Anyone have any experience with these? Looks like a pretty good design and they claim as
much as a 30 degree temp drop.

http://www.billetcool.com/Twin_Cam.htm

 

I rode with a friend the other day who has a Honda Valkery(???) and someone asked him why he had a diet coke can on his oil filter. He, of course said, "Things go better with Coke!"

It does look like a nice design. I wish my RK oil pan had fins like that on the bottom instead of those little bumps it has. I bet my engine guard oil cooler works as good and only cost about $15.

A-n-y-t-h-i-n-g would be an improvment.

 

This is not a cooler, it's a heat sink. It will only cool the a little of the oil, to all of it. It only cools that bit of oil that's actually in contact with the outside walls; the first few mm's only. That boundry laeyr will slow down as it cools, and flow slower than the rest of the oil. The oil inside the boudnry layer will continue to move at it's normal speed, and not recieve any cooling at all. Rather than cooling all of the oil, you cool some and not the rest, and it all gets mixed together.

It's not as efficient or effective as a true cooler. And that's not a bad thing. You may not need any more than that. For your bike and riding conditions, that may be all you need. It's less expensive, certainly easier to install, and probably won't leak like a rubber hose/worm clamp will.

 

A neat concept but I'd like to see some independent testing. It's as expensive (or more) then known coolers that do the job. There some cooling there for certain but how much can you get through a heat sink transfer compared to the tried and true flow through? I think Bob is right on this one.

 

From what I understand about oil it seems to me that the real effort should be to keep the oil from exceeding a critical point where the additives start to burn off. I believe that the additives are all important. So, if your non-cooler equiped bike runs at - say 260* - on a hot day and any cooler brings that down - say 10* - to where the additives survive the event I'd say any cooler would be worth using. I'm just guessing at the temperatures here. I read someplace that the additives burn off around 260*. It really wouldn't matter if the cooler decreased the temperature 30*. It might matter to the insides of your legs but the oil would be happy just being 10* coooler. I think that if the oil tank (like on my RK) had efficient heat disapating fins all over it even that might be enough. As it is though there is little for the oil to do but get very hot. None of the coolers, including my engine guard cooler, work worth a darn while you're sitting still on the freeway anyway. Of course, having an additional 1 - 1 1/2 quart of oil on board helps.

I agree that this design might be leak proof but if you use good double wall, reinforced rubber hose assembled to the fittings dry with good clamps you won't have any leaks. I use 3/8" power steering return hose and Ideal clamps. No leaks yet!

 

fl-799, I must admit I am a little confused. I think our friend bobcowan was refering to my engine guard oil cooler (OK heat sink if you like, but after all what are fins) and perhaps you are refering to liverpunisher's post. In another post someone was defending H-D's RK oil pan design with the internal plastic baffle which causes the hot oil to come in contact with the relatively thick aluminum oil pan bottom which has virtually no fins at all. That's a heat sink too then. It absorbs the heat from the oil and cooks your transmission with it. I guess this is an issue that can go on and on but in reference to liverpunisher's piece - I think it looks like a good design, easy to install, durable and good looking. It will probably cool the oil MUCH better than the bottom of the oil pan will.

The engine guard oil cooler (heat sink) has been used by Harley owners for years I understand. I certainly didn't come up with it. Like liverpunisher's unit, I am quite sure it does cool the oil somewhat. For those of us who don't want to spend $300 bucks for a $25 radiator from H-D that looks fairly fragile to me considering where it mounts I believe either of these will work well. Go with it Liverpunisher; let us know how you like it.

 

Just thought it was an interesting concept. I’m defiantly not a cooling system or Harley guru by any stretch but I seriously doubt that this thing can drop oil temps by 30 degrees. This thing (oil cooler or heat sink) is a little pricey IMHO. However I did find these.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/HARLE...10639692QQrdZ1

 

Well, like I said LiverPunisher, we're not trying to refrigerate the oil here. 30* does sound like a stretch to me but that's advertising. I still believe that anything helps but you have to weigh the benefits with the cost. By the way, I really enjoy these conversations here on the forum.

 

I’m with you Square Dude, this forum has be an invaluable asset to
me (being a new H.D. owner). Personally, I believe the traditional
oil cooler setup would give the biggest bang for the buck. I live in
Arizona, and the summers here are brutal! I have a lot of money
invested in my bike and will do whatever I have to too protect that
investment.