Fitting a larger aftermarket oil cooler?

[GuzziMoto]

I think the fan would make more difference in slow speed riding. Air cooled XB Buells came with a small fan that was on a thermostat switch. I would think just installing a toggle switch on the handlebar would be fine. That is a common mod on dirt bikes that get ridden in the woods. They either add a fan with a switch or put a switch to the original fan and turn it on when they think they will need it.

 

And I was not saying that you are making dramatically more power now and as such more heat, just saying that IF you make dramatically more power you will also be making more heat. Higher compression does usually mean more heat, though. Measurable? Don't know. Measure it.

[sp838]

What would be -really- cool would be if the fan could be turned on and off by a speed sensor, turning it on say when speed dropped below 15mph or something. But that's beyond my qualifications Simple handle bar switch wired onto switched power would be the easiest...

[Scud]

Building on KiwiRoy's earlier suggestion about adding a sensor on the oil return line - could't you use the stock engine temp sensor somehow to activate the fan? Then it would turn on only when it reaches a certain temperature.

 

Regarding the need for a fan:  I hardly ever get stuck in traffic (since we can split lanes here in CA) - but I overheated my Scura on the Distinguished Gentleman's Ride. After many miles of crawling along in 1st and 2nd gear it was struggling - then I had a hard time getting it started (it sat for maybe 10 minutes). If I do that charity ride again, I might go on my water-cooled bike...

[GuzziMoto]

You certainly could use a temp switch to turn the fan on, same as most every water cooled bike does. But trying to do switching based on speed would be hard. You would need a way of switching based on speed.

The advantage of the switch on the handlebar is that it allows you to switch the fan on BEFORE it gets hot. As long as you remember to turn the fan on when traffic slows down.

My solution is to avoid traffic like that to begin with. But if you need one, I would do the handlebar switch. The temp based switch is nice, but I like the control of the handlebar switch.

[knumbnutz]

The guzzi and bmw twins would have to be the coolest running bikes in history. Cooling them more is pointless, you virtually can't burn yourself on the motor.

I rode many jap bikes eg fireblade, vfr,etc and their frames get hotter than guzzi motors and I live in the tropics. Good oil is all thats needed and if youre desperate and bored, add a thermofan adjusted to the oil temp. 

[stewgnu]

You could stash a couple of chinese folding fans up your sleeves?

Whip em out at the lights and give the heads a flutter.

[GuzziMoto]

The guzzi and bmw twins would have to be the coolest running bikes in history. Cooling them more is pointless, you virtually can't burn yourself on the motor.

I rode many jap bikes eg fireblade, vfr,etc and their frames get hotter than guzzi motors and I live in the tropics. Good oil is all thats needed and if youre desperate and bored, add a thermofan adjusted to the oil temp. 

Uh, no, not my experience. Modern BMW flat twins are notorious for running hot in traffic, in spite of the engine layout that says they should run cool. My brother had a Rockster and that was the main reason he sold it. And our Guzzi's, including the V11, run hot whenever they are caught in traffic.

Plus, some of us have modified our Guzz's to make more power, which means more heat. Upgrading the ability of the engine to get rid of heat can't be a bad thing. Is it required for everybody to do? Clearly not. But if you ride in traffic alot or have some extensive engine mods making more power and thus more heat you may want to look into it.

I Doubt most Guzz's need to  worry about it. But I can see where some may want to.

 

Funny thing. The newest Guzzi 8 valve motors seem to be over cooled, and this is a bad thing. If your oil does not get above the temp required to boil off water you can and will have problems. The newest 8 valve Guzzi's do not have a thermostat and with their large oil cooler and the finning on the cylinders they seem to run to cool in colder, wetter, climates. That leads to "mayonnaise" in the oil which is a very bad thing. Not surprisingly, these same motors also have a habit of eating their flat tappets and it has forced Guzzi to switch to a roller tappet design. Are the two things related? I don't know for sure. But I do know that water in your oil will lead to oil related failures, and wiping your tappets is likely an oil related failure.