Author Topic: Oil Temperature Gauge dipstick. Worth it or not? Anyone interested? (Read 8167 times)

Fish · « **on:** January 21, 2007, 03:22:27 PM »

Hello everyone,
I came across these little temp gauges that replace a motorcycle dipstick. I think they look awesome and admit that it would be nice to 'know' how hot the bike was running. What are your thoughts on these?

http://www.louis.de/_301c4f628b5d52e87b82206e05a91697c5/index.php?topic=artnr_gr&article_context=detail&artnr_gr=10034121&anzeige=0

That link shows what I think are the nicest ones. The english adds don't seem to have the damping fluid inside the gauge - it sounds like, without that fluid, the needle is too jumpy from the bikes vibrations.

http://www.nextag.com/BIKERS-CHOICE-Oil-Tank-531570862/prices-html

- Chad

Fish · « **Reply #1 on:** January 21, 2007, 03:51:50 PM »

Here's another site with good ones:

http://www.mgcycle.com/oil.html

Looks like they are in the 'States. Kinda pricey but... looks cool

upperlake04 · « **Reply #2 on:** January 21, 2007, 04:07:02 PM »

and another one from Partsmore, $35.US, temporarily out of stock.
https://www.partsnmore.com/cat_index.php?model=cb750_sohc&category=engine

seaweb11 · « **Reply #3 on:** January 21, 2007, 04:54:47 PM »

Looks a bit pricey for something you can't look at without pulling off your side cover?

Geeto67 · « **Reply #4 on:** January 21, 2007, 05:45:09 PM »

The parts n more one is for the DOHC cb750s not a SOHC. The SOHC has an oil tank, the DOHC is a wet sump bike that shares engine oil with tranny oil (like the 550s) and the dipstick is clearly visible on the outside of the engine. Don't quote me on this but I think the dipstick threads are different.

The SOHC 69-76 oil cap is on the outside of the side cover but none of those will fit. The 75-78 might work (but I would not hold my breath) but you have to remove the sidecover or make a hole in it.

The others are HD ones and won't fit at all (and last time I checked the cb750s don't really have a dipstick on the engine cases anyway (they are in the oil tank).

Rather than get an oil dipstick one, how about just a regular gauge and you can mount it where you mount the oil pressure gauge (get a two outlet screw-in fitting rather than the single one).

TwoTired · « **Reply #5 on:** January 21, 2007, 06:00:43 PM »

Which begs the question what bike are you intending this for?

All the 750 guys are likely thinking oil tank. And, the rest of us self centered SOHC4 people are thing oil sump.

Quote

Looks a bit pricey for something you can't look at without pulling off your side cover?

As a gadget man, I certainly like instrumentation. But, I think there is an inherant safety issue with the concept presented. The purpose of instrumentation is advisory, so if something goes wrong you can do something about it. If it is near your field of view while driving there is a chance you might save your motor if you notice your oil temp too high, by backing off on the power. But, if you are driving around watching your dipstick plug or oil tank instead of the other vehicles trying to smash you into pancake thickness, you might think it an actual benefit that your engine seized from an oil overtemp leaving you standing by the side of the road.

Of course, you can put it in and then not look at it unless the bike is stopped. But, I wonder if that is money well spent?

Cheers,

Bodi · « **Reply #6 on:** January 21, 2007, 07:25:50 PM »

I attached a temperature gauge to the outside of the oil cooler. I can't remember what the temperature was, but it got pretty hot. I guess I like gadgets and doodads too, but when it fell off I didn't reattach it - either I didn't get the cooler clean enough of the "high temperature" epoxy wasn't "high" enough: I didn't lose the thermometer because I'd added a layer of insulation using metal duct tape over top of the sensor to avoid a false reading due to wind cooling the probe.
I did notice that oil pressure is inversely proportional to oil temperature. Once the pressure drops off the pump bypass as the engine heats up, idle pressure is about 20psi and running is about 50. On a hot day or after really flogging it both drop about 10psi.
The points I never figured out are - how hot is too hot? how cool is too cool? and what can I do if it's too hot anyway, stop and wait for cooler weather? speed up for more cooling? slow down for less heat production? put on some choke to get a richer/cooler mixture?
I think it would be useful for test running a new setup like if you did an overbore or similar, seeing if you need an oil cooler or a bigger cooler.
For day-to-day riding if you're really keen on it I would recommend a remote sender and a gauge where it's easy to see. But any instrument is likely to tell you of a problem too late to really help.

