DK Customs Clean and Cool Oil Filter Relocation and Cooler Initial Review

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Okay so it is overcast today, but close to 60*. Doesn't feel as nice as yesterday, but, need to be in the wind. Did like 100 miles, mostly in the desert some highway. Also did lots of pull overs to turn off the engine and test the power vision connections. Maybe 10-15 times. The route I took was basically empty so I just pulled over when I felt like it. Total trip time a little over three hours.

Now that's what I call social distancing ... but I digress.

So, my first impressions on the oil cooler (the clean part is kind of obvious), I may have cooled the beast down too much ... LOL ... between the mighty mites, the good tune, the Clean and cool ... I couldn't get the engine temp "ET" over 200*, The head temp hung around 235*. So after three hours and about 100 miles running around, I took a picture of the oil temp on my digital dipstick.

So here's my numbers.





This is pretty kewl. I'll do some more posts after the temp around here gets to like 80* or so and then when it gets to 100*.

[DK Custom Products]

Okay so it is overcast today, but close to 60*. Doesn't feel as nice as yesterday, but, need to be in the wind. Did like 100 miles, mostly in the desert some highway. Also did lots of pull overs to turn off the engine and test the power vision connections. Maybe 10-15 times. The route I took was basically empty so I just pulled over when I felt like it. Total trip time a little over three hours.

Now that's what I call social distancing ... but I digress.

So, my first impressions on the oil cooler (the clean part is kind of obvious), I may have cooled the beast down too much ... LOL ... between the mighty mites, the good tune, the Clean and cool ... I couldn't get the engine temp "ET" over 200*, The head temp hung around 235*. So after three hours and about 100 miles running around, I took a picture of the oil temp on my digital dipstick.

So here's my numbers.





This is pretty kewl. I'll do some more posts after the temp around here gets to like 80* or so and then when it gets to 100*.

nah, not too cool. Optimum cylinder wall temperature is 190*, and you are probably still a tad over that...but it is close to impossible on these bikes to maintain that optimum temp.

(here's a LINK to an article on the 190* cylinder walls, plus there is much more on google on the subject).

Your numbers are looking pretty good!!!

Kevin

[FuzzyWuzHe]

nah, not too cool. Optimum cylinder wall temperature is 190*, and you are probably still a tad over that...but it is close to impossible on these bikes to maintain that optimum temp.

(here's a LINK to an article on the 190* cylinder walls, plus there is much more on google on the subject).

Your numbers are looking pretty good!!!

Kevin

Kewl Article ... not sure how I missed that. I am getting old ... LOL

Particularly, for some reason, I thought the Outlaw oil filter was just a way to save $$$ in the long run on filters. I was surprised to see all the improvements it actually makes to the "process of performance".

So, you guessed it, I ordered one for the Fat Bottom Girl. That makes 8 DK products on my Tri ... starting to rival HD and Kuryakyn, and those guys products are mostly bling ... LOL ... DK's products actually improve the performance of the Old Gal and the comfort on this old guy.

I'm assuming the cleaning instructions come with the filter. I'm also assuming this filter has a similar cleaning cycle to the replacement cycle of the HD One, probably longer.

I will continue to do engine oil at 4k or yearly and clean this new filter, primary and transmission at 8k or yearly, unless this filter needs to be cleaned sooner which seems unlikely.

Disclaimer: I have NO affiliation with DK Custom Products other that I love the way the products are developed, built, tested, and supported.

[DK Custom Products]

I'm assuming the cleaning instructions come with the filter. I'm also assuming this filter has a similar cleaning cycle to the replacement cycle of the HD One, probably longer.

I am not sure if instructions come in the box with them or not...and since I am working from home, I can't run over to the inventory and look.

But it is really easy-

"Cleaning the filter & the housing is easy- wash the stainless steel element in cleaning solvent, gasoline, kerosene, carburetor cleaner or any other degreasing agent. Let air dry, or you can use compressed air."

The above is the "official" instructions.

I have done more than a few oil changes in motel parking lots (during long trips). When traveling, I get a can of carb cleaner and use that to clean the filter element.

When at home, I use hot water and dawn liquid soap (it is a really good grease cutting soap).

Yeah, I used too change my oil and clean the filter every 3k-5k miles....and the reality is, there is so much more good filtering surface on these that many times the "cleaning" of the element is hardly needed.

