14.7 to 1 is neither rich or lean, it is the point at which the most complete combustion is achieved in ideal conditions. This does not mean that 14.7/1 does not produce more heat, because it does. It is so hot it produces a gas called "Knox" from overly high combustion temps. 14.7/1 is what the EPA wants us all to run. This is why they require us to run catalytic converters on almost everything these days. EPA is not concerned about performance, only clean air out the exhaust. We cool combustion temp. gasses on many engines with exhaust gas recirculation valves (EGR) these days. Even diesels. Be glad HD does not have them yet. I am sure they will be coming. They give alot of trouble. I don't see why you think running richer than stoich is a band-aid or patch for CHT. It is generally run for better perfomance and lower CHT is a by product. As far as running 12/1 and getting 45mpg,,,, you really need to get in touch with EPA. Let them know what you are doing. I bet they will make you the top dog! They have not figured out how to do what you have achieved.

 

Had the ultra cool cooler on my bike it worked ok but I had issues with mine. I believe the position of the cooler blocks air to the fins at speed. Just my opinion, I took it off and went with the lenale fan. Mabee I'll look at a cooler that dose not block air to the fins.

 

I monitor ET (J1850 data from the sensor on the front head) and those values can definitely capture your attention. They move rapidly up and down and can exceed 300°, although I stay below that except on rare occasions of gridlock traffic. I like watching both ET and OT, which gives me a good idea of operating temperature.

 

Am I interpreting this correctly that you're running 12:1 on a Harley and get 45mpg? Okay, I won't say you're not, but I can't see how this is possible unless you're riding down a long, steep grade.

I'm a 64-YO whippersnapper and the stock thermostat on my '66 Corvette is rated at 195°. What years and brands used 160° t'stats from the factory? I think the t'stat on my '64 Chevy was a 180°, though.

 

When I ran a PCV with Auto-Tune I was able to switch between a map programmed for 13.5:1 to another at 14.6:1 in the cruise range, and while moving at >45mph I didn't see big changes in CHT while switching from one to the other. Obviously I gave each enough time to take effect, but the difference was maybe 5-7°, not enough to make much difference in radiated heat or much of anything else. As I mentioned in an earlier post in 95-100° weather and now running about 14.6:1 in the cruise range I run front CHT's of 225-235° and OT's around 200° while moving >45mph. In city traffic OT doesn't usually move more than 5° or so unless the pace decreases to a crawl for an extended period, but CHT climbs forthrightly. It will escalate to 250-280° in a matter of a few minutes when the pace slows and you're hitting red lights. Of course I richen the AFR's out to 13:1 progressively to WOT for performance, but I like to keep it leaner in the cruise range for mileage. I also don't think it is a bad thing to reduce emissions as well when possible.

 

Stoich is the afr that yields the least emissions and is considered to be lean for a gas internal combustion engine.

Oil contributes to the cooling of any engine. That is one reason that it is splashed onto the piston to cool it. That is why the XR1200 has oil routed into the heads (thanks to Erick Buell). That is why on the 2009 up Touring bike that the oil pan is a maze to yield more contact time to cool the oil in order to cool the motor.

The Evo motor relied more on oil to cool it than fins. When the Sportster motor had entered into the EPA age HD increased the fin size.

The HD is and air/oil cooled motor. End of story.

The 45 mpg was for a total of 6,000 miles which was following my son's who have never quite learned what a speed limit sign is. The route went over the Rockies twice. From Vegas on it is mostly rolling terrain on I-40

This is my son who was on an 06 Street Bob TC88. When we filled up at each stop, we used the same amount of gas. He did the mpg calculations on his cell phone. Once in awhile it was a 0.1 difference. Ask him to verify. This park is just off the Pacific Coast Highway. The 900 miles we did of it is like the Dragon stretched out forever. You are constantly going up and down. Rare straight a ways so you are always turning.



I did the mods last winter. Last summer without the mods out trip to the Dragon down to Key West with the stock set up did an average of 40 mpg. The HD is rated by EPA to be a 54 mpg on the highway. Also going west across the states and back evolves endless hours on Interstates at 75 + and 6 th gear. US 212 from Spearfish S.D. to I-90 just East of Butte, Montana. I went two hours in cruise control. Only saw two cars.

I run it for a very good reasons. The engine runs cooler. The engine produces more power. The engine will last longer. Who would not want that in a HD motorcycle?

A cooler engine runs stronger and last loner. That is a very nice saying. Maybe I should copyright it.

I want more power and mpg. For $400 I can put in a water/methanol injection system to do that. Hurry up winter!

 

From what I've heard even a water cooled engine obtains approx 40% of it's cooling from the OIL. So I would imagine an air cooled motor gets even more of it's cooling from the oil.

An oil cooler that cools those temps so that the oil can carry away heat from engine parts is a good thing.

 

I'm not sure what the pecentage is but from my observations, oil cooling is definately secondary to air cooling, or rather OT is subordinate to CHT. Up to this point I would say that it is not possible to control CHTs by cooling the oil, at least with an EPA compliant tune. My oil is cooled to about 160-180 before it goes into the engine, it comes out of the engine at 220-230. Coming off the highway, my OT will drop a little as the CHTs rise rapidly at a stop or slow travel. Similar to what iclick observed, within a couple minutes my CHTs will peg my gauge over 340 (don't know where it stops, that's all the farther the gauge reads).

 

I am not an oil engineer, so I cannot explain the chemical breakdown I think occurred, but from a layman's perspective: The oil was almost black, seemed very thin and bubbly when I removed it from the jugs. It looked like very old engine oil off of a used car lot from a '96 Cutlass that never had its oil changed. When I was stuck, there was no safe place to pull over and let it cool, so my temperature gauge was going up while I was watching the bike's oil pressure go down. It was pretty frustrating and I was praying I would be able to get off the freeway before my engine was shot. I'm not slamming Amsoil over it, I am sure any oil would have had the same results from these extreme temps, but why pay $11 a quart from these results when I can get Castrol Synthetic 20W50 for the same results at $28 per gallon

 

I just bought a Jagg 1100 for my 2011 FLSTC. I did some comparison of the Jagg to the HD and went with the Jagg because as I understood it from the HD doc their cooler (which is made by Jagg) comes only one way and that's with the thermostat. The Jagg can be had either way so I went with no stat, one less thing to break. I also liked the look of the Jagg and I had a similar one on my last bike, a Sportster. In my opinion the money spent on the oil cooler is woirth it. On the sportster it kept the engine temp a solid 10 degrees cooler, so it does have an effect on engine temp and the Softail needs the cooling help even more than the Sportser did.