[QUOTE=Retrop;12676576]For all the legions of Harley riders out there who are paranoid about riding in hot weather... rest assured your bike is not going to melt down just because it is hot outside. You do, after all, have to keep it full of any brand of oil that meets the manufacturers specifications. There are probably a couple hundred different oils that fill the bill. Just pick one. You can pick an oil that costs $3 a quart or you can pay $15 a quart. As long as it meets the manufacturers specs it will be fine."

Really??

Tell that to all the bagger folks I see at Laconia on the side of the road
with their bikes smoking and barely running from sitting in traffic for 2 hours in the 90+ sunshine.
I've seen plenty of them! These bikes do not like to sit and idle!
I saw a couple of them beating the crap out of their bikes just
trying to get them to run enough to get through the high traffic area.
One guys bike was smoking so bad, I pulled over and told him to shut it down before he blew it up, (if he hadn't already)

 

that may be so, but i bet all those bikes were not stock configurations. the designers made it a certain way to withstand certain things. you change it, and that changes what it can or cannot withstand.

 

Yes and it is also very possible those bikes were destined to grenade that weekend due to their condition, previous to idling for hours in the heat. BTW if a guy does that I am curious to what else he does to it and how well he maintains it. I know I wouldn't idle my bike like that. And retrop is absolutely right about oils, no need for synthetic, unless a guy has replaced his v-twin for a jet engine.

 

only bikes with oil temperature gauges run hot
X3.
I bought one because I thought it would be cool to know what the temp was. After a couple of rides, took it off and tossed it. Figured there was nothing I could do about it and all it did was distract me while I was riding and make me worry; "is it too hot?;" "What about now?". I ran good oil, it was always topped off and I ran an oil cooler. Nothing more I could do about it. Ride and not worry about it!

 

Thanks for the replies-information well taken and applied.

 

Tweeters are much more useful in them gauge holes!!!

 

Zeuss55 makes a great point! As long as your engine temp is well below the Flash Point of your oil, you should be okay.

 

I too had a gauge for a short period of time before giving it to a buddy. With my personality I already have too many things to obsess over.

 

This dang thread gave me a bad dream last evening. I was approaching a toll booth...which I have never done on my Harley...and I reached down and pressed the button on my magic electronic wiz bang dipstick. It read 650 degrees!!! I pulled over, and looked in the oil hole and the oil was boiling. I was with a friend and he happened to have a gallon of Redline oil...as I am a Syn3er...and we changed out the oil with Redline and all was well.

Dang!!! I have had enough of these "is my Harley too hot" threads!!!

I'm gonna start a "is Kaley Cuoco too hot?" thread and hope for a better dream tonite!

 

But for how long? The hotter the oil gets, the faster it breaks down. It's exponential! Just because it does not hit its absolute breaking point doesn't mean that it's not being severely stressed.