Whats considered to much --- the other day the bike seemed to be hot ( climbing through the mountains on an 80 degree day) checked the oil temp and it was 260f - reading and searching im seeing 340f seems to be the to hot line. So what is considered the limit without worrying about it ?

Thanks

Dave

 

300 dino
Higher for syn

 

None of my Harleys have had an oil temp guage, so I haven't had to worry about such things! All modern vehicles are exhaustively tested in the most extreme conditions and we humans are likely to give up riding long before our Harleys come to any harm. Ride on and enjoy.

 

Put tape over the oil temp gauge. Then, there is no limit for you to worry about.

 

i know many here say Harleys have run hot forever and will continue to do so and survive. and that seems to be a pretty true statement. butttttt, they run like crap when they get that hot too. hard starts, sputtering, pinging, poor response etc. last oct., (oct not july or august!!!) at pcb bike week I sure was wishing I had my Kawasaki back! after reading a lot recently I put the ultracool oil cooler on my '10 ultra. l only have about 200 miles on it since but I guarantee it was the right decision. much easier to start when hot which of course means less starter wear. but the big one for me is oil pressure. typically once it was hot at idle would be 0(well I am told it is actually about 6psi, but looks like 0). freaked first time I ever saw it and was scared to ride and jumped on google to see. and that was in the smokies in mid oct. not some 95degree day. even riding when hot would only hit about 30psi. I don't have an oil temp gauge so I can't say what the actual degree change is. but what I can say is that that now hot my oil pressure doesn't go below 12-15 at idle and is around 40 the rest of the time. my thing for all the naysayers is what did it hurt? not a thing other than $400 out of my pocket and a little sweat and time. it clearly improves performance. don't we all want that? and at $400 it is surely a lot cheaper than all the crazy cams and builds so many do and yields more worthwhile results for the bike. if I were doing over again it'd be one of the first things I'd do to a bike.

 

Hey Dave,

Being you are from way up north I dont think I would give too much thought to it but for less then $300 you can add a HD oil cooler to the engine for the heck of it as a fun project.

With that said, 260 degrees at the high end is fine.
For Harley Rushmore Touring bikes of 2014 and later. HD states normal oil operating temp of 230 degrees. As you know all non water cooled Rushmore bikes with the 103 HO engine come with factory oil coolers.

I find the 230 degree Harley statement right in there with what I am experiencing with my 2014 Road King.

I have been watching my oil temp close to a year now in our super HOT SC summertime and I would say 230 degrees is average.
Meaning depending how hot and how fast I am riding it will range from the 210s to an all time high I just measured on one occasion of 264 degrees. The 264 was slow speed riding but surprisingly I find (for the most part) except for VERY heavy traffic my oil temps are higher at interstate speeds when air is Rushing through the cooler. 75 to 80 GPS speeds my oil will run 235 to 245.
Makes sense when you think about it, moving faster means burning more fuel and producing more horsepower = more heat.

I do want to install a larger cooler on my bike, because so much of our summers are daytime highs of 90 to 103 degrees and to a lessor extent for traffic.

If there are any companies reading this thread I wish to god some one would produce a SIMPLE, WELL PRICED, HIGH QUALITY, PLUG AND PLAY, TEN ROW oil cooler for owners of Harley Rushmore Touring bikes.
AS we know HD oil cooler is a HIGH quality 6 row cooler being I am in a hot part of the country during the spring and summers, I want that extra 4 rows that can be squeezed in for a 10 row cooler.

Since the Rushmore bikes already have a 6 row cooler and already HAVE the adapter on the engine I would just love a product where I can unbolt the 6 row cooler and oil lines and bolt on a 10 row cooler. I do not wish to buy an adapter I do not need.

Anyway, I think if you call Jagg directly that they will sell you one without an adapter and I most likely will go that route but it would be nice if I could just order one online labeled as Plug and Play. I mean how stupid simple could you get?
Upgrade your stock 6 row to a 10 row.

Maybe someone from China is reading this and there will be one on the market in a week on ebay but I rather buy American )
(got that jagg and ultracool) *L* Heck I would have ordered one online Monday if it could have been to my house by my day off on Friday.

 

I agree.

 

I use an oil temp gauge on my long trips and I see these readings on my trips from NC - FL in the summer. Also had the same readings a couple years ago when I took a trip to CA, also in summer.

 

My suggestion is to consider a set of Wards fans. They do far more to cool the engine at low speeds. Cheaper too and far more effective.

 

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" they run like crap when they get that hot too. hard starts, sputtering, pinging, poor response etc. "

EXACTLY & 100% CORRECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

HD states 230 deg is std op temp for oil in hd air cooler motor and when my hd's oil temp get to 220 deg i start to see a degradation/ decline in engine perf in many ways along with more heat from motor hitting me too which go's down hill quick for there as oil/engine temp increases like my bike used to experience prior to installing 2 cooling mods.

Yes,a quality std dino can take up 300 deg f for limited time and syn even higher oil.engine temp,but the fact is air cooled hd's loose a lot of pwr/trq and crisp throttle response as engine & oil temp rise esp in summer conditions.

My 09 hd is a totally dif much more pleasurable bike to ride in summer heat after i installed a UC oil cooler with twin cooling fans and wards cooling fans at same with reduced oil temp a whopping 50 deg f in summer heat.

Was riging this wk in 95+ deg HHH summer heat and oil temp at cruise was approx 195-200 deg f most of time accept for in peak outside temp of the day like at 3pm when at cruise the elec fans kicked on when oil temp hit 215ish deg and then turned off later when oil temp was reduced back to approx 195deg f .

