Dave, Firstly Hi to everyone. Not sure of protocol so will have a look at the welcome bar or whatever shortly! Timely post by you here. I built the project and with the oil cooler not being fitted as standard initially on the 750 motor I ditched it for aesthetics as well. Having got a few miles under the belt I am now going back to fitting a cooler. I don't have a temp guage so relying on touch, smell and sound and engine is definitely too warm at times. I have the carbs running a tad rich but even with that there is a heck of a heat build up on the motor. I am looking for the smallest cooler I can find and will mount off the front cross brace on the frame which is in a similar position to the Sport Classic. So far "smallest" one I can find is 2" (50mm approx) deep and 8" wide in total but not sure how that compares with the one on your bike Dave? Standard one off the SS is similar width but 90mm deep. Perceived wisdom I have read on the subject says running too hot will shorten motor life span. Did think of simply running a hose in place of a cooler and could easily take it up in a loop behind the fairing but a small discreet cooler won't look too bad. I bought blanking plugs from Ducati dealer and they were only a few quid if anyone was going down that route. However given I live in the North of Scotland if I am experiencing heat issues then you guys will be worse! Hope this is of help. Stewart
Just a few points from my experience racing a 900ss Carb with oil cooler removed. I looped a braded hose from the oil out to the return port rather than blank it. It was long enough without straining the pipe on the example I had as it was made for when I mounted the cooler to the side of the engine hanging of the lower frame tube. Most races only last 8 laps so was never an issue. Equally when on track days it never got really hot. On really hot days I did fill the oil to the top of the sight glass so there was more to act as a heat sink. Cool days had oil removed for the same reason. Final points - it was my race bike so longevity was not a real concideration. It was only lightly breathed on (porting, HC pistons etc), I had a guage fitted so I could monitor it. It was serviced to an inch of its life after every race meeting. Having said that the engine is still in my garage waiting a siutable project. My opinion for what its worth - remove it if you want the style. I have another project 900ss carb with a cooler mounted under the seat and long one off pipes to feed it. If you can hide the pipes or live with them and want a cooler that is an option. My 900SSie race bike has a cooler as it is quite heavily breathed upon and still gets hot oil on a long, hard, hot track session - not seen many of those this year!! Hope this helps a small amount.
see these guys with different forum names for different forums I was going to suggest that Dave contact you as your bike is the only one I have actually seen running without the cooler.
