Do Motorcycle Oil Cooler Work?

Oil can cool your motorbike, but sometimes people recommend oil coolers for more cooling. The question arises among riders, whether motorcycle oil cooler work or not? 

Motorbike oil coolers come with aluminum-made fins that absorb unnecessary heat, which your motorbike oil might absorb. By absorbing heat, the coolers ensure the oil won’t become highly viscous or low viscous. In simpler words, motorbike coolers work by protecting your motorbike from overheating. 

However, there are some demerits of oil coolers as well. 

Let’s look at what it means for you and what you can do about it.

Do Motorcycle Oil Cooler Work? 

It’s more common when a motorbike overheats irrespective of the oil that you changed. 

Sometimes it’s a fault of the motorbike oil you’re using, but sometimes it’s a fault of external temperature. 

Yes, external temperature highly impacts your motorbike temperature. And to reduce this overheating, you need oil coolers. 

The oil cooler is a simple device that comes with aluminum-made fins that run horizontally and vertically. These aluminum fins absorb unnecessary heat that your motorbike produces while riding. The motorbike oil coolers also protect your motorbike oil from becoming highly viscous.

How Do Motorcycle Oil Coolers Work?  

Before understanding the function of oil coolers, you should know why you put oil into a motorbike. 

Oil is generally put in your motorbike to reduce friction between the piston and cylinder in the engine. 

But one of the most essential reasons riders forget is that engine oil helps the motorbike cool a bit. 

Like water, the oil also comes with a heat-absorbing feature that absorbs significant heat from your engine. 

This continuity process heats the motorbike oil more than its threshold amount, thus making it dense. 

And this high viscous oil can’t rotate correctly in the engine, which increases the friction between cylinder and piston further. Thus making your motorbike engine overheat. 

Fortunately enough, motorbike oil coolers are there for your motorbike. The functioning of an oil cooler is simple yet effective. 

Motorbike oil coolers work by allowing oil to flow through them. And when motorbike oil flows through them, the aluminum fins, which have a heat-absorbing feature, absorb most of the heat. The aluminum fins and grates always fit the exterior of your motorbike for more cooling. 

In simpler words, motorbike oil coolers transport heat from the oil to the exposed aluminum fins. 

How to Use Motorcycle Oil Coolers?  

Using motorbike oil coolers is not rocket science. 

You just have to install a motorbike oil cooler for your motorbike, and it will automatically work. 

Always make sure you buy motorbike oil coolers that fit perfectly to your motorbike. 

Or simply, you can ask a technician to recommend the best oil coolers for your motorbike. 

In the next section, I’ve mentioned how you can install oil coolers into your motorbike. 

How to Install Motorcycle Oil Coolers?  

Installing a motorbike oil cooler is not rocket science; below are some easy steps through which you can install oil coolers on your motorbike. 

Attention: Although the steps below are easy, if you’re a bit non-techy, then it’s better to hire an experienced technician to install an oil cooler for you.

Steps	Details
Preparation.	Always wear protective glasses and gloves before starting.
Drain the oil.	Drain all oil left in the motorbike.
Make a room.	Disconnect all wires and harnesses.
Install an oil cooler.	Install oil cooler as per instructions.
Close inspection.	Inspect closely and make sure all screws tighten.
Final installation.	Connect all hoses to the motorbike oil cooler.
Refilling the oil.	Refill the oil which you drained earlier.

Preparation:

Before installing the motorbike cooler, you need to prepare yourself. Always wear protective glasses and gloves to protect yourself from skin to oil exposure. 

Drain the Oil:

After preparing and wearing all protective units now, you’ll have to drain all oil left in the motorbike. 

It’s more important to avoid any internal spill and damage. 

Make Room:

Now after draining the oil, next you’ve to make room by disconnecting all wires and harness. 

It’s more critical when your motorbike has less space. 

Install Oil Cooler:

This step is the most crucial; in this step, you’ve to install a new oil cooler on your motorbike as per the instruction manual that came with the cooler. 

This step also includes removing old coolers if it’s installed. 

Closely Inspection:

Now inspect closely and see everything is fitted alright. Check all crews and tighten and seal properly. 

Final Installation:

In this step, you’ve to ensure that all hoses are connected with the motorbike oil cooler. This step will ensure the motorbike oil flows directly through aluminum fins before circulation into the motorbike. 

Refill the Oil:

In this step, you’ll have to refill the oil, which you drain once. 

After refilling the oil, don’t forget to ride your motorbike for an hour to see if the whole system is working or not. 

You can also see these videos if you’ve any confusion. 

Is it Necessary to Install Motorbike Oil Coolers?  

Till now, you’ve learned the functioning of motorbike oil coolers and their pros and cons. 

Now the question arises, whether it’s necessary to install motorbike oil coolers or not. 