kghost · « **Reply #7 on:** January 21, 2007, 07:54:48 PM »

Well, a high temp in the oil leads to various things......

The oil will loose viscosity and shear load holding abilities as the temp approaches 150 C.

Also elevated and high oil temps increase the oxygenation of the oil and in turn its suspension of harmful byproducts and chemicals.

I've posted on this before as it relates to aircooled aircraft engine temperatures...

The top range for everything from 200 cubic inch 4 cylinders all the way up to and including 2800 cubic inch radials developing 2400hp is about 100 C.

The oil of an aircooled engine aids in engine cooling.

Its also important to remember that too cold and the oil does not burn off water.

The normal operating range of non synthetics is about 60 - 90 C with the top being 100 - 110 C.

Fish · « **Reply #8 on:** January 22, 2007, 06:05:59 AM »

Ya, I wasn't even thinking about the 750 guys. My bike is a '75 cb550f.
I don't think it would be a safety issue with me because I am really not concerned about the temperature when the bike is moving... it's when I am at a standstill in traffic that I start to fret. Right now the only test I have is to touch the engine - yup it's hot - doesn't really tell me too much.
Plus I like the look of a clean little gauge out of the way. I wouldn't be interested in handlebar mounted gauge for that reason - I think it would look too cluttered, and for 95% of the time I am not worried about oil temp.

- Chad

Edit: That one at partsmore was a good price... if I could find one like that wasn't in Fahrenheit, I'd probably try it out.

upperlake04 · « **Reply #9 on:** January 22, 2007, 06:49:28 AM »

I emailed Partsnmore to inquire if the dipstick listed in the SOHC section would actually fit any sohc bikes as well as the dohc( as pointed out by the sharp eyed Geeto). Their reply....

"It is possible that the part will fit the SOHC....I can not say for sure
though. We can only guarantee that it will fit the bikes listed.
Unfortunately we do not know the application of every part for every bike."

SD750F · « **Reply #10 on:** January 22, 2007, 07:00:03 AM »

My friend across the street has a 82 CB900 as well as a K6. I will check this out for sure but my guess Honda used the same oil reservoir cap for quite some time. I will post my findings here...

Scott

Fish · « **Reply #11 on:** January 22, 2007, 07:10:35 AM »

upperlake04,
Do you know if their gauge has the damping fluid in it to keep the needle still? From the reading I have done it seems like the quality gauges have that feature.

Scott,
I suspect that you are right - using the same part would be a cost savings for Honda. I guess the only critical measurements would be the threads and the length of the probe.

Thanks for checking on that guys. I suspect that there are a few people on the board who want an item like this. If there was a little interest, maybe we could try and set up a group buy for a discount?

- Chad

upperlake04 · « **Reply #12 on:** January 22, 2007, 08:38:04 AM »

the question to Partnmore - "is the 15-0020 dipstick oil-filled?"

the reply - "Yes it is and oil dipstick."

Fish · « **Reply #13 on:** January 22, 2007, 08:55:06 AM »

upperlake,
Haha... maybe there is a language barrier. Or maybe the person just thought you were asking a ridiculously obvious question

Geeto67 · « **Reply #14 on:** January 22, 2007, 11:30:43 AM »

Quote from: Fish on January 22, 2007, 07:10:35 AM

upperlake04,
Do you know if their gauge has the damping fluid in it to keep the needle still? From the reading I have done it seems like the quality gauges have that feature.

