B&M Supercooler

**Hideki** · 05-01-2010, 12:21 AM

Interesting mod

it looks good to me, looks like a radiator. I'm actually contemplating doing this to my bike now

**WMarshy** · 05-01-2010, 01:03 AM

IDK... As others on here have stated before, that large of a cooler might not be as much of a help as one would think, you are blosking a lot of air that with that. It might be possible to actually raise the upper cylinder temp with that large of a cooler. Personally I dont think it needs that large of one. Either way it would be interesting to measure what the average head temperature is with out any cooler then measure again with your set up...

**3Phase** · 05-01-2010, 01:37 AM

Originally posted by WMarshy

IDK... As others on here have stated before, that large of a cooler might not be as much of a help as one would think, you are blosking a lot of air that with that. It might be possible to actually raise the upper cylinder temp with that large of a cooler. Personally I dont think it needs that large of one. Either way it would be interesting to measure what the average head temperature is with out any cooler then measure again with your set up...

Well, horses for courses. It won't help much in traffic when there's no air flowing but I ride a lot out in the California desert, Arizona and Nevada where it's anywhere from 100 to 130 degrees Fahrenheit for months at a time. For the last two years the bike has run okay in the heat but the Lockhart oil cooler it came with was too small to do much of anything except provide a place for the Lockhart sticker to sit and cook itself onto the top of the cooler. If it doesn't do well where it is I can move it somewhere else and try again.

Basically, the reason I'm doing this is because was fun to fab the mounts and fit it up to the bike (it's windy and blowing trucks over so no motorcycle riding for me today). Next I have to see if it runs okay as-is; needs a thermostat; really bad idea on a motorcycle.

I wouldn't recommend a Supercooler if you live in Prudhoe Bay, AK or Des Moines, IA; maybe get a thermostat or a manual bypass.

Regards,

Scott

**Pat Kelly** · 05-01-2010, 02:43 AM

I still think 1 or 2 computer cooling fans (they are 12v) mounted behind the cooler to draw air when stopped would be effective. Connect them to a toggle or thermo switch.
I have a 12v coleman cooler in my 18 wheeler. The fan went out at that is what I replaced it with. It uses a .5 amp fuse so I don't think they draw all that much.

**XS1100 Newbie** · 05-01-2010, 09:16 AM

Hey Scott! Looks like you are trying to turn it into a water cooled bike. That is a huge cooler. Any consequences in keeping the oil to cool in normal temps?

**motoman** · 05-01-2010, 04:16 PM

That ought to be good for an extra half quart of oil so as the sump's not low when running Scott.

**3Phase** · 05-01-2010, 05:11 PM

Originally posted by Pat Kelly

I still think 1 or 2 computer cooling fans (they are 12v) mounted behind the cooler to draw air when stopped would be effective. Connect them to a toggle or thermo switch.
I have a 12v coleman cooler in my 18 wheeler. The fan went out at that is what I replaced it with. It uses a .5 amp fuse so I don't think they draw all that much.

Pat, first of all thank you once again for the saddlebag lid! Electric fans are one idea I've been kicking around in my head. There isn't much head room on the XS electrical system so they'd have to be run and monitored very carefully or I'd have a really, really, cool engine because the battery is dead.

Originally posted by XS1100 Newbie

Hey Scott! Looks like you are trying to turn it into a water cooled bike. That is a huge cooler. Any consequences in keeping the oil to cool in normal temps?

Nope, no water cooling for me and, yes, there are consequences to over-cooling the oil. A Supercooler is to big and covers too much of the front of the engine to go medieval old-school on it and just put a leather cover over the cooler when I don't need it.

Ideally, oil should get up to at least 180F to do its job as a lubricant and a little over 200F to start evaporating the water that forms in the crankcase. I've been looking at thermostatically controlled bypass valves and manual bypass valves. The automatic control looks nice but manual bypass has no hidden failure mode. Even if it fails closed it will still allow the oil to flow like stock, just without the cooler and the extra oil in it.

The XS11 engine has a small oil hole in the big end of the connecting rod that faces up toward the cylinder head. Oil sprays out of that hole against the cylinder walls and the bottom of the piston to help keep the engine cool. If the cylinder and piston get too hot it will basically start to flash-fry the oil so cooling should help a lot.

Unfortunately there's no way to cool the cylinder heads without forward motion or fans.

Originally posted by motoman

That ought to be good for an extra half quart of oil so as the sump's not low when running Scott.

Uh huh, that's the idea! More oil and cooler more oil.