It’s necessary to install motorbike oil coolers if you don’t want to overheat your engine ever. Even installing a motorbike oil cooler helps save your money in the long run by avoiding engine expenses. In simpler words, it’s necessary to install motorbike oil coolers. 

Pros and Cons of Motorcycle Oil Coolers: 

Every gadget has some pros and cons; let’s see the pros and cons of motorbike oil coolers.

Pros of Motorbike Oil Coolers:	Cons of Motorbike Oil Coolers:
Protect motorbikes from overheating.	It may require some technical knowledge to install the oil coolers.
Prevent the oil from becoming viscous.	May add extra weight to your motorbike and reduce engine efficiency.
Save money in the long run by extending the life of motorbike parts.	Finding a suitable cooler for your motorbike may require some research.

Pros of Motorbike Oil Coolers:

The most significant pros of oil coolers are that they protect your motorbike from overheating issues, extending the engine parts life.

Another advantage of a motorbike oil cooler is that it prevents the motorbike oil from being highly viscous, thus reducing the friction between cylinder and piston. 

You could save more money by preventing any internal damage after installing the oil cooler on your motorbike in the longer run.

Cons of Motorbike Oil Coolers:

The most significant cons of motorbike coolers are that it requires a bit of technical knowledge for installing the coolers.

Installing motorbike coolers might also add some weight to your motorbike, which overall reduces engine efficiency.  

The last cons of oil coolers are that it requires more research to find a suitable oil cooler for your motorbike. 

You can ask your technician to find the best motorbike oil cooler as per your motorbike needs. 

When to Change the Motorcycle Oil Coolers?

Motorbike coolers come with an excellent lifespan; still, it’s better to know when to change the motorbike oil coolers.  

Here are some symptoms concluding there’s something wrong with your motorbike oil coolers. 

When to Change Oil Coolers:	Details:
Oil leakage.	Oil leakage indicates an improper connection.
Power loss.	Power loss is the sign of motorbike overheating, which indicates failure of oil coolers.
Burning smell.	The burning smell caused when your motorbike overheats indicate the failure of the oil cooler.

Oil Leakage:

Motorcycle oil goes through the oil cooler first before circulating in your motorbike. 

Oil leakage can be caused when you don’t join hoses together ideally. Contact technical as soon as possible if you see any oil leakage. 

Power Loss:

Power loss is one of the most significant signs of motorbike overheating. And if you see power loss, it means your motorbike is starting to overheat, which indicates a faulty oil cooler. 

Remember, in the case of oil coolers, a stitch in time saves nine. 

Burning Smell:

Motorbike oil coolers prevent your motorbike engine from reaching a high temperature. The burning smell is the most significant sign of motorbike overheating. 

If you ever sense a burning smell while riding, it would be best to check your motorbike oil cooler.  

Also, read why your motorbike rectifiers get hot? Read Here.

Final Words: 

Do motorcycle oil coolers work? Motorbike oil coolers come with aluminum-made fins that absorb unnecessary heat, which your motorbike oil might carry. 

By absorbing heat, the coolers ensure the oil won’t become highly viscous or low viscous. 

In simpler words, motorbike coolers work by protecting your motorbike from overheating. 

Don’t forget to call a motorbike technician if you ever found some motorbike failure symptoms as mentioned above. 

Frequently Asked Questions:

Here are Some of My Favorite Riding Gears: 

Thank you for reading this article. I hope you found it helpful as you build your riding journey successfully. 

Here are some riding gears I use as a rider that I hope you’ll also find helpful.

These are affiliate links, so I’ll earn a commission if you decide to use any of them. But in all honesty, these are the same riding gears that I use and recommend to everyone, even my own family.

Motorbike Riding Pants:

For getting started, I like Scorpion EXO Covert Jeans for men (check the latest price on Amazon.com) and Indigo Protective Riding Jeans for women (check the latest price on Tobacco Motorwear).

These riding pants are comfortable so you can use these pants in summer, and these pants have a lot of space for using knee guards. 

Motorbike Riding Helmet:

Throughout my riding life, I used several helmets, and almost all helmets protect your head well. Still, I personally prefer YM- 929 Yema helmets as it comes with Bluetooth and aerodynamic ABS shells (check the latest price on Amazon.com).

And suppose you want an eye-appealing and yet effective helmet. In that case, you can go with Icon Airform Sacrosanct Helmet (check the latest price on Revzilla). 

Motorbike Riding Jacket:

Jackets are crucial to protect your upper body. Honestly, every rider has a dream to have an affordable yet best riding jacket. And that’s why I personally recommend the Alpinestars T faster motorbike jacket because of the protection and comfort it offers (check the latest price on Amazon.com). 

Motorbike Riding Gloves:

Almost all riding gloves perform well by protecting your hands from sunburn and cool nights. And if you’re a serious rider, then you should go with Alpinestars SMX-1 Air v2 Glove, which is lightweight and offers you excellent protection. (check the latest price on Revzilla).