Oil vs Air

[Whosthedaddy]

When it comes to a cooling system, any pros or cons with either?
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Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[Nath]

Air cooling doesn't work so well on bigger more powerful bikes.

I have an xs750, and they are well known for being liable to overheat. It's a three cylinder engine, and it's the middle pot which gets it the worst. The later 850cc model had an oil cooler fitted as standard, and plenty of people retro-fit one to the 750, as indeed I have done.

That said, Bandits are oil cooled and have hardly any finning on the head yet are not really known for cooling problems. Maybe it was just suspect 1970s design which made the bigger engines prone to overheating.


Both oil and aircooled engines are massively easier to work on.
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Hard livin', hard luck.

[Whosthedaddy]

Just curious to be honest as the monkey is air cooled and there are loads of after market oil cooling systems as means of an upgrade.

I'm all for simple
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Current : MSX 125 Past : CBR 900RR Monkeybike : c50 LAC : ZXR750 H2 : FZR600 : ZX7R P3 : YW100 : TRX850: Trophy 900 T309 : GSXR 600 L0: Monkeybike : XJ6S Whosthedaddy

[bish777]

I'd say it'd be fine aircooled as stock. Youll only really need to start upgrading the cooling if you indulge in some tuning.

70s and older aircooled machines can be tempremental when out of the wind but 80's on most aircooled lumps, particularly large capacity, were pretty sorted and reliable.

Oilcooling can be added to alot of aircooled motors by putting a radiator in the oil circulation at some point in its circulation.

A true oilcooled motor does not rely on aircooling, and has a more complex oil cooling setup, the example being the bandits (which are unsing the original GSXR lump). They have alot of oil jets and sprays that circulate oil to the various of the motor at high pressure and sprays oil on the underside of the pistons. Oilcooled motors run nearly as cool as watercooled engines, and this was the reason why they were used in the original GSXR750 and 1100s. The oilccoliong meant unrestricted power outputs but were at the time lighter than a watercooled engine.
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GSXR1100J

[Pete.]