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Low profile oil cooler swap

29K views 62 replies 25 participants last post by  Apeiron 
#1 ·
Tried to search around but didn't find much regarding the 9T.

The stock oil cooler is huge(for a reason Im sure), but it's not aesthetically pleasing especially if you want to see the belt cover. I would love to swap it out with one that is low profile like the one in the attached photos. I don't want to lower the cooling performance of the bike obviously, especially riding down in the lovely Florida humid heat. What info or recommendations can you guys provide in terms of cooling performance not being affected by putting on a 'smaller' oil cooler. Are these lower profile coolers designed in such a way where they are smaller but actually in some way more/equally efficient?
 

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#2 ·
I hate to be the one to break the obvious news to you, but the lower profile oil coolers accomplish their lower-profiledness at the expense of actually cooling the oil. It's a shame, I know, being their only job and all.

They do look great on customs and bikes that get ridden 150 miles a year, I'll give you that. But if you're planning on riding your motorcycle in Florida in any season but winter, and want to keep your $12k air/oil cooled engine functional, I suggest you keep your oil cooler. I assure you, no design department straps a radiator or oil cooler on a bike that doesn't absolutely need one.
 
#6 ·
#11 · (Edited)
#18 ·
How efficient is the smaller cooler compare to stock? How did they get this conclusion? Any supporting data to show the conclusion.

What the surface area of the cooler?It could be lower profile but thicker in size?

Think about how many VTwins HD that are just air cooled that are still on the road.

If you are going this route, make sure you are using top quality oil that does not break down due to heat.
 
#16 ·
If only if someone from paris can ring them up

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#17 ·
I'm in the same case, thinking about mounting the RSD breast cover but first I want to change the radiator for a smaller one.
This Friday I'm going to my mechanic to test some radiators to see if it's possible to mount a smaller one without loosing refrigeration capacity.
I will share results.
 

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#19 ·
I'd like to see a comparison of before and after with stock mapping/oil cooler and after market smaller oil cooler/remap. These bikes come super lean from the factory to meet emissions requirements, especially in my home state of CA. I really like the RSD breast plate but almost half of the beauty is covered up.....


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#49 ·
Big cooler too big, too small? just right?



I've been snooping around on this post as we have the same complaint as RSD about the cooler covering our (oshmo) breast plate.

I have plans to do some data logging as soon as I'm done dyno-tuning the the two bikes I have here I'm going to work on some base line numbers, Ambient/Time/Load/MPH/ etc..
 
#30 · (Edited)
Yes this is what I did, and an interesting alternative view. However lets not let this thread wander off-topic.... Worth leaving this in so folk can consider an alternative approach. Bear in mind that in the UK at least, BMW don't look kindly on aftermarket cooler guards being fitted to the cooler and have refused warranty claims on other bikes with them fitted. (please don't reply to this on this thread lol already a thread on this topic elsewhere on the forum)

If there was a good looking, smaller and equally efficient cooler as the stock one, then I'd probably splash the cash if it wasn't silly money. Would improve the lines of the 9T and encourage me to do something with the alternator cover.
 
#36 ·
Guys, lets face it, these bikes are showbikes, not to be driven day in day out. Kind of irrelavent for our purpose, I think.
 
#34 ·
It's pretty simple logic - make the cooler half the size and it is half as efficient to cool the oil.

I do have a question guys - does anyone make a therm fan for these BMW coolers - I noticed there is very little area behind the cooler to place one. My Chieftain has about the same size oil cooler and I was thinking of mounting one on her.

Here's one I found - This is one way to cut the cooler size down

https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle...a_fmxDU4xzq-QW896-oCsX4udLlEVEEW3YaAnku8P8HAQ
 

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