Anyone have any knowledge or experience with a good aftermarket oil cooler for the 1200 EVO engine? I live in New Mexico and travel to Arizona on trips -- and its HOT in the summer. Is Harley's "Premium Oil Cooler" worth the $270 they're asking for it and the $175 to install it? Thanks.
Rich

 

i would say out west it would help. sure as hell cant hurt!

 

I was looking through a catalog today and I saw what you are talking about... a oil cooler for the HD. I personally wouldn't run it. The engine seems exposed enough and able to cool off when in motion. I think the real heat that developes is when the engine is idling and the bike is at a standstill... which is something a oil cooler won't help you with anyway.

I'd say just run a synthetic oil and call it a day. Synthetic will hold up in temperatures that will cause a regular mineral based oil to break down.

 

My oil temp dropped 10 degrees when I started using synthetic oil. Jaggs makes an adaptor that goes behind your oil filter and runs your lines from there to the oil cooler. You might also try a non chrome oil filter and use a longer HD filter to help cool it off. I think the chrome filter version is #63813-90. Chrome tends to hold heat. Tim

 

Living in the Phoenix area and often riding stop and go traffic in 105+ degree weather in the summer, I've wondered about an oil cooler too. Agree that an oil cooler doesn't help much when standing still. So I use syn oil (does run a few degrees cooler - if my oil temp dipstick is any indication). No problems to date (6000+ miles on my '05), but I am considering getting an oil cooler anyway (under the "can't hurt" philosophy) but it's not high on my spending list. And btw, oil cooling is by virtue of recirculating the oil back to the oil tank.

 

Hmmm - how does chrome hold heat? I would think it would reflect it, and the black filter would absorb it (try wearing black in the summer!). Just a-wonderin'...

 

stay tuned, many threads of this nature tend to point out the "added leak points" - then break down to a review of oil products - mabe this one will shed some new light

 

Checkout this link of a Sportster owner who did a pretty good job of documenting temperture drops from just switching to Mobile-1 Synthetic. The results are extremely eye opening.

Sportster Synthetic results

 

I read that in some hop up book somewhere. True, chrome will reflect heat and black absorbs heat, the coating of chrome will retain heat. It also mentioned the chrome oil bags were not a good idea if trying to keep oil temps down. Personally, I didn't see any difference with the longer oil filter. and I likes chrome. Tim

 

fl_799


NICE bike like the colors - you paint it?