Is the H-D oil cooler an easy install? Don't have one on my '09 yet. Had one on the '05 EGC and it never went over 230 even when slowly climbing uphill on a hot day.

 

If you can change your own oil you can install the oil cooler. Takes about 45 min to a hour to accomplish the oil cooler install itself. You can do it without changing the oil but I did it as part of the 5000 mile service so it didn't add that much time.

You need a torque wrench and a 7/16 allen socket to install the oil filter adapter. Since a 7/16 allen is hard to come by...just get a bolt with a 7/16 head and some nuts jammed together on the end. Stick the bolt head into the adapter and torque it down using a socket on the nuts. Easy

 

Hey, Redline costs more where I am - that's why I use it instead of Amsoil!

Peace, y'all,

John

 

Does Jagg make the the Hd Premuim Oil Cooler?

I had a 97 Rk with a 80 inch Evo motor before I bought a 08 RG. Coming from riding a Evo, I found the heat from the 96 motor almost unbearable at stoplights. Have since cooled it some with SERT, but wondered if a oil cooler and a fan would do the trick.

The guy who writes for American Iron seems to think Jagg coolers are the way to go.

 

I have a similar setup, except no fan, and I'm running high AFR's in the cruise range (14.6:1) to increase mileage. In summer conditions my OT runs about 210° at the speeds you're referring to and have hit 230° only three times in two summers, all three in heavy traffic in hot weather, and has never exceeded that temperature.

In the current mile weather conditions, no higher than 80°, my front head temperature stays below 260° as long as I'm moving. I've measured this with the PCV software as soon as I come to a stop. Last summer I was seeing up to 275 front, 325 rear measured with an infrared thermometer. The oil and head temperatures you're quoting seem high to me running an oil cooler. Do you have a thermostat installed on the cooler? If so it may be stuck closed. Which cooler do you have?

Are you using an EFI controller or running off the stock ECU programming?

 

No problem. I thought you might be kidding, but you never know when the subject of oil comes up. Amsoil is an excellent product, but so are numerous others on the market.

 

You would think for the money HD would have the heat issue resolved and you wouldn't even have to start a post like this. HD has a strange way of doing things sometimes. They put oil coolers on their CVO bikes, yet none of the other bikes (non-CVO) have them. My best advice is go with the oil cooler if it gives you piece of mind. I will eventually tackle that project myself...just haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

Actually, I suspect we'll see more HD parts sourced to China before we see less of it and better quality. In hard times (like HD is facing) all Companies make cost reduction moves and source from Asian Countries.

I tell you though, I am sick and tired of seeing all the crap imported from China lately, you cant pick anything up it seems that isn't made there. I've seen it on HD parts and that will wear thin on me quickly and if HD persists, then my next new bike might well NOT be another Harley. You cant brag about owning an American Harley when lots of parts are Chinese made. Also makes me laugh when I see guys wearing HD branded clothing or leather with made in China on the label. There's more of that (clothing / leather) imported from Asian Countries then you see made here in the USA. Mine is from Fox Creek Leather and is "Made in the USA". (Unless they used imported cows?)

 

The problem is physics, and it isn't HD's lack of mechanical aptitude that is the problem. These are air-cooled motors and it's a tough, maybe impossible, job meeting EPA standards while controlling engine temperatures. In these engines there is no internal control, and cooling is primarily a function of how much air is passing over the cylinders and the air temperature. If you stop you have no cooling except through convection, which isn't enough for longer than a few minutes, as head temperatures rise rapidly when idling. Lean AFR's required to meet EPA regs make the problem worse.

CVO's have larger displacement, which adds to heat-generation, but I've always said that IMO all TC's should be equipped with an oil cooler. With the piston spray oil temps will be higher than in Evos, for example, and an oil cooler helps greatly in controlling them.

 

Most Americans equate Chinese-made products with low-quality, but this isn't necessarily the case. My three-year-old Compaq notebook computer was made in Shanghai and its quality is excellent. The same with my Dell 24" LCD monitor, likewise made somewhere in China. The HD cooler is made in China, I'm told, and from my experience and the feedback I've seen here it is also a good-quality product. Most (all?) cell phones and computer components are Chinese made and most are fine quality.

As a pro photographer for 32 years, now mostly retired, I've never owned a small- or medium-format SLR-type camera that wasn't made in Japan. All the pro-level cameras, except some view cameras, are made in overseas countries, the vast majority in Japan. So, as a photographer you either buy Japanese or find another trade. If you start denying yourself any product made overseas you will be left with few products to choose from, as you pointed out. The problem is that American companies can no longer make most products and compete in the marketplace.

For me, I'll buy American over overseas-made products all other factors being equal. OTOH, I feel if I buy an American product for $30 when I could've bought an equal item for $20 that's made in another country, I'm cheating the American companies and workers in the long run. Had every American denied themselves higher-quality Japanese cars in the 1980's, instead buying American out of principle, the American auto makers would not have had the incentives to improve. Americans bought the Japanese cars because they were cheaper and higher-quality, and now with this stiff competition American cars are much improved as a result. The problem with American cars now isn't quality as much as overhead, mostly healthcare and labor costs. How can GM expect to survive when American workers in their plants are making $85/hour while those in Toyota plants are making about half that amount. Isn't $45/hour good enough?

So do I buy American out of principle and perpetuate this problem? Right now the Big Three are suffering and will either need to make radical change or die. I suspect they will ultimately survive by doing what is necessary to insure it, which probably means Chapter 11 and re-negotiation with labor unions.