Oil Cooler Twin Cam Motor Harley Oil & Lubrication Discuss Oil Cooler Twin Cam Motor in the Harley Tech & Harley How-to forums; Planning a big X Country trip next summer. Considering install of an oil cooler for those 100+ days. Any negative aspects of install such as oil pressure loss or circulation ...

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Planning a big X Country trip next summer. Considering install of an oil cooler for those 100+ days. Any negative aspects of install such as oil pressure loss or circulation issues? Last question...any recommendations as to a worthy and durable oil cooler or will the HD cooler suffice? Thanks. Botz

Posted by: Botzman on Oct 30, 06 6:17:13 am

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Hey Botz
I ride on the hottest days here in the Phoenix Valley, I hooked two coolers together to make one big one on the 93" Shovel, 120", the 113" and the deep breathing 80"... As I've stated before, even at 116* the 120" oil temp, for instance, doesn't rise above 185*...
My bud, a shop owner and mech, had a big motor TC, also hooked up 2 coolers and kept his temp down to respectacle levels, it WAS up to about 285 +... Remember, all other adjustments must also be correct to keep overall temp down...
I also run oil pressure guages and never saw even the slightest loss of pressure, and there is no circulation issues unless you kink a line or hook up incorrectly...
I use the Dual Cool 2, about $60 outa Jireh Cycles, he used the Jagg Delux about $170 outa Fog Hollow or $180 outa Dennis Kirk...
Any brand you choose will be better than nothing... Run at least one daddio if you're gonna be HOT ridin...

Posted by: frisco-rigid on Oct 30, 06 7:13:55 pm

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Botz, when you install the oil cooler make sure you check your oil level because you will use slightly more than what the manual calls for.

Posted by: myt evo on Oct 30, 06 7:30:16 pm

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Hey Frisco....thanks for the info. I will definitely be doing an install early spring thanks to your input. Your right anything is better than nothing. We dont get 116+ days here in the northeast. Pretty soon we'll be looking at 20's and 30's here. Will check out the sites you mentioned. MytEvo...good point about the additional oil..thanks. Cant wait to hit the road. Few more months. NICE!!! Botz

Posted by: Botzman on Oct 30, 06 8:34:29 pm

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Botz, there's talk about us having a mild winter. Do you remember a few years ago when we were still riding in the middle of winter? Lets hope.

Posted by: myt evo on Oct 31, 06 6:12:34 pm

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Myt Evo

I do remember when it was warm enough to ride without freezing to death. Mild winter would be nice. I do ride all winter anyway. Even when its freezing. Last winter we went out and spent too much time at a gin mill and my buddy's bike froze. It was sooo damn cold the battery was froze and I had to push start him. Try push startin a stone cold bike with his fat ass on it...LOL. Mild winter would be great. Later. Botz

Posted by: Botzman on Oct 31, 06 8:18:58 pm

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What oil tempature is optimal? I have been unable to find what tempature range I am after. First off, an oil temp guage is needed to determine what tempature it runs at, With that information I could determine if an oil cooler would be benaficial. If my riding habits do not cause my oil temp to go out of range then an oil cooler seems like it would be a waste of money. Any help on the target tempature? Thank's, Keith

Posted by: BATMAN2696 on Nov 18, 06 12:27:14 am

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I've been told that 200 - 225 is optimal; I think I got the info right here in AIM. Am in the northwest corner and rode into Jackson last year during stop/go traffic with temps in the high nineties. I could feel literal waves of heat coming off the motor and had no idea how hot was "too hot." Bought myself an oil-temp guage shortly thereafter and now have some idea of what's what, but I still am not sure if a cooler would be a good idea or not. My dealer says I don't need one, but sometimes safer is better than sorrier....

r

Posted by: Rich on Nov 18, 06 10:47:50 am

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There's a guy that writes in a local "chopper" type mag here in the Phoenix Valley and he actually had the nerve to write that an oil cooler is unnecessary even HERE in the middle of summer... That artical was the "talk" for awhile in the shops and he quickly lost all credibility in the area,, I never met him, I would call him a fool if I ever do... Yeah, some guys say that,, my advice is run, when a guy says something that goes against all common sense cuz nothing he says after that can be trusted...

Everything I learned about oil I read on oil sites, tech sites, and in the Porsche tech manuals,,,, I have one so I had to learn all I could...
I have read that 180* is like perfect, up to about 220* you're safe... 1 of my Porsche tech articals says 240* is like a break-off point,, and at 280 you're starting to do harm to the OIL, enough of that and you start to damage the motor...
My Porsche came stock with 2 big heavy-duty oil coolers---- We're talkin AIR//OIL COOLED motors... As I said before, on my standardized 25 mile ride home, 20 miles hiway, 5 miles city on a 116* day, the 120" stays about 185* the 93" about 195*...
Surely in alota stop'n go traffic they will all gain temp but if you have a standardized "benchmark" to relate to you kinda know where you're at...
You can use any temp tool,,, I use a candy thermometer to dip right in the oil, it's tempered glass and with-stands candy temps up to about 400*... I also use a laser-pointer in-fra-red tool that matches the candy therm almost exact... That tool you can measure your head temps, barrels, tires, tongue, scrotum, Ooh yeah, everything... costs about 60--75 bucks now...

Posted by: frisco-rigid on Nov 18, 06 7:42:06 pm

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Excelent info. Thank's. The in-fra-red sounds like it could be fun. Keith

Posted by: BATMAN2696 on Nov 18, 06 11:57:30 pm