Making an oil cooler adapter

[lsippell]

I want to put oil cooler on my XJ and was wondering if anyone had an adapter that’s not mounted on their bike that they could give me some info on how the oil passages run in it. I’ve got a nice chunk of aluminum here, and a Smithy mill/lathe and thought I’d try making one if I knew how it (the adapter, not the Smithy) worked. Or if someone has a spare they would be willing to sell, PM me.

Louis

[Geezer]

Re: Making an oil cooler adapter

Originally posted by lsippell
I want to put oil cooler on my XJ and was wondering if anyone had an adapter that’s not mounted on their bike that they could give me some info on how the oil passages run in it. I’ve got a nice chunk of aluminum here, and a Smithy mill/lathe and thought I’d try making one if I knew how it (the adapter, not the Smithy) worked. Or if someone has a spare they would be willing to sell, PM me.

Louis

I have a stock one that I could take pictures of and post up some where if that would help?

Geezer

[lsippell]

Geezer,

I'd really appreaciate that. I think the critical thing will be the routing of the oil passages and the nut that holds it on?

Louis

[Geezer]

Send me an eMail at technojock@yahoo.com and I'll get the pictures to you.

Geezer

[c.a.kustoms]

xs- vs-xj

would th xj use the same oil cooler adapter as the xs ? if so i have one that was just taken off of my bike and works. if you or anyone else reading this would like to puchase this let me know.

[John]

The adaptor would be the same for both the xs and the xj. You could also use one from an xs850, but the hoses would need to be modified. I ran one of those for many years on my bike.

[prometheus578]

xs850 hoses?

I was thinking about taking the cooler offa one of my 850's, but actually hadn't eyeballed it yet. What would be the hose modifications that you mention?

[GNEPIG]

.. i had a 05 heritage on my lift today, it had the oil lines plugged into the bottom of the crash bars ..seems like a good way to keep it cool and very clean looking too
.. any one got any good ideas on how to do this to our bikes?

[superdave]

oil cooler fit

I tapped the holes to pipe thread, and used hose barbs and steel braided lines. make sure not to use teflon tape( a piece could get in the system and f things up).I used teflon pipe thread sealant/ dope. no leaks...

[GNEPIG]

.. the pipe dope works good for sealing the drain plug also

[superdave]

oops

just to add i tapped into an sx 850 plate.

[John]

Re: xs850 hoses?

Originally posted by prometheus578
I was thinking about taking the cooler offa one of my 850's, but actually hadn't eyeballed it yet. What would be the hose modifications that you mention?

The way the hoses attach, they hit on the lower cross rail between the downtubes, and the cooler does not bolt up to our frames, as it does on an 850. You may be able to weld attaching points to the frame, I just used tie wraps for years. I had to cut the steel line about 1 1/2 inches from where it exits the adaptor plate and add some 'hose barbs' by brazing a bead around the OD of the outlet pipe. Then I mounted the ports on the adaptor pointing down instead of up, as is the factory routing. That left me free to route the hoses up the downtubes and avoid the header pipes. I used 1/2 ID cloth braided hose, like what is already there, just smaller, to connect the cut steel pipe. Make sure to add some 'hose barbs' to the upper portion of the steel pipe, also. I then used hose clamps to secure the hoses to the pipes. The cooler will not mount up with out these mods, but it will last for years if done properly

[Pat Kelly]

I was XSperimenting with the 850 oil cooler on my LG last night.
If I thread the reflector bolts all the way through the 850 cooler mounts the align perfectly with the reflector mounts. I'll have to modify (cut-away) some of the plastic mount for the reflectors (got a set off Ebay 2 days ago for spares) for the cooler bracket.
Lines off the plate should be able to be adjusted to run along the downtubes and I'll use the XStra oil cooler hose from the Lockhart kit to replace the braided stuff.
I'll have to buy some fittings to go from the hoses to the cooler.

[prometheus578]

Thanks, gentlemen.

[Pat Kelly]

Discovered a problem with the aforementioned mounting of the 850 cooler. The forks (barely) hit it on full left turn. To the right it clears easily.
On my next oil change I'm sure I'll find the cearance problems you mentioned with the oil lines and the frame crossbar.

Where there's a will (and enough money) there's a way.