Hello all,
Just got a JES Custom oil temp dipstick. On a 85 degree after a ride with little stop and go, oil temp went as high as 265+. Bike has PC-V and dyno. Should I be concerned?

Or should I look into an oil cooler? As summer here in Indiana can go up to 95+ degree, plus stop and go.

Tried searching, didn't find what I want to know. TIA

 

No you shouldn't be concerned. Just ride! That's why I don't want an oil temp gauge. I would always be looking at it.

 

I would recommend you go to wardspartswerks and look at the FCS that Jason Ward designed and builds. It is a great system and really cools the heads. There is a thread in the touring section that details the designing and testing of the system. The FCS is affordable, looks good and really works to remove heat from the heads.

Here is a link to the thread https://www.hdforums.com/forum/touri...tem-again.html

Enter "FCS" as the search word and there are 78 results. Lots of good info on oil temps before and after FCS install.

 

With your set-up you could be seeing much lower temps.. like in the low 200s, definitely below 235'F which is what H-D says they run at. But temps vary even within a ride a great deal. You can gain lot's of heat just being stuck at a light for a few minutes.

My guess is your PCV isn't helping you as much as it could, but an oil cooler is definitely going to drop your temp another 20' as well.

 

My 06 runs between 180 and 220. I installed an oil cooler from HD and I rum Amsoil (no I dont sell it) I was "trying" to run a PCIII but after multiple failures I took it off. Right now Im running the HD race download. There will be many opinions but I like mine to run below 235.

 

I would not worry about it , I have a cooler and mine runs 230 - 250 , your oil needs to get heated up to get the moisture out , saw on here some place that about 300 is hot , in Indiana it is not that hot , like Fla or out west , and I like my gauge just to know what is normal and watch for problems , not to obsess with it

 

Ride it. Your temps are fine. Usually they will normalize around 240 degrees, plus or minus. And that's normal all day long. I have an oil cooler and Jason's fans and still see temps in the 240 area once the bike is temperature stabilized. You want that bike hot to rid the oil of the condensed moisture. Do you think traffic cops worry about the heat? Naw. Now if I was seeing temps in excess of about 290, I wouldn't like that. But with Jason's fans I don't expect that to happen.

 

Here are my results of testing my 2009 after coming in from a 70 mph ride each time. Bike is Stage 1 with Dobeck TFI fuel device with no catalyst in pipes. I have a very good digital temperature stick which I drop down into the oil from the oil fill cap. The oil temp starts dropping rapidly after you shut off the engine so you have to check it quick in order to be accurate. This is what I got the last 7 times I checked:

Ambient air outside-67 degrees oil temp-197.1 degrees
Ambient air outside-65 degrees oil temp-189.5 degrees
Ambient air outside-74 degrees oil temp-191.4 degrees
Ambient air outside-82 degrees oil temp-207.7 degrees
Ambient air outside-72 degrees oil temp-191.3 degrees
Ambient air outside-80 degrees oil temp-204.7 degrees
Ambient air outside-82 degrees oil temp-206.6 degrees

If your bike has cats in the pipes I think it would be reasonable to assume that it would raise your bikes temp another 20 or 30 degrees from mine.
If you have an oil temp gauge in the dash, that is probably going to be measuring temp at the bottom of the crankcase, thus you would have a little bit higher reading. Keep in mind too that my riding is all out on the open road with the air blowing across my jugs, providing plenty of cooling. Your results for stop and go riding in town would reflect a much higher reading, easily going to 250-260 degrees for prolonged periods of slow riding. I note too that Harley's software drops out the rear cylinder when oil temp get to about 280 degrees and you are standing still (parade mode) at idle. That is assuming you have it turned on of course. When your oil temp gets in the 280+ range, you will know it because your legs will get uncomfortably hot and you will be in fear of your nads turning into worthless teabags. When your oil temp get to the 325 degree level you will start to smell your bike and it will likely start to ping & clatter at low speed when you accelerate. When it gets to that stage, I would pull off the road and let it cool down before I continued. Anytime your bike starts to get so hot that you see smoke coming off your fins and heads, that is too hot and a change to fresh oil would be called for the next day.

Just keep it moving and you should have no problems with your air cooled engine. Within a year or two those big, old, heavy, air cooled engines will be a thing of the past as Harley will be introducing a big, old, heavy water cooled head version, complete with twin radiators and yes, antifreeze. After that we will be complaining about all the heat that comes back on us from the radiators. It is like evolution...things either change and adapt or they die out. Woohoo!

 

Moco says "normal opperating temperatures" should be between 180-220 degrees.
That does not seem reasonable though with the big-er hopped up motors that we have in this day and age.
I would venture to say that the bigger motors are kicking out 300+degrees easily these days.
You probably won't see any of them melt though.lolol.


I had to or rather chose to put an oil cooler on mine.
Oil bud. Biggest and probably the most expensive on the market, but they guarantee a 35 degree drop in temp. Thermostat opens up at 180.
Synthetic oil will aid some in lowering the temp too.
Wards fans will too. They are definately a worthy consideration.

 

the EITMS has nothing to do with oil temp and everything to do with cylinder head temp.