'08 Connie Burned my inside thighs after 45 minutes in 95° TX heat

[booger]

My '09 gets a little warm in the summer, but no more than the '06 Road King I used to have.

[556ALPHA]

My '09 gets a little warm in the summer, but no more than the '06 Road King I used to have.

I was gonna say avoid ALL air cooled Harley's if you think the C14 is hot, 2009 or not. 

[ZG]

I was wearing cotton slacks

 
 
Going to court or a wedding?? Please don't ride in slacks bro, it's not good for our Connie image... 

[freebird6]

Not sure why but my 08 is not the heat beast I read about on the forums. Certainly never caused the discomfort my Mean Streak or the sheer heat the Harley Dyna Low my GF has sitting in her garage blew on my right inner thigh.

I wear Olympia textile pants over shorts and boots most of the time I am on the bike. I do notice that area where the zip off legs opens on the inside of the thigh I can feel heat in the are you are describing but in no way is it unbearable. The few times I have stayed on the bike to fuel I have been amazed by how cold that gas feels against the leg as it flows into the tank.

OTOH, come early March and late October into the colder months I am very happy for any heat that I can get off there. It is going to be 102 here today, there is no question that I will go out on the Connie over everything with an outside chance the 1100RT may get ridden more because of the lower windsheild rather than the heat.

Sorry to hear that your experience was negative, with 4 bikes to choose from I rarely find myself wanting to ride anything but this one. 

[Cold Streak]

I have always had the Kawi large windshield on my 08.  I never noticed any excessive heat issues.   I always wear AeroStitch overpants and tall boots.  I bought a small Kawi shield and put it on.  Today was the first ride with the small shield and I noticed much more heat in the lower leg area.  I've been puzzling about how that is possible.  Obviously the shield design could dramatically effect how the air flows up from the radiator and engine out the back of the bike.  Perhaps with a larger shield more of the heat gets sucked upward instead of staying down in the leg area?  Anyone else notice this phenomenom or was it too early for me to be awake this morning?

[VirginiaJim]

If you are running with the small shield down all the way then it blocks the air coming over the fairing.  It's really counter intuitive.  You need the shield up aways to allow air to flow over the fairing and down towards the legs.  I can tell the difference at speed if you move it totally up or totally down.  This bike at slow speeds will act as a heat sink on the frame and it takes air movement to cool it down.  You don't get the air near the legs if the shield is totally down.

[Necron99]

I have a '10, and I live in Dallas... Lewisville, actually.  If you went to Cycle Center of Denton, I can only assume you're in the north central part of the metro area?  I could probably arrange for you to "feel" how hot my '10 is.  I am a daily commuter, and I don't care how hot or cold it gets, I ride.  Last year my temp gauge hit 118 while riding up I35E once.  I often ride in simple denim jeans.  I have NEVER had my skin pinked by the heat of the bike, and I am a very fair skinned white boy.

[Cuda]

You should trade it in on a ST 1300 Honda , It gets so hot the gas starts to boil , a friend calls his Satans Chariot .  How about a VW TDI then you have air and great fuel mileage
Serious... get a 10 , 11 or 12 

[sherob]

I put 24k miles on a ST1300 in Houston.  Warm, yes... hot, no.  My Wing was hotter than the ST.  Boiling gas, it's a common happening with ethanol gas mix and motorcycles these days... Google it up.  My gas tank whistles softly after a nice hot ride when you shut it off.

Of course, what is hot to you may not be hot to me... personal heat levels being different.

[Cold Streak]

If you are running with the small shield down all the way then it blocks the air coming over the fairing.

Thanks for the response VirginiaJim.  Interesting thought.  I'll have to experiment with shield positions on the way home today and see the effect.  I'll also have to look at the clearance on the two fairings.  I didn't notice a difference when I installed the small one but I wasn't looking either.  The big one has at least a  1-2 inch gap at the lowest shield position. 

[VirginiaJim]

1 to 2 inches isn't much and will restrict the flow of air.  Are you talking about the stock 08/09 shield or is it an aftermarket brand?

