1981 GS1000G oil cooler adapter with senders

[GS1000G Shopper]

Being in Florida, I wanted to add a decent oil cooler to my 1000G. I'm adding a Vetter fairing, so I measured the area of the bracket and ended up ordering a cooler that is 2" thick x 3" high x 8.125" wide. Earls and Sertab both sell this cooler, and it runs around $80 plus shipping. It has 6AN fittings.

I picked up an adapter from a member here that had 2x 1/4 and 1x 1/8 pipe threaded holes. It is significantly taller than the stock piece. I added a 55mm bolt for the rear, but can use the stock bolt for the front. I used some sealing washers from McMaster-Carr under the bolts (I also got most of the fittings there). After I got my eventual gauge unit (see this thread) with senders, I did a lot of test fitting. Here is what I ended up doing:

The temperature sender was a conventional 1/8 NPT unit, but when I put it into the sender port of the adapter, it partially blocked the flow for the 1/4 port on the other side. I enlarged the hole to 1/4 pipe and re-threaded it. I then used a bushing to accommodate the sender. It is nearly flush with the inside of the adapter.

The pressure sender is huge, and presented the biggest problem to fitting the unit in place. I ended up putting it in a tee on the pressure side and turning it 90 degrees via a street elbow.

The input and output needed to be 6AN, since that is what the cooler uses. This entailed a few 45 degree bends, either via brass street elbow or AN fitting (see picture). I have yet to cut the hoses since the cooler is not here yet.

After the adapter, I'm mounting an oil thermostat I had leftover from another project on the right side of the motor. It opens around 180 degrees, and had 1/2 NPT fittings, which I reduced to 6AN- straight on the front with 60 degree hose ends, and 45 degree on the back with straight hose ends (see picture). It's mounted to a piece of 2x2 aluminum angle, and uses a bolt on the head for mounting. The unit is held to the bracket with some #10 all thread at the top and 1/4-20 all thread at the middle. Both were bent into a U shape and retained by lock washers and nuts. I had to slightly enlarge the area in the middle to put the 1/4" one through. Everything except the AN to pipe adapters was painted with Rustoleum high temp paint.

I wired the senders with the gauge wiring, cut it off at several inches and added a Weatherpack connector. I insulated the terminals of the senders with some heat shrink and protected the wires with split loom.

Here are some pictures:

Oil thermostat:

 

[sharpy]

Do you really need such hardware just to cool you bike in a wam climate? This is all i have and it warms up like a normal bike over here? Dont add too much throttle untill i feel the RHS of the cooler get warmish.

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

I don't see any pressure or temperature senders in your hardware. If I was going to go to the trouble to install this piece, it made sense to me to install the senders while I was there. Our climate is beyond "warm" in the summer. We routinely see high 90 degree days (and occasional low 100's) with high humidity.

I run a thermostat on every air and water cooled motor I own that uses an external oil cooler, even my 25HP lawn mower (a modified GM power steering cooler). Even with the cooler, it hits oil temps of 250 degrees under load on a hot day- I never measured it w/o the cooler. I had a Lockhart cooler on my original GS1000G, but never had a gauge.

I will soon have a combo oil temp/pressure gauge on the Concours (liquid cooled 4 with factory oil cooler) so I can see the difference in the two, although it won't be apples:apples since the GS will take the temp on the return line from the thermostat & the Concours is from a galley plug (should show hotter than the GS).

 

[landshark]

Our climate is beyond "warm" in the summer. We routinely see high 90 degree days (and occasional low 100's) with high humidity.

I dont know anything about oil coolers, but i live not far from sharpy and our temperatures are similar to yours.
I have never needed an oil cooler on any of my bikes, but i have never had a 1000 before now.
Anyway, looks like your doing a great job, i hope it turns out how you want.

 

[sharpy]

I don't see any pressure or temperature senders in your hardware. If I was going to go to the trouble to install this piece, it made sense to me to install the senders while I was there. Our climate is beyond "warm" in the summer. We routinely see high 90 degree days (and occasional low 100's) with high humidity.

QUOTE]

Running the standard pressure sensor on my adapter. Works a treat.
Landshark, my thing isnt really standard and needs the cooler.

 

[landshark]

Landshark, my thing isnt really standard and needs the cooler.

Fair enough.
Nice bike, looks great.

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

Running the standard pressure sensor on my adapter. Works a treat.

That's not a pressure sensor (so far as being able to tell the actual oil pressure), it's a switch for the dash light. If that works for your situation, great. I prefer to have an actual pressure & temperature reading for my bike, which is why I plumbed the extra stuff into my setup.

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

Update

Update

I ran into a clearance issue with the oil pressure sender when reinstalling the carbs. I had to relocate it out using some 45 and 90 degree 1/4 pipe fittings along with a pipe nipple and connector- took a lot of test fitting to get it just right.

The oil cooler is also installed. I made a couple of aluminum brackets and it is mounted to the clamps that hold the Windjammer in place. I used some bonded rubber/metal washers on the bolts that mount it to the brackets to help with vibration (not shown in the test fitting pics below). I cut some 1/2" ID rubber hose and used clear silicone adhesive to seal them to the lower legs of the cooler where it presses against the frame. It's as high as it can go, but the tach cable won't clear due to the thickness of the cooler. My last roadblock is a longer tach cable. I'm getting a few quotes on having one (or maybe two) made.

While this was all apart, I resealed the cam chain tensioner (thanks Basscliff for the link) and replaced the clutch cable.

One other thing that came to mind- the adapter I used did not have a groove for the factory o-ring type of seal. Since I didn't have a gasket and both surfaces were flat, I used some Hylomar sealant there. From what I can tell, this is not a high pressure area- the oil at this location is returning from the thermostat. I'll find out how well I did when it starts up soon. ray:

As a side note, I put an old analog oil temperature gauge in my Concours recently (I have a newer digital one on order). It samples the oil from a galley plug in the crankcase. In 70 degree ambient before sunrise, it stayed around 120 degrees on a 25 minute ride. After the sun was up in high 80-low 90 degree weather it would hit 150 degrees after prolonged idling, but went down and stayed at 130 degrees once moving at highway speeds. The Concours is liquid cooled and has a factory oil cooler. I'm thinking it needs some type of thermostat since the oil is never getting hot enough.

Here are some pics of the final install:
Oil cooler mounting:

Oil pressure sender relocated:

 

[Sunburn]

How hot does it run now?


I run mine without a thermostat.

I might run one if I could find one small enough to make a clean install.

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

Still waiting for a tach cable before I run it.