Mechanic's help, (or someone more knowledgeable, lol) exhaust question...
 

Ok, so I posted a previous thread asking if the Paul Yaffe X-Pipes would fit on my 08 Harley Rocker C. I have been doing a bunch of mods to it, and I would love to slap a set of these on.

I took the members advice and contacted Paul Yaffe to see if they had attempted to bolt a set of these up. This was their reply:

The upper pipe runs way to close to the Rocker style oil tank.

Could someone please explain the risks involved in running the exhaust to close to the oil tank? I realize the exhaust is hot and that it would heat the oil in the tank up somewhat, but I am unsure as to how much and what issues might arise from this? Will this have an effect on the life of the engine? Is this just a precautionary measure on their part limiting liability on a very small chance of an issue or is this not a matter of "if" an issue will occur but "when"?

Any advice or knowledge on this issue would be appreciated. Thanks in advance to those that take the time to help me on my quest for knowledge, lol..

they said that originally w/ the vance n hines pipes too
big radius no probs yet its kinda a gamble at the moment(the yafee pipes)
at the time of big radius rockers just came out people were fabbing brackets n such
made stuff fit,i happen to buy a bracket from a great dude named GIB
aka"gib bracket"i'd do more research what do these pipes look like?

Here is a couple pics of the pipes, I am undecided between the all chrome and the originals that are chrome and black:

http://www.supertrapp.com/images/product_sections/4.jpg


http://www.paulyaffeoriginals.com/im...uff-xpipes.jpg

kolor is yer scoot?
look like it would be as close as ours(vance n hines )
i ll see if i could round up a pic
yafee pipes on a rock would look PIMP

https://www.hdforums.com/forum/membe...ew-seat002.jpg

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...useum007-1.jpg

here is a newer rocker w/ "the vance n hines that fits"

http://i291.photobucket.com/albums/l...der96/reds.jpg

if ya ask me they are both the same & vnhines was coverin thier arse
when the "regular" softail pipes wouldnt fit cuz they were too close to oil bag

Those Yaffe pipes look awesome, but they look quite a bit closer to the oil tank than the big radius pipes. JMHO. The short answer to your question is yes, the extra heat will cause your engine oil to break down much quicker, thus allowing premature engine wear to occur. The three worst things for an engine are heat, dirt, and friction. You might make due with an additional oil cooler, but that would take some research.

mike, my tins are going in for a paint job, I went simple and am going with the Harley Black Denim paint.

catmechanic, thanks for the input and a condensed version of the problem. Can I pick your brain again?

As far as the problem with heat, from what I have read, would running a fully synthetic oil not take away most risks of oil breakdown? I read the following site which gives a detailed breakdown of motor oil breakdown:

http://www.off-road-outdoors.com/Oil-breakdown.html

As far as I understand, running a high grade fully synthetic will withstand a much higher temperature. If I was to run the synthetic and change the oil as often as I would a normal oil under normal circumstances, would that not rectify the issue?

I was also toying with the idea of running a small heat shield with the same contour as the pipes behind it for the length that the pipe runs along the tank. This would cut down on alot of the heat radiating towards it, might not look as good as running it without, but between that and the fully synthetic would that not cover most of the bases? I was looking at something like this maybe?

http://www.heatshieldproducts.com/p_lava_mat.php

What would be involved in running an additional oil cooler? I will do a search on it?

If your already running an oil cooler, don't add another one. That would add too much restriction into the system.
Putting a heat shield on would be a good way to reduce the radiant heat transfer, but its still something your going to have to one degree or another and there's the problem.
The newer 96" engines already run near enough to the max temps as is. Adding more heat at the tank no less is not going to make things any better.
Changing over to one of the full synthetic oils will help, but only to a degree and I'm not sure its going to be enough to offset what the pipes will induce.
Because even if the synthetic oils can take higher temps. The additives that are put into it to reduce or neutralize the effects of acids caused by the combustion process. Are the same ones put into good old dyno oils and degrade at a greatly increased rate as the temps rise.

BTW have you considered the fact that pipes that close even with a shield could easily cause the tanks paint or powdercoat to char or change color over time?

Thanks for the good info Citoriplus. I guess between that and catmechanic's response I will have to abandon this one. I don't have alot of expertise on this so had to ask. Looks like the search begins again to find that certain exhaust that really stands out....

Quick question, just for general knowledge, where are the oil tanks located on the other Softails, in the same place or somewhere totally different?

same place, but the rocker oil bag is a different shape/style and i think it sticks out a little more than the other softails