Oil coolers

I was told by a local parts store (not a dealership) that the 96b tends to run hotter in normal driving conditions that is good for it. It was suggested that if I added an oil cooler it would help the oil do its job better by bringing down the temp maybe 10 degrees. I plan on getting a dipstick oil temp gauge, and in your opinions, is he right about the hot running engine and should I get the oil cooler? What is a normal operating temp.?

Oil coolers that are regulated are a decent deal, and most are nowadays (regulated meaning they only open when the temp indicates they are needed), but they also add another fail point in the system. Your riding style really indicates whether this is a needed addition. Do you ride two-up often? Are you usually in hot weather? Are you using her in commute traffic?

The 96B is engineered from the get-go for pretty hard use. I doubt that most riders need to worry about the coolers, and most of them that do would probably tell ya that the difference was not significant. But it depends a whole lot on your riding style, location(s) and bike configuration, and you didn't list that info.

Good luck, and ride!

:cheers:

I have a 07 FXSTC wth SE110. Just got out of shop for blown rear head gasket. Hear this may be coming common with 110'S. Any advice?

The newer big twins do seem to run hot & what I consider "normal" oil temps is 160-180 on the backroads I normally ride & never more than 200 out on the interstate. My Sportsters always stay in that range, but I have seen bikes like an Ultra that hit 300 & several other BT's that ran in the 250 range all the time - that I would not tolerate.

An oil-cooler that only drops the temp a few degrees is a total waste, but an engineer friend of mine with 40+ years H-D experience makes one that drops oil temps a LOT - 1 example is a friend's Sportster in Indonesia that was running 225 with straight-weight SAE 50 Valvoline Racing Oil, just due to the high temps & horrible stop & go traffic in Jakarta - now it runs 175. And the Ultra that hit 300 didn't even get to 200 when left parked & running for 1/2 hour with the throttle set @ 2000 rpm.

I've seen a lot of oil-coolers & understand how they work - you will not find one better than the one ECS Engineering in North Carolina makes, which is quite simple - basically an aluminum tube that oil flows thru, finned lengthwise both inside & out for maximum surface area, needs no fan, can be mounted several different ways & the bike doesn't have to be moving for it to work. For more details you can contact Earl Calhoun @ ECS Engineering:
hdrepairman@yahoo.com