oil cooler - yes or no
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Elite HDF Member
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 3,900
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From: way down upon the Suwannee River
oil cooler - yes or no
got 08 flht in april, did my second service at 4,000 mi after 1,500 mile key west trip. oil was like new. (synthetic) I live in the country,in north Floridaand rarely ride in traffic. I can purchase a H.D. oil cooler from Chicago H.D. for $267 I plan on changing oilevery 3K. would it be worth it for me? or is it mainley for city riders? Thanks for any help.
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 4,749
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From: sand mountain Alabama
RE: oil cooler - yes or no
The oil cooler help[s you when you are moving at a speed as where the cooler can do what it is suppose to do. Not much help in slow moving traffic; does help some. A fan will help with slow moving traffic but you can not use it when moving at higher speeds.
Tourer
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 352
Likes: 0
From: Meadville PA
RE: oil cooler - yes or no
The Oil cooler helpsMore while Moving But Does also help a little Bit while sitting or going Slow,,, It holds More Oil, Which takes longer to heat up the extra bit... My Buddy noticed a 20* drop,.. Mines going on next week
RE: oil cooler - yes or no
A oil cooler does help drop oil temp.....only while MOVING like the others said. If your temps in florida are high enough it will only be benificial in my opinion during the summer months while touring around. Like the others said, its not much good for traffic because there is NO air flow moving across the cooler itself. Good luck on your decision.....I live in Oklahoma and have been riding in this region and all overfor 20 years and have NEVER ran a oil cooler on any of the bike I have owned for well over"ALOT" ofmiles! And believe me the temps can get hot here!
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Tourer
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 269
Likes: 0
From: Cornwall, Ontario, Canada
RE: oil cooler - yes or no
That's an interesting response 'toolbox'. I live in Ontario, Canada where a heat wave is around 30-35C (86-95F) and then it's a rare occurance. Since I am planning to ride Route 66 next year in June, I was thinking perhaps I should get an oil cooler. After reading your post, I'm thinking that perhaps I really don't need one. Other posts on this board seem to think they are a must and I stated that if they are then Harley would have installed them at the factory. After all if you have an engine failure due to hot oil during the warranty period, they would be on the hook for repairs.
Road Master
Joined: Apr 2008
Posts: 1,001
Likes: 1
From: Pirmasens Germany
RE: oil cooler - yes or no
If you can afford it get one. It won't hurt to have one. It is kind of like wiping your as!. You can get by without doing it but why if you can afford toilet paper. Just my $0.2
Elite HDF Member
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 4,602
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From: Southern California - Palm Springs Area
RE: oil cooler - yes or no
YES - Oil Coolers will drop the oil temp from 15 - 20 degrees (avg)... While moving...
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Road Captain
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 718
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From: Fairfax, Virginia
RE: oil cooler - yes or no
Only get it if you ride most of the time in extremely high temps...........
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Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Sep 2005
Posts: 11,615
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From: Baton Rouge, LA
RE: oil cooler - yes or no
I think all TC's, especially TC96's and modified TC88/95's, should be equipped with a cooler. It will do a great job of controlling peak oil temperatures, which at times can get very hot, especially in traffic. You should see a 20° difference in peaks, which to me is worthwhile.
As already mentioned, they work best when moving, but to some extent in traffic through convection. I removed my chrome cover in hopes of aiding the convection process, eliminating what is essentially a metal jacket around the cooler that traps heat. I also fabricated two 80mm fans to help in traffic, but most riders won't go to this much trouble.
As already mentioned, they work best when moving, but to some extent in traffic through convection. I removed my chrome cover in hopes of aiding the convection process, eliminating what is essentially a metal jacket around the cooler that traps heat. I also fabricated two 80mm fans to help in traffic, but most riders won't go to this much trouble.
Outstanding HDF Member
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 2,241
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From: Daytona, Fla.
RE: oil cooler - yes or no
Here's a little experience with oil coolers............ I've been ridin' Harley's for 21 years, & motorcycles for over 40 years. During that time I never had an oil cooler on any motorcycle I owned. Swamp to desert, winter to summer, I never had a need for an oil cooler.
That being said, I decided to install an oil cooler on my '07 FLTR this past winter. My reason was additional cooling for the overly hot 96" motor. I added a Harley oil cooler with the thermostat. Fully aware that thermostats don't always work, I added a digital dip stick temp. gauge before I installed the cooler or changed to synthetics.
The digital dip stick gauge read 226 to 230 average with dino oil in the motor. Next, I added the oil cooler & the average temp. dropped 25 to 30 degrees. After that I changed to synthetic oil, but the temp didn't drop enough to notice.
Following all the above I added a fairing mounted oil temp gauge (Harley). It read an average of 180 to 190 degrees while the digital dip stick still read 200 to 216 degrees. No gauge is perfectly accurate, but two will give you some parameters you can work from.
On a trip in the Smokies last week I ran into a couple of days of cool tempuratures & rain. 50 degree tempuratures & rain caused the fairing gauge to drop nearly off the scale, & the dip stick to read around 150 (way too low). While at Mean City Cycles I had him sew me a cover for the oil cooler. With the cover on but still in the cool & rain the tempurature failed to increase. I left the cover on the rest of the way back to Florida (in fact it's still on), & with tempuratures in the high 80's it was all I could do to get the fairing gauge to read 170 deg. I was runnin' 80 to 90 for close to 6 hours. The digital reached a high of 206. I'll be removing the oil cooler from my bike at my next service. Oil that cool is not good for a motor.........
That being said, I decided to install an oil cooler on my '07 FLTR this past winter. My reason was additional cooling for the overly hot 96" motor. I added a Harley oil cooler with the thermostat. Fully aware that thermostats don't always work, I added a digital dip stick temp. gauge before I installed the cooler or changed to synthetics.
The digital dip stick gauge read 226 to 230 average with dino oil in the motor. Next, I added the oil cooler & the average temp. dropped 25 to 30 degrees. After that I changed to synthetic oil, but the temp didn't drop enough to notice.
Following all the above I added a fairing mounted oil temp gauge (Harley). It read an average of 180 to 190 degrees while the digital dip stick still read 200 to 216 degrees. No gauge is perfectly accurate, but two will give you some parameters you can work from.
On a trip in the Smokies last week I ran into a couple of days of cool tempuratures & rain. 50 degree tempuratures & rain caused the fairing gauge to drop nearly off the scale, & the dip stick to read around 150 (way too low). While at Mean City Cycles I had him sew me a cover for the oil cooler. With the cover on but still in the cool & rain the tempurature failed to increase. I left the cover on the rest of the way back to Florida (in fact it's still on), & with tempuratures in the high 80's it was all I could do to get the fairing gauge to read 170 deg. I was runnin' 80 to 90 for close to 6 hours. The digital reached a high of 206. I'll be removing the oil cooler from my bike at my next service. Oil that cool is not good for a motor.........