Fitting an oil cooler

[gray]

I'm thinking about fitting an oil cooler to my Z9. I've found a dinky wee cooler, and organised the takeoffs , but I have a question.
Does it matter if the oil feed pipes feed in from above the cooler or below? I don't like the look of the pipes snaking round the side of the engine , so I though about thin pipes going over the top , and into the cooler from above.
Is there a basic issue here that I'm unaware if? I'm aware of the hassle with valve clearance access and heat to the tank obviously and will try to do my best with those issues.
Gray

[chrisu]

either way is fine - i've got one of each type !

You will get a bit more oil in if you go 'over the top' so to speak.

I've also seen where the pipes go completely under the engine - not tried that one personally.

[Pigford]

Over top is good as (already said by Chris) hold a bit more oil as it doesn't all flow back into engine - this may also be better as oil will get to vital bits quicker! If you have the option a "top fed" cooler will be best for this.

I fitted mine (on the A4) running under the engine as the cooler has bottom feed (snigger)..... and I like this option better than around side of motor as it's less obvious.

[freddyz1r]

As already said you can route any way.
consider a few things when 'trial routing' ; on one of mine I've done the same as pigford = underneath (I managed to catch a oil pipe on the exhaust downpipes ) you must makes sure there's no chance of movement / enough clearance as the oil pipes go past through the downpipes.
over the top /under the tank = I struggled a little for clearance/turn at the back of the tank and the oil pipes get in the way when you want to get at the carbs.
I'd suggest you get your cold bike, 2 lengths of rubber hose, a handful of tie wraps and have a play you'll soon work out what suits you.
Cheers freddy

[needaz1100r]

GPZ1100's run the cooler pipes between carbs 1/2 and 3/4 and over the engine, they even have a small plate between the top carb rubber fixing screws to hold the pipes in place. Basically the same engine, so there can't be an issue with doing it that way.

I would prefer oil in the top of the cooler for this reason - on start-up the pump has to fill the flow pipe that has filled up, then the oil in the cooler is pushed into the return pipe and into the engine where it continues on it's journey to create oil pressure.

If the entry is the bottom, the cooler emptys, so on start-up as well as filling the pipe, the pump has to fill the cooler before full pressure is achieved.

Now this is a bigger issue on a shell bearing engine, such as a Z650, but is it 0.5 second, 1 seconds, 2 seconds or more longer before pressure is achieved, even if it's milliseconds, why would you make that choice if there was an option?