Total Motorcycle Community Forums

First off thanks for all the help with that miserable oil filter nightmare I had....I did finally get it off......but I have another question some of you fellas might be able to answer.......sometimes in the summer my oil tank gets hot enough to where it gets the inside of my right leg (thigh) hot enough to where it is uncomfortable to ride so when it is hot out I wont ride soemtimes just for that reason....I have looked into alot of different fixes for this...and I cant put some huge ugly oil cooler on this bike because 1. they are ugly 2. I wont ruin the looks of the bike. so some so I bought a Purepower oil filter and some of the techs at this place are telling me that it would also be a good move to change my oil to a 20w40deisel oil and that takes alot of the heat off the oil and with both of these things in place I should have no more HOT oil problem!! what do y ou folks think about that oil change thing.?? I havent done it yet but they new the oil I was using alredy and said that was one of the reasons my oil was too hot! personally I havent ever heard of anytihng like this...but what the heck I havent heard of alot of stuff!!!so I figured I would ask.................thanks Kev

Changing to a heavier oil may take away some of the heat, but I doubt it will be anywhere near enough to keep the inside of your leg from burning. Air cooled motors run hot, and any bike with a dry sump system (ie - oil is stored in a separate tank, not in an oil pan on the bottom of the motor) is going to have a hot oil tank. Installing an oil cooler will reduce the temperature, but only about 10-20 degrees.

Basically, you're going to have to take the pain. Or do more highway and less city riding.

Hello,
Hot oil is good. It's doing its job. If the heat generated in the motor doesn't get transferred to the oil then the whole motor will overheat. It is even possible to make the oil "too" cool by adding a cooler depending on conditions. I wouldn't be changing type of oil to make you happy.... change it to make your engine happy.
My 2 cents
Bob