As long as you are moving they sure do work.Stopped no they do not.I just took the coolers off both my bikes,one with a 124" the other with a 155".I also try to not ride on the high 90 degree days,the bikes don't run good anyway.

 

Note:

I found a company called "Permacool" that makes anin-line oil cooler thermostat.The bio I read saidsome racing dudes founded Permacoolin the 1970's for the express purpose of buildingbetter race car coolingaccessories forBaja and other high temp racing environments.

Comes with a one year warranty, canbefound one-Bay for $65.00.

I never had any problems oroil leaks with any of my bikes. I installed an oil cooler and Lockhart in-line thermostat on my 1994 Sportster in 1997 and I still have that bike.

For what it's worth.

[8D]Bud.

 

I might as well put in my 2 cents.

I commute on my bike almost daily. Lots of stop and go, especially when I lived in Northern Virginia and worked in DC. After I bought my 2006 Street Glide, I started to really experience heat problems. My old EVO would run all day no matter how hot it got, but the EFI system on my '06 will reduce idle RPM to avoid overheating in traffic or even shut the bike down. I had it shut down more than once.

Now, my bike was one of the lucky early production runs with the 8 degree injectors. After complaining about overheating/bike shutting off and having the bike in the shop 3 times in the first 2 months of ownership, they finally replaced the injectors with the 25 degree after Harley came out with their maintenance alert. Replacing the injectors helped a great deal. My bike did not shut down nearly as much, but it did still shut down occasionally.

The problem is that in stop and go traffic, there is no time for air alone to cool the oil enough. If you start with 320 deg F oil and move 30 feet, guess what, your oil is now 321 deg F (generalization, not scientific data).

I added the oil cooler specifically to help out in stop and go traffic. As we all know, there are gaps where you can get up to speed. If you have a cooler, your oil will cool off faster and be able to handle the upcoming idle period of the next bumper to bumper grind. Since adding the cooler, my bike has not shut down once. Even during the subsequent Virginia summer and this summer in Florida.

Take it for what it's worth, that is my real life experience. Oil Coolers help.

 

Sounds good to me. I just got one for my Birthday. Haven't put it on yet, but am looking forward to it taking away some of the heat on my 05 Deluxe.

 

OK... If one is good ,,,,,,just think what 2-3 OR 4 would do..Might freeze your oil???????

 

Oil cooler are goog thing. But if you are going to try to cool the engine use the engine fan like made for slow driving.Turn the fan on went it is needed.

 

Work? What does "work" mean?
Do they make the oil temp drop? Sure.
Is this drop significant, or useful? It depends.
Oil has a breakdown temperature, over which the carefully arranged chemical structure of the lubricant starts to break down and degrade.
But it doesn't need to reach such extremes. Constant overheating above the intended operating temp can shorten oil life and in the long run damage the engine.
After oil has been degraded, it won't go back to good upon cooling. You can turn an aquarium into fish soup by boiling it, but you can't turn soup fish into an aquarium by letting it cool down.
If your oil remains within a reasonable range around operating temp, then you shouldn't worry. If it goes over, then an oil cooler may be the naswer, as long as it keeps the oil under the maximum allowed temp.
Oil shouldn't go above 110-120 °C, anyway.
Mind me: it's not that if it does your engine will suddenly blow up. But it WILL shorten your engine's life before it needs a rebuild.
An oil cooler may have its own drawbacks.
Some are obvious, like the eventuality of a leak, others are less evident, such as the fact that, in a very cool climate, an oil cooler could keep your oil from warming up at a temperature adequate for smooth engine operation for much more time than the same engine without it, and this is just as harmful as "cooked" oil.
A bypass valve with which exclude the cooler during winter may be the answer, but this complicates the system even more and is another possible failure point.
Some automotive companies have found alternate methods to overcome this problem, such as Subaru, which drives engine coolant around oli cooler, thus at high temps the heat exchange is better than a simple air-oli cooler, while in a cold climate the coolant (which warms up pretty fast) will actually warm up oil. Brilliant, but obviously not an option on an air cooled engine.
Let's not forget another factor: in the big twin 96 (and the 88 as well) oil is used as coolant of the piston...
So, in the end I don't think there's an unique yes/no answer.
It depends upon typical running conditions, for example. Driving in heavy traffic will make oil temp rise, but an oil coooler won't do much about it, as you will be usually stationary, as others have pointed out. Switching off the engine in long pauses can just be a better option, but you risk wearing out the battery with continuous restarts...
It depends also upon oil cooler model, oil type and climate.
So: practical advice boils down to: invest 100 $ in an oil termometer or, even better, an IR termometer like Fluke or such. Take time to ride in different conditions, and different seasons, summer being obviously more dramatic in oil temp rise, and measure oil temp and see if it rises, say, above 120 °C. If it does, there's still room for heating, but it's better to be safe than sorry. A cooler MAY be the answer.
If you choose to mount an oil cooler, measure oil temp in winter, and use a chronometer to see how much longer it takes to get the oil at least to 40-50 °C. Proper running temp should be about 90-100 °C, but 40° 50° is enough for smooth operation with modern multigrade oils.
I'm evaluating temps upon experience on car engines. I really don't know if bike oils are different in this respect, so if bike oils are engineered to different operating temps, just adjust to these temps.
Try to:
- be consistent with measurements
- evaluate all driving conditions
- don't rely on one measurement: always do it twice and compare, and if you test after you did something, also measure what happens if you DON'T do it, or before you do it.
- don't rely on hearsay: measure it and see by yourself, and remember that a temperature measurement is just data, not information. It just tells you that oil is at a given temp. Without knowing in what conditions

 

Moses, never heard of an oil cooler making a bike run stronger, shift better and give more torque----It just ain't so!!!!!

 

I'm sure they make the oil cooler....but is that a significant advantage. Will the bike engines be just fine running 230 to 280 degrees?

 

- thanks for your real-life input.

- my 96 Heritage Softail (EVO 1340 , carburettored) came with
an oil-cooler , stock. It had been replaced with a bling-billet,
pair of finned-tubes, running down both downpipes.

- in my weather here (normal is 35 deg.C , ie , 95 F) , anything
that can help out , helps.

- I read a post somewhere else here that the temp in your
oil reservoir (ie , your oil tank) is not representative of the
oil temps for the rest of the engine. It may be 30-40 degrees
more at the head. Something to take into account as well.

cheers.

.