Has anyone had any troubles with their '07 1200C overheating?

I have just over 1400 miles on my 1200C and I took it in for it's 1000mi service at the dealer with 996mi on it. I just had them put in the regular dino oil for now as I already had plans to switch to a synthetic and haven't read good things about syn3 in all holes.

I ride my bike to and from work everyday because it's a 60mi roundtrip and my truck gets oh about 16mpg...... So running the dino oil that has just a hair over 400 miles on it, I'm sitting in traffic in NW Florida heat for a while, traffic was rolling a few feet and stopping, etc. about 30-45minutes of this goes by.... could definetely feel the heat coming off the rear cylinder, but then my bike starts idling lower like it's trying to stall out. Then I can see small amounts of smoke coming somewhere off the engine. looked mostly like it was coming from somewhere off the left side but was hard to tell. wasn't like boiling out or anything, just could see it coming up if I seen it right against the pavement. Almost seemed like it was coming from somewhere near the oil filter and was a whitish smoke, so figuring my oil was burning. After a few minutes of seeing this and the bike acting like it was trying to stall, I pulled off and shut it down for a while.

spent about 20-30minutes sitting on side of road letting the bike cool down and blew some time texting my girlfriend because by this time she was wondering what happened. I also was just waiting for the wreck and rubber neckers to thin out so once I started the bike up, I could be moving again and get some air through the engine. unfortunately I was on a stretch of pavement that was basically crossing a swamp so other than heading the other direction, I had nowhere to go where could be moving and cool down the bike.

Once I let the bike cool off a bit and I got moving again, I turned off on the first back road I had a chance to hit and cruised between 45-55 and bike seemed to run fine and once it cooled down, was idling just fine and so on.... Once I got home, checked oil level and all looked fine. Oil was a slightly dark gold kind of color but was nowhere near black. I also checked for signs of oil leaking around the oil filter and in that area but couldn't find anything.

Just wondering if there is anything that I need to check out to make sure nothing was harmed? This is my first bike, and bought it brand new a little over a month ago, so I'm not entirely sure what all to check. Also, incase it matters, I always run 93 octane in this bike.

After that incident in traffic, I'm looking at an oil cooler and switching to some form of synthetic ASAP..... But I hate how those vertical jagg coolers look. I'm guessing the harley premium oil cooler is the identical cooler? I like how clean the horizon coolers look down by the voltage regulator but I don't see any for the 07 sportster 1200C. what I'd really love is a horizontal cooler mounted down there with fans mounted on backside to draw air through like I seen one article a guy added to his softtail.

As far as the synthetic oil and final oil cooler choice, I'm going to see what this local harley mechanic recommends. We have a local shop, Pine Forest Cycles (Pensacola, FL), that seems to come highly recommended around here. From what I've heard, it's service guys from Pensacola Harley who went out on their own, and now are rather popular for people who get tired of the dealer's crap. I just took my bike a week and half ago to dealer and forked out $249 and some change for my 1000mi service..... I don't care to give them anymore of my money. I'm thinking for crankcase oil either Mobil 1, royal purple, redline, or amsoil (although, amsoil kinda bugs me because their advertising is a bit overboard and how they distribute).

Anyone have any recommendations on what to look into for my 1200c to help cool it down without spending a ton of cash? I would like to get vance and hines

 

Living is S Florida I deal witha lot of stop and go traffic. IMO a passive oil cooler offers little benifit in as much as it needs air flow to provide any decient cooling benifit. It does however give you added oil capacity which might help some. An active cooler (with a fan) would certainly work better but doesn't add to the looks of the bike.Switching to a good synthetic oil signficanty reduced my overheating problems. My oil temp stays about 20* cooler than it did on dino. and of course it withstands the high temp better.

 

Since you bike is an 07 I recommend you just take it back to the dealership. That's what the warranty is for. If they don't do anything, then at least you have the problem documented if something bad happens down the line. Personally, my bike has never acted like that and I bake in Chicago traffic pretty much on a daily basis.

 

I got the thermometer-in-the-oil-cap because I was curious. We really haven't had lots of summer here yet in Oregon - the hottest my oil has run is 200. You might want to consider that - it's about $30-40 (I got mine from Chicago Harley) or you could either make your own, or use an instant-read thermometer. That way you could get an idea about your oil.
I'm sold on synthetic because of the heat resistance - in my opinion, the oil in my tank may be only 200 degrees, but the oil other places must be much hotter.

 

Yeah, I was thinking about taking it back to dealer but they are normally a pain to get into for service. I ride my bike to and from work but the dealer isn't convient to either work or home because traffic. When I dropped my bike off for the 1000mi service at 8am when they opened, I didn't get my bike back until 9am the next morning and they had JUST gotten back from test riding it when I got there. So I had to get my coworker to come pick me up at dealer the morning I dropped it off, then my girlfriend came and got me from work, then took me back to dealer the next morning to get my bike. wasn't exactly fun....

Anyone know of an active oil cooler with fans that is horizontal mount down near the voltage regulator for an 07 1200C? I like the design someone had of using the crash bar for oil cooler and added oil capacity, but I kinda wonder if it'd turn my chrome crash bars different colors or what happens if the crash bar took any kind of impact... and it's still be a passive oil cooler, but atleast it'd add oil capacity.

 

I know it's a pain to take it into the dealership, but this problem isn't going to fix itself. Something is wrong and eventually it's going to break. Even if they don't fix it, then you have it documented. Once you have it documented you should ride the **** out of your bike and see exactly what breaks (if they tell you it's fine and normal). When it does break (even if it's slightly out of warranty) you will be able to call harley and say you told them about it several thousands of miles ago and they didn't do anything about it. They will then be forced to fix it then.

Oil coolers and fans are nice, but you will just be treating the symptoms instead of the cause. There are many sportsters that don't need them. It's rare for a sportster to need an oil cooler.

 

You said you have a truck. Invest in a simple trailer to tow behind. Or, if it is an open bed pickup a ramp to load the bike into the back. Then you just drive to work, drop it off and continue to work. Then pick it up when done.

I would take advantage of the warranty while you have it. Just adding an oil cooler might help at first but if there is a largerproblem in the motor it won't help. maybe there is a blockage in the system or something.

Just my 2 cents.

 

I'm planning to buy a trailer soon, but the initial bending over I got from the dealer and insurance company definetely hurt. I'm still saving just to get a seat that is half a$$ comfortable lol

I'm 19 and a college kid working full time, so takes me a bit longer to recover from down payment, first month's bike payment, insurance, and $250 raping from the dealer's 1k mi service all at once.

 

Yea, you could take it to the dealer but I'll bet they tell you that nothing's wrong. Invest in the oil temp gauge and syn. oil, then you will have real numbers to work with instead of just saying "it's too hot. Most sporties with syn. oil seem to run around 180-200 degrees under normal driving conditions. It is not uncommon in stop & go traffic on a 90 degree day for the oil temp to climb close to 250. At 250 the bike will start running bad and it's your clue to give it a rest and let it cool down. 250 degrees is also the break point of dino oil. Theseconditions are NORMAL for your sporty.

 

Don't the '07 computers have a "hot engine mode" or whatever they call it? Once the engine temp reaches a certain temperature the engine idle speed slows or stops firingon one cylinder or something?

I know this happened to me when I was caught in traffic once. The heat coming off the bike was horrible and the idle was noticeably lower until I got out of the traffic and started moving again....

Somebody smarter than I please set me straight on this......