Most oil coolers have thermostats. Usually 160 to 195 degrees. My HD oil cooler is at 195 degree.

A four cycle engine runs best at 160 degrees.

 

I've been running Amsoil in my Sporty and the temps don't get above 200. Guess I'm doing OK...

 

Yup...what he said! I was gonna say that oil can be too cool....but I see that you're in FLA. Probably don't hafta deal too much with starting your bike when the temps are single digits. That's when the oil can be too cool.

 

Most engines are designed and calculated to operate at around 175-190° and can tolerate 220° or more. Too hot for too long and life expectancy drops, yet most wear and tear for motors occurs before "normal operating temperature" is reached.

Check your temps and your drivivg style and distance and try to stay within "NOT" as much as possible. My drive is typically... in the hood less than ten miles, so I use thin oil in most of my vehicles so it will circulate well and protect sooner, and I go easy until warmed to "NOT". If I sit too long and my temps go up, I go easy until the temp goes back down. Then I ride like I just stole it!

 

Yes, oil can be too cool. Below about 160 deg. the oil is still pretty cool.

Living in Florida, I doubt that you'd ever encounter temperatures so cool as to present a problem if you ran an oil cooler. If you're primarily making short trips, then any oil cooler should be thermostatically controlled so that it kicks in only when oil temperatures warrant the use of the cooler.

The best guide as to whether or not you "need" an oil cooler is to monitor the oil temperature in the oil tank. If it never or rarely reaches 240 then you probably don't need an oil cooler.

If you just want to have an oil cooler, and as long as it is thermostatically controlled, it won't hurt anything either, as long as it doesn't develop a leak when you're 120 miles from home.

 

Below is what Harley has to say about the operating temperature of their V-Twin engines;


"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."

 

Just out of curiosity does anybody know if the oil cooler on the XR has a thermostat?

 

I came in from a 35 mile ride running 65 mph on route #3 the other day and my oil temp was 205 with the ambient being 91. I recently removed my PCIII to see how the bike ran without it now that its fully broken in at 8,100 miles. The oil temp rarely went above 190 with the PCII installed. At this point I'm not going to re-install it. I like the 5 extra mpg I get without the PCIII.