The last few years, I still change my oil every 3k-5k miles, and I check the filter element each time, but usually only clean it every other oil change. (of course, I clean the magnet every-time, regardless).

Kevin

[FuzzyWuzHe]

The last few years, I still change my oil every 3k-5k miles, and I check the filter element each time, but usually only clean it every other oil change. (of course, I clean the magnet every-time, regardless).

Kevin

Magnet??? On the drain plug? If there is a magnet on this filter, I really need to get new glasses, and I've only had these a couple weeks ... maybe a new eye doctor ... although, I've had the same guy for like 20 years. Gonna go check your site again ... I am getting so careless.

BTW, early this morning I got an email that it has shipped, you guys are quick.

Yep, the site does say permanent magnet ... .... I think I know what's wrong ... all these audio books I "read" ... I think my reading skills are deteriorating ... that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Maybe not, I still read on average a book a week. Maybe I'm reading too fast???

[DK Custom Products]

Magnet??? On the drain plug? If there is a magnet on this filter, I really need to get new glasses, and I've only had these a couple weeks ... maybe a new eye doctor ... although, I've had the same guy for like 20 years. Gonna go check your site again ... I am getting so careless.

BTW, early this morning I got an email that it has shipped, you guys are quick.

Yep, the site does say permanent magnet ... .... I think I know what's wrong ... all these audio books I "read" ... I think my reading skills are deteriorating ... that's my story and I'm sticking to it. Maybe not, I still read on average a book a week. Maybe I'm reading too fast???

Yep, there is a pre-filter magnet on the actual filter element. It does a pretty good job at catching stuff, keeping it from even getting to the actual filter element.

Yeah, you're listening too fast.

I made a switch a few months ago...instead of reading paper books, I am now reading on a Fire Tablet. It is working out well. Was not sure how I would like it, but it's actually much more convenient than reading a paper book, plus less expensive, plus saves paper!

Have not made the switch to listening to books...sorta hesitant to even try it.

Kevin

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Yep, there is a pre-filter magnet on the actual filter element. It does a pretty good job at catching stuff, keeping it from even getting to the actual filter element.

Yeah, you're listening too fast.

I made a switch a few months ago...instead of reading paper books, I am now reading on a Fire Tablet. It is working out well. Was not sure how I would like it, but it's actually much more convenient than reading a paper book, plus less expensive, plus saves paper!

Have not made the switch to listening to books...sorta hesitant to even try it.

Kevin

I love the audio books when on a trip, If and when we can do that again. I sorta get lost in them. It's not so lost that I don't pay attention to the road and other vehicles, but, I have been known to loose track of fuel levels and out here, that can be dangerous. My favorites on a trip are the ones that last 15+ hours. By playing them from the phone via bluetooth to the car or trike's system, each time it connects, it picks up where it left off.

Audible now gives me 2 free "Audible Originals" a month. They are like Readers Digest short stories. Anywhere from 1 to 4 hours long. Listening to "Break Shot" by James Taylor. He's trying to explain how his alcoholic father and displaced Yankee B$tch mother caused his families drug issues, including his. He had a tough childhood, Winters in the south, Summer's on Martha's Vineyards ... pretty tough to take.

I can sum it all up in one word. Privileged. I'm more than halfway through the 1.6 hours, so I will stick with it, just hope there's more to his justification than "We Had Everything and Still we couldn't be Happy".

As for my book a week habit, that doesn't count the audio books. On March 8th, I started the Left Behind series (12 books I think). my plan is to finish it by the end of April. If the weather stays bad, might just happen.

[GARYD]

I don't know how you guys do it. I bought a couple audio CD's from Bill O'Reilly, "Killing Patton" and "Killing Lincoln". I converted them to my mp3 player so I can listen at the gym. I tried listening to them in the car but can't drive and listen and comprehend at the same time. I don't even let my wife talk while we are driving. LOL

I can listen to music but not the spoken word. If that makes any sense.

BTW, I'm still in love with the Pro Action shocks.

[ultrafxr]

I don't know how you guys do it. I bought a couple audio CD's from Bill O'Reilly, "Killing Patton" and "Killing Lincoln". I converted them to my mp3 player so I can listen at the gym. I tried listening to them in the car but can't drive and listen and comprehend at the same time. I don't even let my wife talk while we are driving. LOL

I can listen to music but not the spoken word. If that makes any sense.

BTW, I'm still in love with the Pro Action shocks.

