Oil cooler

[soulmachine_imp]

Thinking back about the early days of Japanese bikes, over heating wasn't really a problem until they started making bikes over 1000 cc's. I believe that is when we started getting water cooled motorcycles. I remember the first bike that really gave me problems with over heating, that was my XS1100 Yamaha. It was air cooled and did not have a oil cooler. So I would assume the oil cooler is a necessity on the CB1100 for reliability. Nothing worse than having your bike shut off in traffic from over heating. It happened to me quite a few times on that XS1100. I think it would be a big mistake removing the oil cooler on the CB1100.

I had a '79 XS1100 right before buying my CB. That is the bike that really sold me on a big bore four. My XS had come indirectly to me from the original owner (long story) and he fitted the bike with an oil cooler. It wasn't until months after owning the XS that I realized it wasn't stock. I had been under the impression that the bike had come from the factory that way. Turns out, it was a genuine Yamaha add-on. Seems those big XS's had some over heating problems.

[tomas_imp]

Bugger it! I feel like being argumentative. Tomas, if you think this thread or the response to your question nearly two years ago constitutes an 'attack', with respect, you're dreaming. The only faint hint of an attack was the suggestion that you take it off and see what happens. Otherwise, your view was treated with respect. As Long Ranger's question has been.

I have no engineering knowledge and no idea of what the consequences of removing the oil cooler would be; but surely you'd assume that the chaps at Honda have thought a bit about this. Does anyone seriously think they sat around after work one Friday night chugging an Asahi or two and said, 'Let's bugger the aesthetic of this otherwise beautiful bike by sticking on an oil cooler that some members of a putative future forum probably won't like'? (You can tell they'd had too much Asahi by their use of the word 'putative'.)

If you think the Honda engineers are dipsticks, then take the advice given to Tomas [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=3331&pid=48710#pid48710]here: rip the bastard off, as we say here, down under. Go for it. Do your best. Let us know how (and for how long) the bike goes afterwards. We'll all be interested.

Meanwhile, please don't assume that, because we think you're crazy and say so politely, we're attacking you. We're not. We just disagree.

Honda does have smart engineers, I just think they could have done a better job with the oil cooler's size and location. I'm just saying, if your only option is to make it that big and ugly to keep the bikes running temperature down, they should've just made it a liquid cooled bike.

[kennyw]

Technically, oil is a liquid. Therefore, we do have liquid cooled bikes.

[LongRanger_imp]

Thanks, everyone, for your views. Much appreciated.

[TCinNC_imp]

This really amazes me. You are guys are acting like there is a 1920's style house radiator hanging off the front of the bike. It was put there because the oil is a major part of keeping the bike cool, and without it there is a strong chance for damage to the bike. Honda mounted it in a traditional way on a traditional looking UJM and I see nothing wrong with that.

Suck it up and ride on my friends.

Bugger it! I feel like being argumentative. Tomas, if you think this thread or the response to your question nearly two years ago constitutes an 'attack', with respect, you're dreaming. The only faint hint of an attack was the suggestion that you take it off and see what happens. Otherwise, your view was treated with respect. As Long Ranger's question has been.

I have no engineering knowledge and no idea of what the consequences of removing the oil cooler would be; but surely you'd assume that the chaps at Honda have thought a bit about this. Does anyone seriously think they sat around after work one Friday night chugging an Asahi or two and said, 'Let's bugger the aesthetic of this otherwise beautiful bike by sticking on an oil cooler that some members of a putative future forum probably won't like'? (You can tell they'd had too much Asahi by their use of the word 'putative'.)

If you think the Honda engineers are dipsticks, then take the advice given to Tomas [url=http://cb1100forum.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=3331&pid=48710#pid48710]here: rip the bastard off, as we say here, down under. Go for it. Do your best. Let us know how (and for how long) the bike goes afterwards. We'll all be interested.

Meanwhile, please don't assume that, because we think you're crazy and say so politely, we're attacking you. We're not. We just disagree.

Honda does have smart engineers, I just think they could have done a better job with the oil cooler's size and location. I'm just saying, if your only option is to make it that big and ugly to keep the bikes running temperature down, they should've just made it a liquid cooled bike.

Honda does have smart engineers, I just think they could have done a better job with the oil cooler's size and location. I'm just saying, if your only option is to make it that big and ugly to keep the bikes running temperature down, they should've just made it a liquid cooled bike.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder! If it was liquid cooled it wouldn't be "retro"

[Jim21680_imp]

If you're truly bothered by the cooler, I have no doubt this could be done, not only successfully...but maybe even to an improvement over the original design.

As clearly stated by others, you can't just remove it, plug the holes and crack open a beer. The cooling needs to be substituted in some way, right?
Figuring out "how" isn't really rocket science...you're just exchanging the oil's heat with the ambient air.

You could run a copper tubing loop up the frame, under the gas tank, around under the seat, and then return. That's what...7-8 feet of 1/4" tubing??
That's way, way more surface area than what the oil cooler provides. Sure it would take some creativity, and if you're wise, some confirmation on before & after temps.
But this is absolutely a viable project if you have the mind and desire to tackle it. You won't find me working on it, but it could be interesting...

[kmoney_imp]

You could also put a much larger cooler (to compensate for reduced air flow) between the framerails underneath the bike, laid flat under the engine. You see this type of setup on race cars with differential oil coolers -- though I'm guessing you could probably omit the fan they typically run.

Obviously this would put it undesirably close to road debris etc... but it could probably be made to work.

[Pterodactyl_imp]

'nuff said.

Mmmm. Liquid cooled motorcycles have a very long history, dating back to the early 1900s. For example would you consider a liquid cooled motorcycle manufactured in, say, 1908 "Retro"? That's about as "Retro" as you can get

Cheers

[Lord Popgun]

The Suzuki water buffalo was water cooled and came out in 1971.

[redbirds_imp]

Scot Flying Squirrel was a water cooled 2 stroke from 1909.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Llz6R24Y8Mg