Oil cooler effect

[alanp]

I've installed a small oil cooler onto my RGS rep and carried out run tests with and without it connected in circuit.
The test runs were 30miles, same road, at a steady 70mph (4000rpm), 20W/50 oil, canister oil filter.
Oil temp at start 60F (16C). Same air temp. both tests.
Without cooler, end of run, oil temperature 200F, oil pressure 10psi, oil tank very warm to touch.
With oil cooler, end of run, oil temperature 140F, oil pressure 25psi, oil tank comfortably warm to touch.
Silkolene Fuchs Oil says 200F is ok if a decent oil is used, which will maintain its characteristics without degrading, by that I'm sure they mean a recognised main stream manufacturer, eg. Silkolene Comp 4 20W/50 and not some cheapo oil.
For me, I'm happy with the increase in oil pressure, so the oil cooler stays.
Hope this is of interest.
Alan   

[mike667]

alan
 can you post a pic of the cooler setup please?

[alanp]

Mike, photos attached.
Alan

[Stu55Flash]

Alan

Nice job, quite unobtrusive.

Stu

[mike667]

yes -  i agree - looks nice Alan -does it have some kind of a thermostat in it to control flow?  other wise i'd be worried it may not allow oil to come to good temp on cool days..

[Big Nick]

a long time ago gary from srm recommended an oil cooler but plus a thermostat , they use to use on on their sidecar racer

[alanp]

Mike, no thermostat. I don't expect low oil temperature to be a problem with this engine. My japanese/Italian bikes don't have a thermostat either or the one this cooler came off. I don't tend to ride my classics in the cold/winter anyhow, I leave that for my beemer K1200R. I drop viscosity down to 20W/40 when the weather gets cooler. During last winter, while the rest of the country was knee deep in snow for weeks, we had one day of snow here.
Two other oil cooler BSAs in this area haven't experienced any problems.
Alan