Regards,

Scott

**3Phase** · 05-03-2010, 07:42 PM

Preparing The Lockhart Oil Cooler Adapter Plate

There was a problem with the Lockhart oil cooler adapter plate but I believe I have fixed it.

The old fittings and holes in the Lockhart plate are too small and have too many sharp changes in direction and size. That is very, very, bad because there is no high-pressure bypass valve in the stock Lockhart adapter plate. The OEM Yamaha adapter plate does have a high-pressure bypass valve built in.

Without a bypass valve in the adapter plate the only pressure relief valve is the internal pressure regulator in the oil pump and the oil pump controls oil pressure by dumping oil straight back in the oil pan. There is a very real possibility of oil starvation when the oil is cold or during operation at high RPMs.

So, without any further ado here is what I did to modify the Lockhart adapter plate:-

Comparing a new fitting with the old fittings in the Lockhart oil cooler adapter plate

Old fittings: 1/4 npt (male) x 3/8 hose barb
New fitting: 3/8 npt (male) x 1/2 hose barb

Holes drilled out to 9/16 for the 3/8 npt tap

The new, larger, 3/8 npt x 1/2 hose barb fittings in the Lockhart oil cooler adapter plate

The oil outlet hole should be larger

The oil outlet hole has been opened up and cleaned

The oil return hole from the oil cooler has also been opened up and cleaned

All that's left now is to finish polishing the holes, they're the right size but still a little rough.

Tomorrow I have to change the oil and filter so I'll install the adapter plate, hook up the oil lines to the cooler and take the bike for a ride!

Regards,

Scott

**motoman** · 05-03-2010, 11:44 PM

Looks like more fun than floppin' like a fish with the 18wheelers. THAT kind of decifering and issue solving is right up my alley as you well know Scott. You always seem to come up with something that should'nt work and you prove otherwise! Good on you!.......again.

**3Phase** · 05-04-2010, 11:42 PM

Almost There!

The replacement saddlebag latches are installed, the cooler is hooked up and the bike runs with no leaks. It's been a pretty good day! I drained the oil and removed the filter, then took some pictures of the oil pump outlet where it comes out of the engine case and dumps into the oil filter housing.

I really wasn't happy with the Lockhart oil cooler setup and the engine never sounded quite right when it was installed so I took it off. Here is the reason for my concern about the oil cooler fittings and the adapter plate.:-

The oil pump outlet is slightly less than 1/2" ID and it feeds directly into the top half of the oil cooler adapter plate.

A stock Lockhart fitting fits loosely and entirely inside of the oil pump outlet. The stock fittings are 1/4 npt x 3/8 hose barb x 5/16 ID.

Only the tip of the new fitting fits into the oil pump outlet. The new fittings are 3/8 npt x 1/2 hose barb x 7/16" ID.

The adapter plate and the oil cooler are still slighly restricted.
The oil cooler hoses are both 1/2" ID.
The fittings in the adapter plate and in the oil cooler are all 1/2" hose barb but only 7/16" ID.

Meanwhile, here are the shiny new latches!

The new latches are slightly larger than the originals.

There is a gap between the saddlebag and the latch.

I have some fitting and finishing left to do!

Regards,

Scott

**3Phase** · 05-04-2010, 11:48 PM

Originally posted by motoman

Looks like more fun than floppin' like a fish with the 18wheelers.

Amen and thanks, Brant. I've never had an engine seize at speed whilst playing with the big trucks and I really would like to skip that particular learning experience if I can!

Regards,

Scott

**motoman** · 05-05-2010, 10:59 AM

IMO, that larger size cooler should'nt create any issues, cept a double-take for looks. Now just get those spindle legs up front braced and it'll handle like it's newer look!

**UJM** · 05-05-2010, 04:26 PM

Looks great!

It would not be hard to wire in one or more pancake fans, and a thermoswitch would also be fairly simple, as would a toggle switch for if you ever never wanted the fans running.

Might - MIGHT want a restrictor in the oil line to slow/limit flow - sometimes they actually cool better. I have no idea on placement or size

Great thread, great pictures, this is the stuff I come here for!

**3Phase** · 05-05-2010, 07:43 PM

The installation is more or less finished except for fitting a rock/bug screen over the oil cooler. Here are a couple of pictures after going for a nice ride this afternoon:-

Left front view of my bike with the oil cooler.

Close-up view of the oil cooler lines with hose covers made out of an old XS11 u-joint cover.

Now that the installation is more or less finished and before I go much further, I need to figure out a way to hook up my gauges to monitor the oil temperature and pressure. I've never actually checked either one on this bike before so it should be a revelation!

Regards,

Scott

B&M Supercooler

B&M Supercooler

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