It makes perfect sense to me Gary. To comprehend what is being spoken requires concentration. I find talking on the cell phone even hands free (as is required here in TN) is too distracting. To pay attention to what is being said and fully concentrate on your driving / riding is just not possible imo. Listening to music does not require anywhere near that level of concentration . . . especially when we listen to songs we are already familiar with.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Out here ... driving/riding is not nearly as difficult as driving in other places ... did 100 miles in the desert roads this morning ... LOL ... never saw another car, bike, truck, etc.

Did see a prairie dog ... .

All kidding aside, not much different then listening to music. I might not get all the details, but, with my reading habits (about a book a week and maybe 2-3 audio books a month, my reading retention is off the charts ... I'll bet I've got over 100k accident free miles listening to audio books, so I guess I've learned to do two things at once. That and I never have a co rider to listen to, well Harley, but he's to busy to listen to me anyway.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

When I installed the High Efficiency oil filter thing, I topped off the oil level. I forgot my driveway is not level and managed to overfill. I finally got the level back where I like it by loosening the filter twice and letting it drain. I like it just below the completely full mark on the digital. Maybe a fraction higher than it is in this pic.



Decided to do a "test" ride .

Okay, so did about an hour riding this afternoon (2 rides, one day) ... did maybe 1/2 hour at highway speeds ... the rest around town. Ambient was 74* ... numbers at the PV were pretty much the same as they were at 60*. ET stayed around 197*, HT was 230*, Oil in the tank was 193* when I got home.

Pretty much liking these numbers.

[ShapeShifter]

Kudos to you and the FBG! Starting to warm up to that Outlaw High Performance Cleanable Oil Filter, especially in Anodized Black....no real travel expenses in the coming months, so a cleanable filter just might make it's way onto my short list.

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Ya know, I felt like it was just a cleanable filter at first ... guess I'm getting old and don't have the patience to read all the "words" now a days ... but ... there's way more to it than that.

Does the OUTLAW High Performance Cleanable Oil Filter increase cooling? It has to by some small measure, the machined fins add surface area which will increase heat transfer across it similar to how the oil cooler works, but, on a much smaller scale. Moving it to a more air flow area, under the passenger floorboard, increases the flow of air across the increased surface area, so more cooling.

The magnet is a good idea, being right in the oil flow, although the drain plug one is probably sufficient since any metal will eventually end up in the pan .... but, do I really want it running through the whole system to get there? By catching the possible metal before it goes back into the oil pan, you do minimize the chance of it being picked up by the pump again before settling to the drain plug. Good thing.

I also was impressed with the ease it comes apart, just three pieces (4 if you count the rubber gasket) ... yea, played with it some before I installed it . In the pool business I would of called this a "low cost to own" add on. New filters are like $10-12, so after 10 oil changes or so you've paid for the filter. Yea, there is some slight cost to replace the gasket, not sure how many oil changes it's good for, but, if you tighten it by hand, I'm guessing 5 ish. Also a little cost for dawn to clean it ... LOL, but I know you guys are gonna steal that from your wives. I'm stealing it from Mom .

I have no way to verify the flow claims, but, I'm assuming some ambitious rider would of sued them by now if it wasn't true. Having said that, I did notice a slight increase in oil pressure when installing the Cool and Clean, like maybe a pound or two, especially when at idle and normal operating temps.

Having been in nuclear power and being forced to learn about headloss, entropy, and lots of other things with formulas I've forgotten, I assumed the pressure rise was do to more headloss. Basically friction due to obstacles in the oil system post install. For example, if you have a straight pipe, there is less headloss than one with a 90* elbow in the middle.

The cool and clean adds head loss via the extra fittings, cooler, adapter plate and the additional length of the hoses. I have no quantitative data, because I don't know the headloss coefficients for rubber hose, the adapter plate, fittings on the cooler, the cooler and relocated filter mount Not to mention any curves in the hose to route it. I do however know the increased headloss has to be there, basic scientific laws of heat transfer and fluid flow.

So, it didn't surprise me to see a slight increase in the oil pressure. For the record, as you increase headloss, you increase pressure, but, decrease flow. Conversely, you can lower pressure by increasing flow. I'm guessing these changes are very minimal in the case of the Cool and Clean as evident by a single pound increase in oil pressure. Was I worried about less flow, nope, the oil pump is a positive displacement pump, so you'd really have to decrease flow to not get the oil where it needs to be.

