Uncle Bob said:
+1 but you might think about the term paragraph.
Sorry! I left my copy of Strunk & White's home yesterday!
texrider said:
Does an air-cooled only engine really belong on such an otherwise advanced machine? Them babies really bake down here.....
Excellent question. I couldn't agree more.
I do remember reading somewhere that Yamaha said they "followed" the crowd as far as Cruiser design and function for the Road Star. Now they have built a "family" and core group of users, they feel they can break from "traditional" Cruiser design and re-write the books.
I don't see anything earth shattering on the Roadliner, but as I mentioned before. The devil is in the details. Hidden touches that make (or will make) it a great bike. However, as far as liquid cooling. I would have to just speculate that since the Road Star powerplant is/has become the darling of the aftermarket vendors, racers, and all around customizers some old school roots will have to remain. Such as the American institution of there is no substitute for cubic inches. Meaning, after the usual mods to the jetting, airbox, and exhaust are done, the next thing to be done to the engine (logically), after the owner gets bored with those gains, is to enlarge the bore and stroke, and then get some decent head work done. Just basic American hot-rodding.
Most liquid cooled motorcycle engines cannot benefit from this process because of the close tolerances between the cylinder walls and the water jackets. Bore too much material out, and you have a useless engine block.
So again, I speculate. The engineers had to leave it a certain degree of low-tech so's not to alienate the core user group who is used to doing things X,Y,Z way.
Some complaints I've heard talking to old-timers. Some look at EFI like some mystical force. They'll go out of their way to find a bike with a carb on it. Those that own a Harley with EFI (the Motor Co. has been slowly forcing them to accept it since 2000 or so), eye it with deep suspicion, and have uneasy truce's with it. Yeah, they've gotten used to the easy starts etc., but they can't fix a lean condition with a tacklebox full of Pilot Circuits, Needles, and Jets, they have to take it to the dealer and have it hooked to a computer. I can see their point, but.........It's like holding back the tide with a 2x4.