82 GS850GL is it worth putting an oil cooler on it?

[Guest]

1982 GS850GLZ, is it worth spending the money to put an oil cooler on it? Daily rider, weekend touring.

If yes, does anyone have any suggestions.. like which brand or what bike to get one from. I will wind up contacting someone for the switch plate mod if this is cost and performance effective.


Thanks,

[Rijko]

Functionality wise ... if you are not racing in the desert - no, it's usually not needed.

If you like the looks, it may be worth it.
400-500 bucks for a new modern set, cheaper if you
can find the period-correct Lockhart cooler.

You need a thermostat too, otherwise the engine needs
a long time to warm up and increased engine wear may
occur.

[gsrick]

1982 GS850GLZ, is it worth spending the money to put an oil cooler on it? Daily rider, weekend touring.

If yes, does anyone have any suggestions.. like which brand or what bike to get one from. I will wind up contacting someone for the switch plate mod if this is cost and performance effective.


Thanks,

Chris, we live in "it's freakin hot" Florida. If you can afford it, it's a no-brainer.

I'm no expert on aftermarket stuff, but I've heard of Lockhart somewhere.




Oh yeah, I grew up in Lockhart.

[Steve]

My wife's '82 GS850GL (don't need the "Z", it's redundant) has lived for many a mile going across the plains of Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and into Colorado without a cooler. Never bothered to measure any wear factors before and after, but it certainly does not seem to have been damaged in the process. Oh, yeah, it was the summer of 2005, temps were over 100 each day.

.

[Cipher]

37 years ago a Suzuki Factory mech trainer once told me that Suzuki tested bikes in the Mojave desert.
I assume it gets very warm there.

[Dogma]

The hottest my 1000G ever got was from flogging it over a mountain (and back, and over again) in WV. I could smell it. It didn't get that hot on a track day. The only way to get an 850 hotter in Florida would be to leave it running while parked. Or stuck in traffic. Or towing a camper.

An oil temperature gauge is a fun thing to have installed, to see what kinds of riding yield what kinds of temperatures. Mine died of vibration, but not before it confirmed that stock cooling was enough for the hottest days. Basically, a stock engine delivered without an oil cooler isn't ever going to need one. If you build a motor up to make more power, that's another story.

[storm 64]

What I'd rather have instead of a oil cooler would be a fan. On hot days sitting in traffic it would be nice to be able to hit a switch and kick on a couple of high output fans. You could mount them on the frame horn mounting aria...

[1978GS750E]

I know they make fans for Harleys! You could probably mount them on a Suzuki without much trouble. The ones that I have seen work automatically off of a thermo switch. When the engine reaches a set temp, the fans kick on.