valve and port section of
the cylinder head the engineers
have been able to better control
engine heat - especially under
heavy loads or in stop-and-go
traffic situations. Harley is one of
the only air-cooled bikes on the
market today so when I saw the
103 Twin Cooled motor sitting on
the display table I inquired as to
what the two fuel-line size hoses
that were exiting out of the motor in between the two cylinders
were. I was told that the lines exiting between the cylinders were
cooling lines that ran up and over
the front cylinder, down the front
frame tube to the bottom. That's
P39
where an electric water pump is
housed - tucked away where no
one can see.
The Twin Cooled 103 and 110
motors retain the look of a standard air-cooled motor - fins and
all. They did a nice job of concealing the liquid.
The two radiators are located
in both lower side fairings with
thermostatically controlled electric fans to aid in their cooling efficiency. With this added cooling
effect, Harley was able to raise
the compression ratio to 10.1:1 on
the Twin Cooled 103, resulting in
a torque increase of 10.7%. All
without changing the looks of its
classic air-cooled motor.
All the new 2014 touring models - except the Road King - receive a new Hydraulic clutch system. They share a heavier spring
pack and, with the introduction of
the new Hydraulic clutch, maintenance and adjustment is less of
an issue.
On the other side of the bars
is where Harley-Davidson has
taken a big step forward with the
introduction of its Reflex Linked
Braking with ABS. The previous
models were a bit on the difficult
side to slow down so to have a
new braking system that works
well is a bonus. And this was certainly another customer-driven
request.
All the new Touring models
are available with the new Reflex
Linked Brakes with ABS as either
original or as a factory-installed
option. The Reflex Linked system
combines ABS with electronical-