But oil temp ran approx 195-200deg f most of the day never going over 220 deg the 1 time it did in peak 95+ deg HHH heat of the that day even when at some stoplights and in slower moving traffic ol temp never went over 220deg f.

Post installing the 2 cooling mods that reduced oil temp 50 deg f in summer heat that resulted in the following improvements right off the bat.

Note (its also the oils job to remove heat / cool an air cooled bike motor too so when oil temp is reduced 50deg f engine temp is also significantly reduced @ the same time too)

Ok,here are all the benefits any air cooled hd can get when you install a UC oil cooler with twin cooling fans along with wards cooling fans both at the same time.

* ThE 2 COOLING SYSTEMS I INSTALLED REDUCED OIL TEMP 50 DEG F IN SUMMER HEAT WHICH ALSO REDUCED ENGINE TEMP @ THE SAME TIME TOO.

* MOTOR STOPPED DETONATING

* VALVE TRAIN NOW REMAINS QUIET (GUYS BANDAID THIS INSTALLING NEW LIFTERS & OIL PUMPS TRYING TO QUIET VALVETRAIN THAT IS TRULY CAUSED BY OIL & MOTOR BEING TOO HOT SHEERING/THINNING THE OIL IN SUMMER HEAT )

* OIL PRESSURE WENT FROM 7-8 ISH PSI @ IDLE & 30-32ISH PSI @ CRUISE IN SUMMER HEAT WITH NO COOLING TO NOW 18+PSI @ IDLE & 45+PSI @ CRUISE IN SAME SUMMER HEAT COND WITH THE 2 COOLING MODS THAT COOLED THE 50 DEG F.

THATS A SOLID / CONSISTENT INCREASE OF 10-12 PSI OIL PRESSURE
@ ALL TIMES IN SUMMER HEAT @ IDLE & CRUISE WHICH WAS GREAT!

COOLING THE OIL 50DEG F NEGATES HAVING TO INSTALL A NEW HI PERF OIL PUMP & NEW LIFTERS WHEN TRYING TO ADDRESS LOW OIL PRESSURE & NOISY VALVES / LIFTERS WHEN MOTOR & OIL IS TOO HOT IN SUMMER COND.

* MOTOR NO RETAINS ALL THE PWR/TRW & CRISP THROTTLE RESPONSE IT USED LOOSE WHEN THE OIL & MOTOR RAN HOTTER PRIOR TO INSTALLING THE 2 COOLING MODS .

NOW THATS A GREAT BENEFIT TOO.

* SINCE OIL & MOTOR ARE RUNNING COOLER ALL THE TIME IN SUMMER HEAT THERE IS LESS HEAT HITTING ME ALL TIME WHICH IS ANOTHER GREAT IMPROVEMENT IN OVERALL RIDING COMFORT TOO.

* HOT RE-STARTS LIKE POST FUELING UP ARE EASIER / FASTER BECAUSE BATTERY/STARTER/MOTOR ARE LESS HEAT SOAKED.

NOTE:I also rec if running stock ECM with stock factory fuel mapping to at the very least install night riders adjustable enrichment devices/resistors to address excessive lean stock fuel calibration that has an affect on engine temp and detonation too.

BTW,All the guys that say cooling their hds is a wast of time dont know what they are talking about !

Thats because NONE OF THEM HAVE TRIED DOING IT WITH THE SAME 2 COOLING MODS I HAVE so they are posting incorrect info on something they now nothing about because they never tried it to see what the may or may not be the benefit.

Bottom line is anyone that tries to argue the benefits you get when cooling our air cooled like i did on my bike saying its not needed and or beneficial enough to bother doing because they went 100k miles without doing it needs to have their frigging head checked.

I say that because they ARE SO STUBBORN & PIG HEADED they dont get the point/fact they could also benefit from all the same great improvements in engine perf & overall riding comfort i got on my air cooled hd for the next 5-6-7-8-9-10 yrs/100k miles they put on their air cooled HD riding in much more comfort with a much better performing motor that isn't blasting them off the bike with as much extreme heat in summer cond anymore too " every minute & mile they ride in summer heat cond".

But sadly i have been trying to get this point out to my fellow HD riders here in hdforums for the past couple yrs that are compaling of all the issues i stated above that were corrected post cooling my hd so they can also benefit from what i have and guess what?

Most if not all of them totally ignore it or argue its not needed & or wont be beneficial when they could not be any more wrong or off base in saying that esp when they have never tried themselves.

I go by facts and the fact is i have tried it and have also talked a couple other fellow riders into installing the UC oil cooler and have seen and experienced all the benefits 1st hand and also saw that happening on those guys bikes that installed UC cooler and Wards fans too so i know its the case vs all the negative BS i got trying to help out here from guys that in fact never did it thinking they know better wityh their completely closed minds when actually dont know squat when it comes to benefits of cooling their air cooled HD's because they never tried cooling their bikes with samre 2 cooling mods like i did on my bike.

Sorry to sound harsh but i am a bit tired of all the negative responses from the peanut galley here that never ever tried it but posts its not needed or beneficial when they in fact never tried it in the 1st place.

BTW,For you English majors and posting Police that have nothing better to do then complain about posting punctuation etc like you have done in the past i am sorry for the too long run on sentences/paragraphs that are in this post.

But to me perfect punctuation is not what this is about in this forum so please dont read my posts if you can't handle it so you dont have to waste your time complainig about it like a cranky old man!)

Happy motoring.

Scott