Oil temperature

[nwguy]

OK, so I installed a thermometer in my XB9SX's oil cap per the suggested mod I saw here. Works like a charm and looks pretty spiffy. I took a ride the other day, air temp outside was in the low 40s. I rode for about an hour, so the bike was fully warmed up. The thermometer read about 135 degrees. When I owned a Ducati Multistrada, a guy told me that every time you ride the oil temp should get up to about 220 to burn the water condensation or vapor in the oil reservoir off. He gave me some foil-faced insulation to put in the Multistrada's oil cooler air scoop to tune the air flow so my oil would indeed reach that temperature. I had to do this here in the chilly Northwest winter months, but not during the summer. So my questions are:

1. Is this idea of getting your oil temperature up above the boiling point of water to burn off any accumulated water valid, or a bunch of hooey?

2. If it's hooey, what is the optimal oil temperature for a Buell XB?

3. Does anyone use something to block the flow of air to their oil cooler during colder months to bump up the oil temperature?

[go cytocis]

Is this idea of getting your oil temperature up above the boiling point of water to burn off any accumulated water valid, or a bunch of hooey?

It's very valid. If you never get your oil up to operating temperature (which is ~100C or 215F), you'll not burn off the blow-by condensation. Also, operating temperature is where your oil is designed to flow at, and where your engine's tolerances were designed for. It's best not to ride hard until you're warmed-up.

Does anyone use something to block the flow of air to their oil cooler during colder months to bump up the oil temperature?

I've never seen it, and I'd be nervous about doing that myself. Having said that, the XB's oil system is a dry-sump, meaning that it's bleeding a lot more heat than a wet sump motor, regardless of the oil cooler being blocked or not. You'll find it takes ages to work the XB's oil up to operating temperature (up to 30 minutes in winter) due to that big hunk of swing-arm aluminum the oil circulates through.

[Gloomshadow]

I once heard a story from the old BMW mechanic that trained me.. he once had a customer come in with a 10 year old car , rod knocking in it. He checked the odometer and it had less than 2K miles on it.. car was spotless.. He asked the old guy how could he have a 10 year old car with only 2K miles on it. Said the company gave it to him as a bonus and he drove it every work day to and from work less than a 1/2 mile each way and never really took it anywhere else except the occasional funeral and what not... he drove his truck to do other ****. Anyway , my buddy pulls the engine and tears it down to the crankshaft and sees that it not only had a rod knocking, it also had spun crankshaft bearings.. every bearing on it was trash..

turns out old dude had it for ten years and never even hit is oil change... water built up in there and never burned off.. engine never got up to normal temp and the water ran through the bearings, ruined every bearing in it...

[snrusnak]

Operating temps too low on an XB, I think this is a first!

[Macbuell]

Bad thermometer, or it wasn't touching the oil in the swing arm. No way 135 on these things after an hour.

[JustinMT]

I usually let my bike idle for 5 mins when cold, then go for a slow puts to heat the rubber up.

[go cytocis]

No way 135 on these things after an hour.

Is it a metric thermometer?

[Macbuell]

haha 275 and he might have noticed. I guess the low 40's with the wind hitting the face of the thermometer MIGHT have read 135, but it would not have been accurate of the oil temp.

[nwguy]

No, it's Fahrenheit. Here are pics of the thermometer in the oil cap. It's about 3/8" shorter than the original plastic dip stick, but it's still plenty long enough to be immersed in oil at a stand still. The end of the green paint on the probe matches the upper level fill line on the original dip stick. Even if it was too short to be immersed in oil while riding, it still will be when stopped. I checked it seconds after stopping after riding the better part of an hour.
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[user_deleted]

I took a ride the other day, air temp outside was in the low 40s. I rode for about an hour, so the bike was fully warmed up. The thermometer read about 135 degrees.

i'm betting that's reasonably close for low 40's riding air temps. look at it this way: the primary cover and primary/trans fluid consistently generate and retain more heat than the motor oil. if you ride at reasonable speeds and light loads for an hour in 40 degree temps then shut down and feel the primary cover, i'm betting it's in the 140-160 degree range. so 135 degree oil temps under those same conditions seem accurate. remember that you only have 2.5 quarts of oil touching a tremendous amount of aluminum surface area and aluminum sheds heat quite rapidly.