Topic: Oil Cooler vs no oil cooler

[Bankerdanny]

My 550 came with an oil cooler on it.

I am working to get ready for the trip from Chicago to Colorado and back next month for the SOHC4 Family Reunion. The return trip is going to be through Arizona (Phoenix) and Albuquerque to visit friends then across parts of Rt 66 back to Chicago. I am planning to install a Hondaline fairing I picked up a couple months back adapting a Vetter mount to hold it. However, I know from past experience that the Vetter mounts are attached to the frame down tubes via band clamps and I don't think that there is room for both the mount and the cooler.

So this is my dilemma: I will be riding my bike through very hot weather for long stretches of time. Would it be beneficial to figure a way to keep the cooler with the fairing or just to remove it, which has the side benefit of allowing me to switch in my spin off oil filter adapter.

Thoughts?

[lrutt]

This is only a 550. I think I'd forgo the fairing and just use a small windscreen and keep the oil cooler.

[Bankerdanny]

That is a possible option. I have a screen that I used on my 550K during the 2011 Relay Rally, although it will also require some adapting as my M bars are 0 rise vs the 2 inches or so on the Euro bars I used on the 2011 bike. The M bars don't really have any room to attach the top clamps for the shield.

Even so they may be easier to adapt than the fairing.

[TwoTired]

The vetters I have divert a lot of air onto engine cooling fins.  More air onto cooling fins presents more oportunity to shed heat into the passing air.
If you keep the motor cool, the oil will also stay cool.
The vetters also improve the aerodynamics to reduce the air drag presented to the motor.  This helps the engine make less power for cruise, and avoids some if the heat waste associated with more power.

I don't recall the Hondaline Airflow characteristics.  Can you post a direct frontal and sideview pic?

It would be nice if the pictures were with the fairing in the position you plan to mount it.

Does your fairing have lowers?

Cheers,

[strynboen]

i removed the lowers at summer..on my windjammer..but now i ride it naked(the bike)

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I wonder if the hot wind effect of Arizona and Utah (110 plus heat) will produce sufficient cooling.  I would try to keep the cooler.  Does the Windjammer allow the lower section to be removed.  Strynboen's option might be the best of both worlds.

[strynboen]

it easy to remove them.( 2 parts).but the air restistens is bigger vitaut...
but use the komplet set the bike have same topspeed as vitaut the komplet unit.
.so it dont affekt the bike negative any vay..think it get a bit more stabil at heigh speed..

[Bankerdanny]

I'm just using the Windjammer bracket, my fairing is a Hondaline. Here's a mockup I did last weekend on my roller bike. It is still leaning a bit too far forward at this point and should probably move back an inch or two, but that depends on what my knees will allow.

There is a rubber piece that attaches at the back of the bottom edge near the head, but it was intended for a V4 Sabre so I would have to do some trimming to work with my 550

[TwoTired]

Is the bottom of the fairing between the headlight and the engine flat like the vetter or rounded to allow the air to flow up the sides rather than directed onto the engine surface area?

Certainly, the lower the air temp, the more heat it will accept from the engine cooling fins as well the entire outer surface area of engine unit.
However, the quantity of the air making contact also makes a difference.
Maybe think of the air as a bucket brigade for heat removal.  Hottter air has smaller buckets than cooler air.  But, if you use more buckets, you can still remove the same amount of heat from the motor unit.

Ive said before that relying on the oil to cool the SOHC4 motor can only bolster about 5 percent of the cooling capability inherent in the engine design.  Surface area for the heat to leap off from, is a dominant factor in the heat exchange process.  That and the volume of air passing over and accepting the heat to be taken away are what cools the motor.
Oli coolers are to help extend the life of the oil integrity.  Certainly, that can help with proper lubrication and friction reduction.  But, cooling the motor overall is only a minor contribution from an oil cooler.  If you can keep the motor cool, it won't heat the oil.

Cheers,

[Jerry Rxman Griffin aka MuthaF'er]

I rode my punched out cammed up Harley Fat Boy with removable shield through Arizona on I-8 and I-10 in August one year. ~115. Didn't realize that until I stopped. Sonna#$%*!! I learned my lesson! I didn't think I was THAT stupid.... Anyway prior to leaving I added an oil cooler and used synthetic oil which should handle the heat better. The Harley ran hot anyway with normal temps. I want to remember the oil temp got to 250 or so. It did better than I did. The pool was hot and all the shower water was hot. No way to cool down. The cheap motels don't keep the rooms cooled either. The AC got it down to 95 by 6am. Did I mention I learned my lesson   

[Airborne 82nd]

My 550 came with an oil cooler on it.

I am working to get ready for the trip from Chicago to Colorado and back next month for the SOHC4 Family Reunion. The return trip is going to be through Arizona (Phoenix) and Albuquerque to visit friends then across parts of Rt 66 back to Chicago. I am planning to install a Hondaline fairing I picked up a couple months back adapting a Vetter mount to hold it. However, I know from past experience that the Vetter mounts are attached to the frame down tubes via band clamps and I don't think that there is room for both the mount and the cooler.

So this is my dilemma: I will be riding my bike through very hot weather for long stretches of time. Would it be beneficial to figure a way to keep the cooler with the fairing or just to remove it, which has the side benefit of allowing me to switch in my spin off oil filter adapter.

Thoughts?

For the sake of your bike could you ask your friends in Arizona (Phoenix) and Albuquerque meet you in a cooler state?

