oil coolers in the Dec issue of American Rider page 46. one of the best ive read. concludes that an oil cooler is not neccessary for most of us and can actually do more harm than good in some cases. also addresses that "what should my oil temp be?' question that ive seen asked so many times. worth a look if ya get a chance

 

It'll be interesting to compare it to the series that American Iron is running right now on cooling down hot Harleys.

 

Was the article driven at the newer HDs? or just tourers in general? Excess heat does degrade oil quality esp using dino oils more rapidily.Heat is your engines number 1 killer.True some coolers can cause a restriction and could cause a lower oil pressure seen by motor. I personally would listen to a guy like Donny Peterson which have dealt with HDs products probably longer than that magazine has been in existence.

 

Haven't read the article yet but iot sounds like it's the opposite of what Peterson says.

 

Road Rider has been around since the 70's.A guy by the name of Roger Hull used to run it.As I recall they used to do alot of touring on 350 and 450 Hondas,didn't seem to be alot of heat build up on those.I have an oil cooler on my 05 eg since new but I am not going to put one on my Sportster and see how long it lasts without one,I don't think it is going to affect it one bit,Harley has designed these to take the heat I have been told.I have the 4 year warranty on the Sport so I will find out.I ride the **** out of it so far no oil use or funny stuff.

 

Thanks ... I'll have to pickup a copy.
I am kinda concerned because Wife & I have two 07's (SG & Ultra).
Both setup the same. HD Oil cooler, Syn3 and the Oil Temp Dipstick.
We were getting temps around 235 degrees measured on the dipstick.
I had the PC3 & High Flow A/C put on them and a oil temp gauge in the fairing
which has the temp sensor in the oil line from the oil cooler to the oil filter.
So far (only 3 rides) the temp measured at the oil filler has only gotten to
220 degrees and the temp sensor at the oil cooler has not gotten over 110 degrees.
What this tells me is that the oil now cools enough by the time it reaches the filter
that and oil cooler is not needed. Remember tho ... the outside air temps here are
only in the low 70's and it may be a different matter next Summer when the temps
get into the 80's + again.
Rob .....

 

good poop!

 

I would definitely suspect a bad sending unit on your temp gauge. It's very hard to believe you are going to lose 110 degrees between your hot engine and oil filter/cooler. In re-reading Donny's American Iron article, he is happy to get a 20 degree reduction, running oil through a cooler, getting the oil down to 200 degrees gonig back into the engine.


I was thinking about this last night....I bet what is happening is that the thermostat in the adapter has not yet opened, so you are reading "cold oil" temps in the line between your filter and cooler. Go for a longer ride on a hotter day and see what happens, or move the sending unit to the bottom of the front of the engine where it's supposed to go.

 

between 180 and 220 is optimum acc to this article.

 

May not be necessary, but there is no way a quality oil cooler, with a thermostat, could be harmful.