Rather than fretting with a temp gauge, buy or borrow one of those hand-held laser temps gauges. I bought one from Harbor Freight for about $40. Just point at whatever you want the temp of and it gives an instant digital reading.

Rather than idling the engine and then getting a reading, ride the bike until it is good and hot, then measure the rear cylinder head temp beside the spark plug. Don't get scared if your measure the 400 degree+ range.

Do this before the install and after.

You should see a marked reduction in the head temp, probably in the 30 - 50 degree range by my estimate.

You are correct that the radiator-style oil cooler MUST have air flow to dissipate heat. The installation of the water-proof fans is a must for parade duty (the term for running your bike in stop and go traffic). If anyone questions that notion just go crank up your car and when it warms up note the thermostat will open first and then, when the coolant can no longer absorb the heat, the fan will kick on to cool the coolant. <should be a big Homer Simpson-style DOH! about now from the readers>

An aluminum heat sink benefits from air circulation but it works by the temp of the inside of the metal constantly trying to match the temp of the outside of the metal\. It does not require air circulation to function, just to function at its highest efficiency.

Once some readings from this install are out there for everyone to read I don't believe there will ever be an argument about whether an oil cooler is a good idea again.

 

"For anyone else that wants to add an oil cooler and needs to buy the adapter to hook it up, get one for a small block chevy. Flex-a-lite's part number is 3961 and has 3/4"-16 threads and is 1.5" thick with a 2.5" o-ring seal area. Derale's part Number is 15730 and has a built in thermostatic valve."

Dave, is this adapter required for the heat sink cooler, will the Jagg adapter work with the Heat Sink type cooler .

Thanks for the information!!

 

Yes, any brand of adapter will work.
I don't know how important it is to have one with a thermostatic valve in it. I would think that it would increase warm up time without the thermostatic valve which would would actually increase engine wear.

P.S. An interesting side note in my research is that not all "black" paint is created equal. There are different "black" paints that are not actually black in color. It has to do with the chemical make-up of the paint. There are white paints in industrial use that do the same thing as actual black paint as far as heat dissipation goes. Thanks to Archergodwin for having me do a little more research on the subject. This was a new one on me. In other words, some black paints may do nothing in relation to the dissipation of heat while some other paints may actually help due to their chemical composition and not their actual color.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thermal_radiation
"If objects appear white (reflective in the visual spectrum), they are not necessarily equally reflective (and thus non-emissive) in the thermal infrared; e. g. most household radiators are painted white despite the fact that they have to be good thermal radiators. Acrylic and urethane based white paints have 93% blackbody radiation efficiency at room temperature (meaning the term "black body" does not always correspond to the visually perceived color of an object). These materials that do not follow the "black color = high emissivity/absorptivity" caviat will most likely have functional spectral emissivity/absorptivity dependence."

 

I agree with you on the thermostatic control, just another thing that could go bad, besides on cold start-ups 1-2 min and your off and running with AIMSOIL. Interesting subject on the paint.

 

The thermostatic valve, if it goes bad, will either stick open or closed. Either way, no harm will be done because of it. A manual bypass valve is another option, though not as attractive visually.
It mounts in-line with both the feed and return line to the cooler and allows you the opurtunity to turn the cooler off and on whenever you like.
http://www.debrix.com/items/item.aspx?itemid=1408017