December 2009 - Letters

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Yes, Deer!
Stephanie, concerning your recent article about deer alerts: there’s a product called The Hornet, an electric deer alert you attach directly to your battery, accessory switch, or cigarette lighter. It supposedly precedes the rider by about 1,600' at 110 dB whether you’re riding at 10 mph or 65 mph. The alert whistle itself mounts to one of the downtubes at the front of your frame. Living in Pike County we encounter deer on a daily basis. The worst time of the year is October through early December, when they are in the “rut” (breeding). The device won’t stop a deer that’s running but will cause walking or grazing deer to pick up their heads and many times back away from the edge of the road. I’ve been using one for about eight years now. I do feel I have a slight more edge of preventive protection, and most of the time that makes the difference in a collision with any kind of animal. We have people hitting bears up here, too. The Hornet can be ordered from J&P Cycles, Küryakyn, and other dealers. The black ones run about $50, and the chrome version around $60. They claim the alerts reduce accidents with deer by 70 percent.

Lee DeBlon
Lords Valley, PA

Mr. Fix It
The clutch went out on my husband’s 1999 ground pounder (right) over a month ago. Ordering replacement parts should have been a plug-and-play for him to install. Unfortunately, nothing went together as it should have. With no manual for the aftermarket open primary, and the Internet as his only guide, Dan at BDL came to the rescue with substantial knowledge and a few different replacement parts. Thank you, Dan, for getting my riding partner back on the road! I love my 2000 Buell X1 Lightning, but is there any way you can start putting my 1978 Custom Shovelhead back together?

Lisa Whitman
Kelso, WA

Be Cool, Fuel
Donny, you’re very knowledgeable, but the statement that the EITMS “turns off the rear cylinder fuel injector at hot idle” bothers me. Why would we do this when fuel is the cooling agent and air causes the villainous heat? Air cools. Remember, Harleys are air-cooled. Both air and/or fuel, if not combusted (either sparked or spontaneous) cool, particularly an H-D at 200 degrees or above. I suppose the compression of air could cause some heat, but it’s insignificant compared to the heat of combustion. It’s the spark and/or spontaneous combustion that heats the motor, not air. Harley cuts the fuel I’m sure, because it leads to better fuel economy by shutting off an electronically controllable injector rather than
needing to mechanically shut off the relatively uncontrolled air flow to the rear cylinder. This removes the chance of spontaneous combustion.

By the way, I constantly hear that more fuel cools. I find it hard to believe that the introduction of fuel, one part to every 13 or 14 parts air, is more responsible for cooling of 96" or 110" of aluminum and steel than the higher quantities of air passing inside and outside. No one believes fuel cools a Chevy V-8 more than the air, water, and oil cool it. I don’t know why Harley mechanics believe fuel significantly cools.

Steven Kastel
Via Internet

Both will cool if not ignited. Air can be the villain, or it can be the saviour. Hot air inside an engine can burn holes through metal. Cool air at ambient, outside temperature passing through the exceptionally hot combustion chamber will cool. The bottom line to all this is that the H-D 45-degree, air-cooled V-twin is really not able to effectively cope with the high air-to-fuel ratios demanded by the EPA. This is why we have the development of the liquid-cooled, overhead-cam V-Rods and new Buells. — Donny

Online Time
Ms. Schmitt, I couldn’t agree more with your column in the August issue. I work in IT, and the Internet and e-mail are invaluable tools, as well as providing me with a living. With a few mouse clicks, one can find just about any information one needs. But the idea of forming friendships with people I’ve never met or keeping the world appraised of the minutiae of my day is just ridiculous. On top of that, you know that when corporations and politicians started using Facebook and Twitter to market themselves, they lost whatever elements of cool they may have had.

Michael Weijers
Caledon, ON, Canada

King Cutout
Chris, I was reading Hog Helpline in the September ’09 issue regarding a 2002 Road King. The speedometer and the turn signals would shut off automatically. I experienced the exact same problems on my 2006 Deuce. It started at the beginning of the 2008 riding season. My turn signals and speedometer would cut out, and the TSSM fault indicator would stay on for approximately eight to 10 seconds after starting the engine. A friend and I would download the fault code (I can’t recall the code number). We did this several times and cleared the code each time. Using the process of elimination, we determined that the only change to the bike was that I installed a LED fuel gauge (#75237-03B). I reinstalled the old fuel gauge and the problem disappeared. What we determined was that the fuel gauge did not have a load equalizer wired into its circuitry. The lack of resistance in the unit would cause the control unit to indicate a fault along with the speedometer/turn signal issues.

You might want to ask the fellow with the Road King if he installed any new electrical components over the winter prior to the beginning of the last riding season. His symptoms sound quite similar to mine.

Mike Hanson
Sault Ste. Marie, ON, Canada

Brake Clean Scare
I just did some welding on a piece of metal Saturday that I spayed with carb cleaner because I was out of brake clean, which I normally use. On my son Austin’s car that we’ve been restoring (1970 Firebird), we’ve used probably eight or 10 cans of brake cleaner spraying off the parts and floor pan before painting. And, as Brew mentions, it’s a commonly used quickie cleaner for welding. (I was a railroad welder for five years and a muffler shop mechanic and welder for two more.) I’ve used it many times with my MIG and an Argon blend. I’ve been heavily exposed going back to my car wrenching days at home (1970s) and increased use at Midas. I will share this with Austin and be more careful. Scary!

Randy Smith
Wakarusa, KS

Phosgene Gas
I want to thank you for sharing this with folks. I’ve been in the radiator business for 20 years, and have never even thought of this type of thing. I’m going to make copies and hand them out to my radiator shop customers; I think it is something they need to know. They have a torch in their hand most of the day and these types of cleaners are always in the shop.

Damon Christian
Via Internet

Gen Friend
Genevieve, I am a 68-year-old man with my first motorcycle in about 30 years. I’ve wanted a Harley for all of those years, so even though the Heritage Softail was more my size, after seeing the big improvements to the FL series, I bought a 2009 Road Glide. I say the Heritage is more my size because I am 1/2" shorter than you with a 29" inseam. I did the same mods you did with shorter rear shocks, a Reach Seat, and a 12" Flare windshield. I love it now. Even though I bought my first cycle in 1956, I took the basic rider MSF course and learned a few things. I plan to take the experienced rider course this autumn, and I hope to take the professional course later.

Ogden C. “Bill” Usher
Johnson City, TN

It’s All Sam’s Fault!
Just a quick note to say thanks for all your hard work on the magazine concerning my flathead cover shot and feature. I’m very excited, and the layout looks great. Sam, I’m still laughing at the story, especially the part when the cop pulled up when we were relaxing in the driveway.

However, I do need to mention a mistake in the article. There’s a very big omission in the tech sheet. George Counes at Spartan Frameworks, who stretched and raked the frame, is a very good friend, and I’m totally crushed that he was not recognized. As you know, the frame really sets the bike’s unique stance. I don’t understand how this was omitted, and hope there is some way to rectify this.

Mike “Flatiron” Camillo
Via Internet

Bias-Free Zone
I’ve been reading your magazine faithfully since I discovered it a few years ago. The good thing is that it’s unbiased, unlike lots of other publications, showing no favoritism between baggers, bobbers, or choppers. I own a 2000 FLHPI, my eighth Harley and first touring bike; it was a security/parade bike for Dulles International Airport. It came in the traditional Birch White/black flavor. I put the solo seat back on, mounted the air tank inside the left-side cover, installed a Sony radio, shorter windshield, and a few other things. Reading your last issue, I also got the idea to order the Jagg oil cooler and adapter.

Tim
Baltimore, MD