Oil Temp Gauges

TXMikey

Doc, I was nervous about taking the front fairing off also. When I finally bit the bullet and tried, it was a piece of cake. Hardest thing was getting the 2 bolts on the bottom of the fairing back on.

Ever wonder why the MOCO thinks we want/need an air temperature gauge? We're riding bikes; it's not like we're sitting in a cage with A/C and heat. If it's cold, we shiver. If it's hot, we sweat. What more do we need?

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"Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it's time to pause and reflect."

TQuentin1

Smitty,

I did both - oil temp gauge and oil cooler. Riding around down here in the Houston area, daytime temps are approaching the century mark. With oil pressure and temp on the dash, I feel like I can keep an eye on the engine's life blood. The air temp gauge was definitely useless - never even close except first thing in the morning to figure out the temp in the garage before starting the bike!

Where the oil temp and pressure gauges really help are in stop-n-go. If I am spending too much time stopped, and not enough goin' and the oil temp gets up over 230 degF the oil pressure drop below 10 psi at idle. Then I can look for a different route and spend more time goin. If that is not an option, I just pull over at the closest Ice House for a cold one or two. About 20 or 30 minutes does wonders for the oil temp. And the attitude adjustment makes the stop-n-go more palatable. Most of the time, that 30 minutes is all it take for traffic to thin out anyway.

So there ya go!

TQ

chief747

TQ,

Same problem here in the Albuquerque area. Specially in stop and go traffic. At least now I know the oil temp. is ok instead of constantly worrying.

chief

Vibratinharley

I asked the guy who I trust at the dealership and he told me that his experience and feedback from customers is that the LCD Temp dipstick is not accurate and not worth it. ( His words) I replaced ambient temp gauge with oil temp gauge and installed sending unit in oil pan. It seems to work ok but it's a HD one and it's backlight is brighter than the rest of them for some reason. Can't win....

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2008 Ultra Classic in all crashed up dark blue pearl
Stock Induction, Stock Exhaust, Xied's and
Alloy Art Touring XR Stabilizer (Wobble Fix)
No good deed goes unpunished!

glider

The digital oil temp dipsticks are garbage. Some work and some don't. If they work, after some time the quit then.

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TQuentin1

Vibrator,

If you still have your old air temp gauge, take the bulb out of the back of it and you will notice there is a "condom" (for lack of a better description) on it. This darkens the bulb and will let the new gauge match the "brightness" of the others if you put this cover on the new gauge's bulb, or just put the old bulb in your new gauge with the cover on it.

TQ

Vibratinharley

Hey, Thanks. I didn't even realize that it came off. It looks good now. **(you would think that by buying a HD expensive gauge, that it would come with it) I am glad fairing is so easy to take apart. I was afraid to do it at first and was gonna take it to dealer but I have had it apart 3 times now and it only takes a few minutes. Another way to save $$$.

__________________
2008 Ultra Classic in all crashed up dark blue pearl
Stock Induction, Stock Exhaust, Xied's and
Alloy Art Touring XR Stabilizer (Wobble Fix)
No good deed goes unpunished!

jmunsey

Not really. I had one on my 2000 Softail. It was one of the older ones and wasn't too bad. gave me something to look at while idling at a traffic light. Then about a year or so ago I bought one of the new fancy digital read out dipsticks that also displays oil level. I thought that was neat idea to be able to check oil level without pulling the stick out so i fored over $135 for it at the HD shop. The levle part never did work right and most ot the time the display told me the oil was too cold or too hot. It was difficult to just get a reading off it. I pulled it out and put my old one back in. Still have the new one. I may sell it someday as it is still like new.

Jim