Hi Mec,
Good point you raised, as trueblu so graciously described a lot of accessories are so people can have a point of difference, the last time I went to a race meeting with a crowd of thousands, no two people were dressed the same, logically those people have the same attitude to their toys.
Seeing 754 passionately enjoys posting pics of anything sohc particularly older rarer memorabilia and nostalgic comments never longer than a sentence I assume its my responsibility to respond to your question Mech.
As to why am I considering using the deeper sump and oil cooler, simply temperature control.
I’ll make the statement that highly modified air cooled engines running on the salt for 9 miles at full load in an ambient temp of 45c or 113 F into a 15mph hot head wind ..... are NOT oil friendly, these conditions can exceed the design parameters of the best oils available reducing the margin for error in engine component tolerances and design.
Are there other ways to achieve the same result, yes.
Custom oil tank with fins, cooled by all the hot air from the engine, yes but not for me with lots of used hot air from the engine coming past.
Bigger oil tank volume, yes but the longer the load that volume heats up, still behind the engine, extra 2 or 4 kg weight, not for me.
Oil cooler located in clean air, yes I like it.
A sump with approx half a litre ( pint) of extra oil and extra finning, extra weight 1 kg, in clear air, yes I like it.
I decided for my application that the cooler and the finned sump complimented the Honda dry sump system. In the 70,s I purchased the cooler and sump as I went through a phase of holding the bike flat for as long as the fuel tank would allow it, as I lived in the middle of a desert it was nice to travel at a speed that made my helmet nice and quiet at 110 to 120.mph . The difference between the two speeds was dependant on the ambient temp 25 deg C .... 120mph and 40 deg C ...110mph these rides were mostly around 400 to 500 miles long at full throttle and apart from the dreaded head gasket weep mechanically perfect . With the girlfriend on the back at 40c at 110mph after about 20 minutes the bike misfired constantly from fuel evapouration as the extra load made the engine run very hot, it was the fuel evapouration that drove me to cool the engine by the cooler and sump....... it worked , even two up full throttle for a full tank in 40c no fuel evapouration due to the reduced air temp.
From an engineering perspective there is no perfect oil system, every engine powered machine, car or bike is a series of compromises by the designer, oil systems are no exception, dry sump or wet sump options are tools of the vehicle designer. I love the dry sump system personally , the wet sump systems on other bikes like the Kwaka 900 used to keep me in business modifying them to stop oil surging away from the pickup. But there are endless pros and cons to both and in the right vehicle each has its day.
That’s my spin on it Mec. Heat is probably not on you northern hemisphere blokes radar at the moment.
johno