[Cold Streak]

I have both Kawi shields.  I bought the bike used (483 miles) and it had the tall shield.  That is all I've ever run until this year (36k+ miles) I bought a stock 08 shield (shorter) from someone, hoping to get more air in the summer heat.  I put it on and ran with it for the first time this morning and noticed more foot/leg heat.  It seems to me that the gap between the fairing on the short shield is less than that on the tall shield.  I'd have to reinstall the tall one to be sure though.  I'll play with the position more and see what happens.

[lt1]

Well, it looks like the OP is happy, so the dealership apparently made the right decision.  It has been a long time since I have found the heat on the C14 uncomfortable.  Living in the Phx, AZ area, I suppose that I may be less heat-sensitive than many.  I've adjusted the factory heat shields and wear protective gear (I don't ride wearing just thin pants or shorts on my legs), and don't have an issue on the 08.  Interestingly, I find the heat from the bike more noticeable at 85F than at 110F.  Not uncomfortable, but I will notice it occasionally.  Adjusting the w/s will affect heat distribution, but the difference is not significant in my experience.

[Conrad]

97 degrees here at the moment with a heat index of 114. It's going to be a hot ride home today. 

[sherob]

I think the C14 ran warmer new than with miles on her, broken in...  or maybe me broken in. 

[VirginiaJim]

It seemed like that to me as well.

[Cheesecake]

The heat is a subjective issue. Same reason every time you visit someone's house, and you think, why do they keep it so cold, or so hot? The guy that owned my 08 first, claimed right here on this forum that it has no heat. It is like riding a furnace when the ambient temp is above 85 , in spite of removing cats, and etc. The only good thing I can say about the heat issue, it has helped me understand when folks at the dealership are blowing smoke up my ass--cause you are gonna get a LOT of that whenever you tell them your bike is hot....stories about how many bikes are hotter than yours.

[tonedeaf]

Reading this thread reminded of that when the C10 first came out I was ready to buy one. Fortunately I rode one on a hot August day and knew I would never be able to adjust to this scooter.

Fast forward to '08 when I am about to replace the bike I bought instead of the C10 and I am thinking the new C14 looks good. So I start reading the blogs and find out there is a good deal of complaining about the HEAT! So I keep my current ride because I can't find anything I like better. Then I see that big K actually listened to customers and made several significant improvements to the '10. So I vacillate a little more and finally spring for an '11.

And life is good -- love the scooter -- at best I can only come up with a couple of small (for me) items for a wish list. Pretty much the same stuff many other people have: no cruise, the potato launcher, etc. (Well there is KPiss, but I won't go there today.)

[maxtog]

Someone tell me the good news that the newer Connies don't have massive heat issues in the same areas as this!

I have never had any heat problems with my 2011.  The tank does not get hot at all, it does not blast me with heat from anywhere.

Now, if it is really hot outside and I am stuck at a stop or crawl in traffic, yes, I am freaking hot.  The fans kick on and blow that hot air up around me, the sun is heating up my body with no airflow, waves of heat radiate off the 150 degree blacktop...   But pretty much all bikes are like that.  (I wish it would reverse the direction of the fans when the bike is not moving- blow the hot air FORWARD).

And during hot weather riding, the stock windscreen blocks too much air (I might need to get/make a short one for summer use).

[VirginiaJim]

I have never had any heat problems with my 2011.  The tank does not get hot at all, it does not blast me with heat from anywhere.

Now, if it is really hot outside and I am stuck at a stop or crawl in traffic, yes, I am freaking hot.  The fans kick on and blow that hot air up around me, the sun is heating up my body with no airflow, waves of heat radiate off the 150 degree blacktop...   But pretty much all bikes are like that.  (I wish it would reverse the direction of the fans when the bike is not moving- blow the hot air FORWARD).

And during hot weather riding, the stock windscreen blocks too much air (I might need to get/make a short one for summer use).

Moan, moan, moan....