Has anyone measured BTSV temperatures?

Just wondering what other people have found in this regard.

Here's mine: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mi3sdvztWV4

I was at a swap meet last summer and someone who also rode a VL had a temp reader like you use he shot the jugs on my bike while it was running I don’t remember the temperature but I was surprised how high it was I believe around 400 and like 360 there was a difference between the cylinders the bike was running very well that day . There are people with the information you are looking for hopefully they see this ,nice bike enjoy.

Thanks Shovelhead,

Your bike is a VL? What year? It's good to know that the temperatures I'm seeing are typical. I figured they would be, but just wanted to ask anyways.

Thanks for the compliment.

Flattys are supposed to be 100F hotter than an OHV, Folks!

Or else they ain't warmed up.

....Cotten

Cotten! What a gem there! Where is that image from? It's good to know that what I've seen is normal. I just didn't know which is why I was asking

Thanks!

Its from the 1942 Fort Knox Armored School Handbook, WildOne,...

I took my IR thermometer to Davenport one year, and read machines as they would pull by the booth.

Nothing made much sense to me.

....Cotten

Cotten,

I have searched and can't find that handbook. Might you know where I could find a copy for my collection?

THEWILDONE wrote:

Cotten,

I have searched and can't find that handbook. Might you know where I could find a copy for my collection?

My edition of the manual that Cotten cited had a green cover, but I gave it away when I sold my WL. Here are two links to outfits where you can get a reprint of the Ft. Knox manual:
https://www.45restoration.com/Products/ ... -1943.aspx
https://aaok.com/index.php/books-shop-m ... la-xa.html

The demise of the U series was because H-D had tried many different cylinder designs to reduce heat they simply couldn't do it. My old time H-D dealer, Andy Verrone, once told me that the ULH Big Twin Side valves usually tapered the cylinder .001 every thousand miles. So after 10,000 miles it was time for new pistons or at least expand the old pistons.

Chris Haynes wrote:

The demise of the U series was because H-D had tried many different cylinder designs to reduce heat they simply couldn't do it. My old time H-D dealer, Andy Verrone, once told me that the ULH Big Twin Side valves usually tapered the cylinder .001 every thousand miles. So after 10,000 miles it was time for new pistons or at least expand the old pistons.

I suspect it wasn't the heat they were fighting, Chris,..

They were designed for peak efficiency to run in the same heat range as 45s, which were a phenomenal success. The problem with larger bores is heat distortion.

The bigger the bore, the more it goes out-of-round, particularly close to the valves. (The squirrely barrel spigots were their own issue!)

There's only so big a 'Ricardo' motor can be, and survive.

....Cotten

As Dick contends, the big twin flattys were under lubricated. Perhaps part of the problem. I would have to agree with him based upon my limited experience.

It was 105*F today when I was riding my 80" UL around. With the CHP pump, the oil tank was nice and hot. I don't recall the oil tank getting this hot with the stock pump. It was more like just warmish. I think that the oil tank getting hot is a good sign as it means more oil is being pumped into the motor and back to the oil tank and thereby carrying a lot of the heat away with it.

I even called Matt Walksler at Wheels Through Time and asked him about oil pressure on these ULs. He said he never bothered to measure pressure. Just, that if he could stick a finger in the oil tank and feel oil returning, it was fine.

He also cautioned me against overheating it. I asked him what that looked like and He said, burning paint off the jugs....... Told him I saw 300+*F quite easily. He didn't think it was a problem at all.