Scott,
I suspect that you are right - using the same part would be a cost savings for Honda. I guess the only critical measurements would be the threads and the length of the probe.

Thanks for checking on that guys. I suspect that there are a few people on the board who want an item like this. If there was a little interest, maybe we could try and set up a group buy for a discount?

- Chad

the oil dipstick on my cb550 (1974) is metal (chromed in fact but that was done by Previous owner). The ones on my DOHC cb900F and 750F are plastic and have a different head shape all together (more domed) so it is hard to tell if they are even the same size.

As I see it, there are only two reasons for an oil temp gauge:

1) you want to see that the bike is warmed up before you begin riding it
2) you built a hot rod motor and you want to make sure that it won't melt down when you get stuck in traffic.

1 can be cured by the five minute rule (if it ain't warmed up after 5 minutes it will warm up real fast when you start riding it), 2 you will know when the motor starts detonating from overheating.

Fish · « **Reply #15 on:** January 22, 2007, 01:22:53 PM »

Geeto67,
Do you happen to have any pictures of the ones you are using?
It sounds like you don't think there's much point to having one - you probably don't need the two that you have then right?

PM me if you want to sell one of those useless gauges.

I have never encountered "detonating" (at least not that I know of) - but I would think that there must be some range between healthy operating temp and harmful temp. I might be wrong, maybe things go straight from good to "detonating", but I would still feel better if I could quantify it with an actual figure.
It is probably something that I would only need to use for a little while. For example, I recognize how hot my bike runs most of the time... I just can't tell with my hand if that is 90 degrees hot or 140 degrees hot. If I had a thermometer I could 'calibrate' my own senses and I bet I would be able to estimate the bike's temp pretty well after that...

- Chad

TwoTired · « **Reply #16 on:** January 22, 2007, 01:50:27 PM »

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93983

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=93984

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=91778

Fish · « **Reply #17 on:** January 23, 2007, 04:30:18 PM »

Thanks for the links. I guess one of those units would allow me to test the bike for a few weeks under different conditions and let me get a feel for things.
Plus I would be able to use it for other applications - definitely the prudent choice

(my wife didn't put you up to this did she?)

- Chad

lohebohi · « **Reply #18 on:** January 29, 2007, 11:26:40 AM »

I have attached a page from the catalogue for RR guages from;

edit: cannot attach because file is 400kb, so link will only be good as long as page remains up. Looks like someone is unable to overlook this quote (used completely out of context on purpose out of absolute frustration, argh) "640K ought to be enough for anybody." - Bill Gates, 1981

http://louis9.louis.de/katalog2007/pages/680.pdf

Right now 50 Euros is $64.58 according to the google currency converter (google: 50 euros in dollars).

I assume we are talking about this because of the one that was just on ebay. The guy said in the ad that the company that sells them did not ship to the US. So we might need someone in Germany to buy them for us and mail them to the US.

Fish · « **Reply #19 on:** January 29, 2007, 05:21:19 PM »

Ya, the ebay one was the first time I had ever seen them. After some research I came across a forum for 'adventure' riders and they were organizing a group buy and having a distributor send them specially to the States...

- Chad

merc2dogs · « **Reply #20 on:** January 29, 2007, 05:51:50 PM »

I looked into those thermometers before, but feel it's too difficult to check while riding, instead I keep a mechanics type thermometer in my saddle bag, and taught myself what feels right on the oil cap. and make it a habit to reach down and feel the cap occasionally, when/if it feels hot I pull over and check it with the thermometer.

Also have an automotive temp gauge, thinking of driling and tapping the oil bag drain plug and install the probe in that for on-the-bike readings.

Went with a temp probe fastened to the cylender fins once, but the normal temps there are enough to make you nervous!

ken

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Author Topic: Oil Temperature Gauge dipstick. Worth it or not? Anyone interested? (Read 8167 times)

upperlake04

upperlake04

upperlake04

lohebohi