So why do I ramble on about headloss? Well, when I installed the OUTLAW High Performance Cleanable Oil Filter, the pressure increase I saw when installing the Cool and Clean (1-2*) went away. The oil pressure numbers have returned to the same as before the cool and clean was installed. This proves to me that the OUTLAW High Performance Cleanable Oil Filter does indeed increase flow over the OEM filter. In a good way, since the pressures are now back to where they are as Harley designed them to be.

I'm not gonna debate weather that's correct or not. But one does wonder when HD comes out with a larger filter for the M8's because they require more flow, three years after the release of the M8's. Ya have to wonder why they didn't figure that out during the original design process and how they came to that conclusion now. Data catching up to production. New testing. Failures due to low flow. Enquiring minds want to know. Not bashing HD, just curious to me.

Wow ... I've just re read this. My initial thought was to thin it down ... but, decided to leave it alone to give you guys a small taste of where my mind goes if allowed. Carla (Paws) calls it the Twilight Zone

[DK Custom Products]

Ya know, I felt like it was just a cleanable filter at first ...

Wow ... I've just re read this. My initial thought was to thin it down ... but, decided to leave it alone to give you guys a small taste of where my mind goes if allowed. Carla (Paws) calls it the Twilight Zone

Hey Alan,

Just read the whole thing. Lots of good thoughts, and I'm pretty sure you prolly had more that never made it out your fingertips onto the screen.

These thoughts, going down all the rabbit holes, they are needed when designing a new product. We had all of those and more when working on this design.

To make up of the extra hose length and the turns in the fittings and mounts, all passages are much larger than the passages in the engine, to make up for the headloss. What we wanted to end up with was the exact same oil pressure, or at least within 1# +-.

Some of the other things we took into account is:

Colder temps will produce higher psi

New oil, at the same temp, will produce higher psi than the same oil that has some wear on the additive package

Different OEM filters will produce different PSI, even of the same brand and part #, since the paper filter element is not uniform filter to filter

A performance filter, like you just installed, will always produce a bit less psi than an OEM or aftermarket paper or synthetic filter

The rabbit holes are countless sometimes....AND...what works out in reality is often different than theory, which is why we do so much on the road testing.

Great post and glad it is working well for you.

Kevin

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Did two rides today ... I'm starting to like this social distancing ... now if only I could do the long John silver's thing ... maybe I can.

Anyway, I am really liking the new set up, especially knowing I've increased the longevity of the old gal, so much so, I haven't even looked at the White Indian in days (got a call from the dealer, they rejected my offer, and, I think they sold it cause it' not on the site anymore).

I've given this some thought, and, I'm fairly certain the only thing I'd trade the FBG for is a white dct gold wing with a CSC independent suspension ... pretty sure that won't be happening

[FuzzyWuzHe]

Okay, I've done a few rides since the install of the Cool -n- Clean, but, none on a day as hot as today.

So, with the whole "potty" and "do not destroy my house" training, I haven't gotten too much seat time. Mom doesn't mind baby sitting, but, Kira is brutal to her. She has mom's arm all torn up. I get it, Kira is teething and maybe e still a tad insecure, but, you need to be firm with her. She is like my last wife, hates to be told to do things that she doesn't want to do. And like my last wife, she can be incredibly lovey when she wants to be. Anyway, I digress.

Mom agreed to watch her a bit while I did a couple returns to Amazon. For some reason, Amazon wanted me to drop one off at UPS and one at Kohl's. Fortunately they are in the same end of town.

On my way there, max speed 50 mph, the air temp was 99*, ET as read by PV was 216*, coolant temp 185* and head temp was 245*.

On the way home, I opted for I70 just for the shorter time, max speed 75 mph and air temp was 103*, ET as read by PV was 228*, coolant temp 195* and head temp was 285*. Oil temp when I got home was 238*. Forgot to check it on the way out.

I don't remember what they would have been pre cooler and filter relocation, but I know I've seen ET in the 260-270* range in Mesquite, so I'm guessing the cooler and filter are doing their job.

As for seat of my pants heat, I had on shorts, a T shirt, sneakers ... only heat I felt was on I70, that was heat coming from the radiators on my feets. Think I'll lower the highway pegs down just a tad, get my feet lower than the outlet.

I think my digital oil temp/level gage is dying finally, but only the level part. It keeps flashing either hi or low levels.