When I first saw the newer generation of Harley oil coolers I thought they were too small. There was so much heat coming off Spinner I wondered if they would make a difference.

When I washed the Sportster yesterday I really hosed her down, but good, I must of made three or four slow trips around the bike, using a stronger "shower head" setting to make sure I got all of the salt and soap out of all of the nooks and crannies. Then I used the blower to dry her.

As I blew air over the left side of the bike, a gush of water blasted out of the oil radiator. It kept coming. It was so much that I moved to the opposite side and blew it once again. Another deluge. I went back to the first side--more water. I must have done that six or seven times.

There must be a tremendous amount of surface area in there. Obviously the radiator works best when the bike is moving, I still notice heat at the first stoplight.

I'm not familiar with new hydraulic applications on bikes. My only experience was on a 1979 Honda GoldWing.

Is there something that's been invented or re-engineered to provide such performance in such a small package? (BTW. washing the GoldWing never produced these results.)

Most radiators will hold lots of water when washed. If you have the cooler with the added thermostat your bike will heat up to operating temp before it lets oil cool through it. This is good as the engine needs to operate at its optimal performance. I guess after you ride it for a while you will see if it makes a difference for you. Hope it does and runs cooler, let us know how it works out.

Oh, one thing I forgot to tell you guys, and I do remember Spinner's condition from last year...

When the mechanic first fired up the bike in the service writers' area, I noticed that Spinner had a louder, meaner 'crack' to her exhaust. I actually like it.

I do have to point some things out. First, I realize that when you get back on after the winter, your bike might seem 'faster.' This was more a sound, or a tone.

She's not out of tune. She just came off the dyno, and she runs strong at all throttle openings, no hick-ups, no flat spots, no drowning at stoplights. Ryan is a whiz with writing code. Perfect.

I also checked the mounting of the radiator--not that I had to check his work, he's very good.

But when I listen to Spinner she has these metallic tones like the rattles and squeaks of a panhead.

Laugh if you want, but I have always like that mechanical symphony since I was a boy. It sounds rebellious.

The only thing I can figure out is that the frame oscillates like a tuning fork when the engine is running, and while the radiator is affixed with rubber covered claps it is far from "rubber mounting." The rubber is there to keep the clamps from scarring the frame paint, but it's hard mounted.

Lots of metal moving around, and the sheet metal construction of the radiator must act like a primitive speaker. All in all, even if the cooling isn't great, I'll keep it on for the nostalgia of the sound.

Okay, now you can laugh.

Got some more info today on oil coolers--and I don't understand a single word of it.

One of the old bikers at the gym now rides a step-through scooter in town the way I use Spinner. He got to the gym late, and saw my cooler, and met up with me as we left. He seemed impressed, overly impressed.

I told him that I was surprised the cooler was so small. He said, "Small? For a bike? It's huge!"

Turns out he knows lots about BTUs, heat exchangers and all of the data that goes with it. He surmised by looking at the size of the cooler that it could transfer 18K BTU per hour.

Gibberish to me. I know that BTU means 'British Thermal Unit,' but I do not understand the implications. He gave me the analogy that a furnace might provide 30K BTU per hour. I tried to get my head around that.

To me, a furnace provides a comfy +/-70 degree environment by running on and then off. A bike might run temps of 220 to 280 and it cranks that out constantly. It would appear to me that a bike oil cooler must have to be more efficient to draw off larger flucuations at a constant rate.

Still, my little cooler--about the size of a carton of cigarettes seems to be providing good numbers considering the size of my home furnace and heat exchanger.

Any of this make sense to you? If so, explain the idea to me--slowly.