Oil cooler for sportster

I am certainly NOT a pro when it comes to this (and I am sure that others with much more knowledge will chime in soon!). Here is MY understanding of this... 1. There is such thing as too hot...you burn up the motor faster.
2. there IS such thing as not getting up to safe operating temperature (this is why you warm up longer in the winter then summer and such)
3. Synthetic oil does seem to lower the running temp a few degrees (for me, was seat of the pants eval....not a clue on HOW MANY degrees).
4. Oil coolers will help you run cooler....but keep this in mind... you must have moving air in order for it do cool more oil....Being stuck in traffic means that instead of 3-4 quarts of oil that are overheating, you have MORE oil over heating! I am not aware of any oil coolers for HD that include a fan to FORCE air over the cooler. Again, per MY understanding, if you run in Texas, Arizona, New Mexico or other WAY TO HOT type of states, you may consider adding an oil cooler to help prolong your bike life.....if you live further north, not as important, OR you can try to have a shut off so in cooler weather you don't cool your oil too much (kinda like putting cardboard on the radiator on your car in the winter!)

Hope someone else with more knowledge chips in!!! Good luck!!

Not to worry...KNEW that someone would have a better way of wording things or doing things that I was thinking of!! I don't have one on my bike yet.....run synthetic, have no clue as to how hot my oil gets..... should think about it being in Texas, BUT, I move around every 3-4 years, so my next location might be snow bound!!!

markat, an oil cooler will help with engine cooling, but, it depends where your living/riding. if your in the far north, an oil cooler would probably be a waste of money, as the temps dont get that hot....but in the south, i definatly recomend one. i put one on my 06 electra glide, but didnt go to harley to do it. went to the parts store and got a cooler for a powersteering pump. in the winter i have a leather cover i put over it. i know it works as i also installed an oil temp gauge from the parts house. i rode the bike for a few months without the cooler, then with. the temps are about 10/20 degrees cooler.........hope this helps a bit.

I too suggest using a thermal bypass valve to aid in proper warm up. That way oil is only passing through the cooler once it reaches a designated temperature. Surface area is important when selecting a cooler. Those chrome dual tube type coolers that are designed to align with each down tube look nice but IMO do little to reduce heat. The larger coolers may not look as nice but are much more efficient. Also be sure to keep your idle speed up to allow for proper circulation and heat transfer. The biggest cooler in the world won't do any good if oil isn't circulating through it.

i dont know anything about the jags....i have always built and installed my own coolers, and kept a leather to put over them in the wintertime. just my old school i guess. i do use a temp gauge tho...and monitor it.

Adding an oil cooler doesn't add a lot of oil, unless you build one of those engine guard coolers, with the HD and other units you won't need to add oil to keep it up, it takes out maybe 1/8th of a qt if that.

Running synthetic like mobil1 Vtwin or HD Syn3, etc etc will help keep the motor cool, along with a cooler.

HD's kits come with thermostats so the coolers are disengaged until the oil is up to temp.

One thing about them a lot talk about how they don't do anything in stopped traffic, that is true, however once you start moving the cooler will bring the temps down faster than if you don't have one.

Running down in FL I have one on my motor seems to make a difference as I had it off during the time HD swapped my old unit out for a new one and the motor was much warmer.

which r/p do you run?.....air cooled or water cooled oil?? they have 2 types. the automotive wont stand the temps created by an aircooled engine, there oil for air cooled engines does what it says....pricey, but it does work