[HondaMan]

When my younger brother (and I) rode our Vetter-equipped, with lowers, bikes to Phoenix one fine August week (whew...), his CB500 stalled after 20 minutes of city riding, coming in from a 400-mile day to the town. While we waited for his bike to cool off a bit (during which the boiling carbs peed on the parking lot...), I discovered he had used 10w40 oil in his last change 3 days before, as the Wal-Mart he was at then had no 20w50 or 15w40 oil on hand. We got some 20w50 that night and the bike completed the week with no further issues, except for the boiling carbs at long traffic lights. It didn't stall anymore, though. He rode it another 25k miles after that trip before selling it to my little brother, still ran great!

[carnivorous chicken]

Although I recently moved, if you ride reasonably (don't keep it pegged, more time in the mornings and evenings) you should be fine either way. I've ridden 160s, 350Fs, 400Fs, 550Fs, and 750s in AZ during the summer, mostly around town (which is worse...) but on some longer trips as well. Wearing a helmet and leather can be grueling, but seriously just dump water on yourself if you're going to be riding for a while. And swim in the evening -- the water in the pool is still warm, but you cool off when you get out and the water evaporates. (Ice cold) beer always helps. And stop by Bob's on Elwood if you get a chance!

[SOHC4 Cafe Racer Fan]

I'm just using the Windjammer bracket, my fairing is a Hondaline. Here's a mockup I did last weekend on my roller bike. It is still leaning a bit too far forward at this point and should probably move back an inch or two, but that depends on what my knees will allow.

There is a rubber piece that attaches at the back of the bottom edge near the head, but it was intended for a V4 Sabre so I would have to do some trimming to work with my 550

That looks like a slightly overgrown Park Racer. 

[scottly]

After driving in Phoenix traffic in a cage a fair amount a few years ago, I wouldn't do it on a bike unless it was a cold day in Hell, err, Phoenix. Seems like a biker dies every week. There have also been lots of wrong-way drivers recently for some unknown reason?  The drivers in Albuquerque weren't much better the last time I was there... 

[ekpent]

That is a possible option. I have a screen that I used on my 550K during the 2011 Relay Rally, although it will also require some adapting as my M bars are 0 rise vs the 2 inches or so on the Euro bars I used on the 2011 bike. The M bars don't really have any room to attach the top clamps for the shield.

Even so they may be easier to adapt than the fairing.

Have you made sure Danny that the handlebars you have on the bike now will clear all the fairing parts. In my experience most Honda's I have acquired with Vetters usually have a different shape handlebar along with aftermarket set back blocks mounted to the top triple to move the bars back to clear the fairing.

[Bankerdanny]

No, not yet Eric, although it looks like they will. If not I will pick up some superbike or euro bars.

[Deltarider]

An oilcooler without a thermostat is a no-no. On a standard CB500/550 I don't see a need for a cooler. It's an aircooled engine. When in doubt, measure first.

[slikwilli420]

An oilcooler without a thermostat is a no-no. On a standard CB500/550 I don't see a need for a cooler. It's an aircooled engine. When in doubt, measure first.

What is the basis for a thermostat being REQUIRED? I have seen many bikes with oil coolers and no thermostat. Plenty of street bikes have gone for decades without one.

[strynboen]

if you smell burned oil..it hot..but ve dont often havet this problems in North Europa..have only once run mine so hot the leaked oil started to damp and burn,,and ticking saunds came after i cut the engine..

[Bankerdanny]

I had problems years ago in traffic with my FJ1200 overheating in heavy stop and go traffic.

The thermostat should be unnecessary at this time of year in the location where I will be. I can see an argument for it if I were riding regularly during the cold months here in Chicago, but even in the mountains it should be warm enough all the time for there to be no issues with the cooler preventing the oil from reaching operating temps within a normal time frame.

[Deltarider]

and ticking saunds came after i cut the engine..

Than I must have had my bikes 'hot' innumerable times. It was one of the joys on long holiday rides: finally rest and whilst out in the wild preparing a campfire hear your bike ticking cooling down.

[TwoTired]

An oilcooler without a thermostat is a no-no. On a standard CB500/550 I don't see a need for a cooler. It's an aircooled engine. When in doubt, measure first.

What is the basis for a thermostat being REQUIRED? I have seen many bikes with oil coolers and no thermostat. Plenty of street bikes have gone for decades without one.

Were any of these production model equipped?  You know, where engineers designed for it, rather than faith reliant persons making mods for appearance sake?
Over the decades, how many of these example bikes were instrumented to show oil temps?
Has there ever been a group of people that belived in an assumption without factual reason?

[slikwilli420]

An oilcooler without a thermostat is a no-no. On a standard CB500/550 I don't see a need for a cooler. It's an aircooled engine. When in doubt, measure first.

What is the basis for a thermostat being REQUIRED? I have seen many bikes with oil coolers and no thermostat. Plenty of street bikes have gone for decades without one.

Were any of these production model equipped?  You know, where engineers designed for it, rather than faith reliant persons making mods for appearance sake?
Over the decades, how many of these example bikes were instrumented to show oil temps?
Has there ever been a group of people that belived in an assumption without factual reason?

Not sure if you are blasting me or Deltarider. There are many bikes out there with oil coolers, that were not fitted factory, yet very few have thermostats. I can probably count on one hand the number of aftermarket coolers with thermostats I have encountered. On the other hand, how many aftermarket oil cooler jobs have measurably hurt the engine? I would wager almost none unless riding in very cold temps and even then probably very few. I was simply pointing out that a thermostat is in no way a must have item with an oil cooler, aftermarket or not.

[PeWe]

I have thoughts about an oil cooler,  thermostat so the cooler will not cool  much before 100C. I have a Setrab 10 rows on the shelf in my garage. An old thermostat too of unknown status. I'll look for a smaller thermostat.

New coolers have thermostat built in, right?