| Author | Message | ||
     Webergeoff |
I have a 2000 x1 lightning and i would like to put a oil cooler on it. What do you guys recommend. I was just going to make one myself. thanks | ||
| Sloppy |
My recommendation is that you don't do it since you likely don't need it. If you want confirmation, buy yourself a fast acting thermometer and go for a ride. When you get back stick your fast acting thermometer inside the oil tank and read the temperature. According to Mobil1: Protects at oil temperatures as high as 400ºF. I'd rather put that money in a track day. But if you still want one, American Sport Bike is the place to go... | ||
| Bad_karma |
Geoffery I have a jagg oil cooler on the S3 it was plug and play but at near $300. I put a XB cooler on the S1 for just less than 1/2 price. The big expense was the filter adapter that I choose to use. Try doing a search in BADWEB for oil coolers. Pictures are there. You can checkout some options from our sponsors and J&P. Joe | ||
| Jayvee |
Only if you either live someplace very hot, or idle in traffic a lot. And probably the thermostat, either manual, or automatic, should be considered. in fact I would consider pretty important part of the system. Other than an automatic thermostat, you should be able to build it from parts commonly found around a junky shop like my dads. I'm still working on mine, almost... Have you seen the $23 cooler that J&P Cycles sells? Pair that with you own home built manual diverter valve (I mean to say, "manual thermostat") and connections to the oil lines. | ||
| Xldevil |
Drysump air cooled engines are mainly cooled over the heads and by the fuel/air mixture.The marginal amount of circulating oil in these engines makes almost no cooling at all.That´s why an oil cooler makes not much sense,besides the technically good looking. But I´m beating a dead horse. Ralph | ||
| Blake |
The oil coolers make sense to cool the oil. | ||
| Bad_karma |
Seems to me that the oil cooler is of value, otherwise Buell wouldn't have spent the money to add it to the XBs and enlarge it on the 08s. My 2 cents. Joe | ||
| Jayvee |
XB's have an electric fan, too. If you're going fast enough for the oil cooler to work, it's probably fast enough for the airflow to cool the engine without it. An electric Fan behind the Oil cooler sounds like the best setup. Oh well, as long as it's cheap, go for it. | ||
| Djkaplan |
"Drysump air cooled engines are mainly cooled over the heads and by the fuel/air mixture.The marginal amount of circulating oil in these engines makes almost no cooling at all." I agree mostly with what Ralph is stating here. Oil really isn't as good a heat transferring medium as most people think (water is significantly better), it's just that its already there, so engineers take as much advantage of what thermal properties it does have. But I think he may be understating it's significance to engine cooling perhaps a bit too much, especially in engines that use oil jets to cool undersides of pistons and other heat sensitive areas... like XB's and most modern engines have. Tubers may not get their oil as hot as XB's do because they don't cool the undersides of their pistons with oil jets. I read an article recently about Harley engineers struggling to control oil temperatures in their most recent Big Twins because the piston cooling jets they incorporated in the redesign were playing havoc with oil temperatures. Since we don't have the cooling jets, I'd make sure I had a heat related issue before I installed an oil cooler. Your oil may not be getting hot enough to warrant cooling. Oil that's not hot enough can be a problem too. | ||
| Bad_karma |
Daniel Interesting information. Here is what I have observed on my bikes. The temps are taken in the oil tank. Normally the temps run between 195 and 210 in the local areas. I have seen almost 230 sitting in traffic in the summer(cooler/air flow na while not moving). Fall riding in the mountains of WV usually nets me in the 215 to 220 range. Joe | ||
| Djkaplan |
I am not a petrochemical engineer and by no means an expert on these matters, but those temperatures sound absolutely spot on based on the 35 years of hotrod and motorcycle magazines I've read. 230 degrees sitting in traffic doesn't sound too hot at all. No cooler needed in your case, I'd say. | ||
| Bad_karma |
Daniel Those numbers are with the coolers, sorry I didn't clarify. Joe | ||
| Jayvee |
Do you have the numbers from before the cooler was installed? | ||
| Djkaplan |
I did a little research and came across this... 5. What oil temperature is best for my Harley-Davidson? A good oil operating temperature range is 200 deg to 240 deg F. Water condensation and acids tend to build up in the oil if the temperature is consistently below 180 deg F, and oil thickness can become marginal at temperatures above 300 deg F. http://www.munising.com/harley_oil.html | ||
| Bad_karma |
No Jayvee I didn't monitor the temps before the coolers where installed. Joe |
