oil/engine temperature gauge, pressure, big bore kit and engine temps/oil cooler?

[Chuck78]

I think my 77 GS750 has a Wiseco 844 kit in it already (it's fast as hell, previous owner said "guy I got it from said the moter's been boared"), and it seems to run fine without an oil cooler. I am going to probably upgrade to 850 cylinder jugs and MTC Engineering 10:1 920cc 72mm pistons (3mm over for the 850 jugs, 1.5mm less cylinder wall thickness). I was worried about engine temps running hard in the summer, and fighting off detonation. I got the pistons and jugs before I really had ridden the bike much, and after putting it through the paces in the southern Ohio hills and national forests several times against my buddy's 1132cc KZ1000, I realized that the bike is really darn fast as is, but I have a weeping oil seep out of the cam chain tunnel area, so I need to yank it apart anyway, and I can get rid of the suspect cam chain tunnel o-ring if I go with the 73mm bore MLS (multi-layer steel) newer GS1100 head gasket that I would need anyway with the 72mm pistons. So I will still probably be swapping out to 920cc for the uniqueness (out of production NOS MTC Engineering pistons!), as much as the performance gains.

Most on this board have told me that unless riding hard in intense summer heat, an oil cooler is not needed, but I am still worried. I was wondering how anyone has hooked up engine or oil temperature gauges to our bikes, also wondered if there is a combination oil temp/pressure gauge out there?

I don't have an exhaust gas analyzer to tell me if I have my carbs tuned properly, but I think it was 49er on here that has an 894cc 850 and he was giving me great updates on dyno tuning his 850 based big bore experiments using a dyno and probably exhaust gas analyzer to tune. Sounds like I will need smaller jets than planned, but I don't want to go too lean, as lean runs hot!
I figured I will take my ugly rusty black MAC headers and modify them a bit, recoat them, and wrap them with exhaust insulation wrap to combat any extra hot air hampering the engine's cooling. Also, making sure my timing is not too advanced, and tuning the carbs to 49er's findings on his engines and maybe going up one jet size beyond. Going to look for some Rotella synthetic diesel oil as well, as synthetic doesn't break down in high temps like conventional oil does, and the good diesel oils have all the great additives without the extra high cost of motorcycle specific oil.

Being in the capital of Ohio, Columbus, there are several dynos around town that I could probably utilize for a price if I was really worried about dialing it in perfect. I was wondering if going with big bore kits and running hot was more of an effect of the higher compression ratios, or due to the cylinder walls being thinner, or both? MTC actually shaved down my pistons to go from 10.5:1 to just a hair under 10:1 due to my street riding and concerns.

 

[Chuck78]

a few years back:

sleeve wall thickness should be no less than 0.080" - you can go big without many issues.

cooling issues can be fixed with
#1 richer jetting
#2 colder heat range spark plug
#3 retarded ignition timing
#4 a small electric fan for backed up stop and stop traffic
#5 header insulation wraping tape

Jetting one or two sizes larger than I need could be an option, if I could ever get it dialed in perfectly to where I need it anyways. Header insulation wrap is a very big yes, retarding ignition timing a slight bit in the hottest weather may be something I use as a last resort (probably run higher octane before I do that). Colder heat range plug? I need to read up on how plug heat ranges work and how they affect the combustion process.

 

[Chuck78]

ANYBODY???? Where and how have you guys mounted oil temp or engine temperature sending units on our bikes????

 

[boontonmike]

right side of engine below the barrels there is a sizeable bolt where you mount an angle fitting and guage

 

[boontonmike]

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?t=183303&highlight=oil+guage+install

 

[Chuck78]

Aha...THANKS!

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

Most on this board have told me that unless riding hard in intense summer heat, an oil cooler is not needed, but I am still worried. I was wondering how anyone has hooked up engine or oil temperature gauges to our bikes, also wondered if there is a combination oil temp/pressure gauge out there?

I used a VEI D1 digital combo gauge for this purpose on my C10 Concours, and now have it on my V65 Sabre. I think it was about $89 plus senders and shipping. Their website is here:
http://www.veisystems.com/d1-instruments.html

It's a great gauge, but like digitals kind of hard to see during the day.

My experience with oil coolers has been on the C10 and my red GS1000G. On the C10 (liquid cooled 1000cc Kawasaki) it never got above 150 degrees. I ended up making a sheet metal plate to block air for the winter, when it would eventually get to 120 degrees.

On the GS, in the Florida summer I'd see around 140 degrees, maybe 160 sitting in traffic. I used a 180 degree thermostat and it never got hot enough to open it. I eventually removed it all.

I have not ridden the Sabre (liquid cooled 1100cc Honda) long enough to really get oil temp readings. The one day I rode it the air temp was around 37 degrees and I think the oil hit the high 90's after 20 miles- the gauge does not register until the oil temp hits 90.

 

[Bevo]

I think the compression ratio is what drives the temperature up, if you had a laser temp gauge you can see what happens as it runs.
This year my 11:1 GS1100 got stuck in hot traffic a few times with no cooler and it got damn hot but ran like a charm.

The previous owner had an oil cooler hooked up with a stat to allow flow at a specific temp, as above he also never felt much heat in the cooler even in traffic. Once the line leaked a bit he took it off and never worried about it.

 

[GS1000G Shopper]

I forgot to add about the oil thermostat. I have used two different ones with the same result.

The first one I used on the GS was the Perma-Cool one from Summit that has either 3/8 or 1/2 pipe threads. Mine was the 1/2 pipe model, recycled from a car project. I recently took it apart and cleaned it. Doing so, I discovered it really does not block a significant amount of oil during warm up, which is why my temps never were very high. This model has a pellet and spring just like a liquid cooled thermostat, but on the flow-through side, it never fully seals- and there is a large area around where he spring goes through where oil goes through also. Kind of hard to describe, but that is what takes place.

I also used a Derale that looks different but likely functions the same based on the performance.

These run $50-60. Earls makes one that is about $100 and Canton has one that is about $175. I'd think they would work better, but they are also designed for a lot more oil than our GS engine will flow. The Earl's cooler has -10 ports, and the Canton -12. I used -6 hoses on the GS.