HankY Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Just took my New-to-me 2000RT for its maiden voyage in balmy Michigan, 43 degrees before the windchill. The heated grips worked well, but I was wondering about the warm air vents advertised in the manual. I don't see the lever they refer to that is to direct warm air to the vents next to the mirrors. The previous owner had to replace the left side plastic (glove box)and I wonder if in doing that the lever was somehow removed and not replaced. Anyone have a photo of this lever? Do the war air vents even work? Thanks, Hank Link to comment
SteveHebert Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I never felt a difference with the vents. If I recall, the lever was attached to the dash and not the side plastic. Look near the bottom of the speaker housing and towards the inside (closer to the center) of the dash. Link to comment
oldyam Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 The lever you are looking for is down on the plastic duct beside the fork leg on both sides, and can be difficult to see and operate until you have found the thing Link to comment
smiller Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Do the war air vents even work? Maybe a good idea in theory I guess but I've never been able to tell any difference whatsoever. You can feel some heat if you jam your hand down right over the vent but beyond gymnastics like that there's way too little heat and way to much extraneous airflow for the rider to feel anything. Link to comment
Lighthiker90 Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 I agree with smiller. The vents don't do much at all. The little lever to operate them is not accessible while riding. Look down your fork tubes. On the plastic deep in the recesses just off to the left and right of the tubes are two levers attached by springs to the flaps that allow hot air to flow. They really are not useful though. Link to comment
OoPEZoO Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 The only time I have ever noticed them making a difference was in the summer time where it was already hot out and they were accidently left open for some reason. In that instance they will completely cook your hands, but I never noticed them helping when it was cold out. Good idea, poor execution 1 Link to comment
smiller Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 Which is why I just left mine in bypass mode all of the time. I'm afraid the whole affair is yet another well-intentioned BMW innovation that causes more problems than it solves. Link to comment
BrianM Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 In cooler weather (below freezing) the only difference I noticed was routing the air to the upper opening caused less air to flow around the fairring at your hands. In cooler weather I also taped over the oil cooler to keep the engine warmer at highway speeds. Link to comment
Clive Liddell Posted November 11, 2013 Share Posted November 11, 2013 The average temperature where I live is around 28C going up to near 40C and those vents are a lifesaver ducting the hot air from the oil cooler out the side vents and allowing ambient air to flow onto one's body and face. One of the reasons I didn't even look at a 1150RT... Link to comment
HankY Posted November 12, 2013 Author Share Posted November 12, 2013 Thanks for the input. I did find them after knowing where to look. Snowing and 30F today, so don't think I'll get a chance to experiment. Link to comment
AndyS Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 If it is winter they don't work as the oil cooler is barely circulating any hot stuff. However, in the summer, when you want to be cool, the oil cooler is working flat out and then you can duct as much hot air up towards you as you like. 1 Link to comment
smiller Posted November 12, 2013 Share Posted November 12, 2013 The average temperature where I live is around 28C going up to near 40C and those vents are a lifesaver ducting the hot air from the oil cooler out the side vents and allowing ambient air to flow onto one's body and face. One of the reasons I didn't even look at a 1150RT... That is a point. They aren't at all useful for supplying the rider with heat but they do at least provide some utility in getting rid of it. Link to comment
Don Beissel Posted November 17, 2013 Share Posted November 17, 2013 I, also, have only noticed an effect when I leave them open when it is hot out and I get cooked. Link to comment
Fred C. Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 And yet there is a thread in the Motorcycle Talk closet in which several poster say they find the hand warmers quite useful! Most of the season here they won't be wanted but in the spring and fall it'd be nice if they do. Should know more in a year or so! Link to comment
upflying Posted December 8, 2013 Share Posted December 8, 2013 I removed my warm air ducts because they are in the way when you work on the bike. Never did anything to warm me up anyway. Link to comment
B3of21 Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 Is that what is gone off of the one i just got? Link to comment
Paul De Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 They work OK in the summer season if the temp falls to 50F (10C) at night. It keeps the chill off but is not able to deliver the warmth of the a real heater. In March April and in October Link to comment
AviP Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 They are useless as everybody has suggested. Better to invest in heated gloves if you do a lot of cold weather riding. Link to comment
Miguel! Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 14 hours ago, B3of21 said: Is that what is gone off of the one i just got? The dash is broken and there are parts missing from it. I've seen good, used dashboard for sale for as little as $25. I have no idea what the middle and right switches is for. The middle position on my 2001 R1100RT is the heated grips switch. My bike didn't have the OEM heated grips so I purchased and installed used grip and a new switch. I wrote that up here: click. I'd guess the right switch is for the flashers. Link to comment
B3of21 Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 Finally got a decent vin report. It had police hardware. Im working with an area dealer to get service history. I will decide what to put in these areas. Just hoping the wiring isnt too jacked up. Link to comment
B3of21 Posted June 2, 2020 Share Posted June 2, 2020 3 hours ago, Miguel! said: The dash is broken and there are parts missing from it. I've seen good, used dashboard for sale for as little as $25. I have no idea what the middle and right switches is for. The middle position on my 2001 R1100RT is the heated grips switch. My bike didn't have the OEM heated grips so I purchased and installed used grip and a new switch. I wrote that up here: click. I'd guess the right switch is for the flashers. Wow thanks for sharing this. Ill be doing the grips soon too. Link to comment
Miguel! Posted June 3, 2020 Share Posted June 3, 2020 5 hours ago, B3of21 said: Wow thanks for sharing this. Ill be doing the grips soon too. I misspoke. I just came back from a ride so took a few pics of that area of the bike for you. You can see your dash is clearly broken and is beyond easy repair. Just find a relatively good condition used one by cruising BeamerBonyeard, eBay, the For Sale forum on this site and other sites. Advertise WTB. You'll find one. Its a good half day but a relatively easy and straight forward job to replace the dash. I've not taken it all off so I'm just guessing. The speedo, tach and rider information display (clock, oil temp and gas gauges) may be a bit tricky. I don't know. The dial with the blue pointer is a dimmer switch for my running lights. Also the order I told you is incorrect. The heated grips on the left, flashers in the middle and ABS switch on the right. The heated grip switch is a three position switch, low/off/high. The OEM grips work great. I found them and the switch on eBay. I hoped and it was true on my bike that the wiring and connectors were already on the bike as part of the wiring harness. Phew!! I'm guessing they are already on your bike as well. A BMW mechanic told me the OEM grips are much better than the aftermarket grips. Also, the connector just above the switches is called a DIN connector or powerlet connector. There's a company that makes various accessories for the Powerlet connector. The plug is live even when the key is off and connected to a 15 amp fuse. I don't think anything else is connected to that fuse. Google Powerlet. Also, the heater that has been referred to is pretty ineffective for the rider as others have said. I wish it worked better tho. Here's the vent-door lever in the open position (end of the screw driver). You have to turn the handlebars all the way left or right to get your hand in there. I just leave it open year-round to help with engine oil cooling in hot weather and probably get a little benefit in cooler weather. You close it by pulling (or pushing) on it. And this is the heater vent output port, under the mirror at 5 o'clock on the fairing. When the vent door is open, you can look through and see daylight. Some bikes had radio and cd changers in the glovebox on the left side fairing. Speakers were evidently mounted behind the grill material. Hope that helps! Miguel Link to comment
B3of21 Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 On 6/2/2020 at 5:55 PM, Miguel! said: I misspoke. I just came back from a ride so took a few pics of that area of the bike for you. You can see your dash is clearly broken and is beyond easy repair. Just find a relatively good condition used one by cruising BeamerBonyeard, eBay, the For Sale forum on this site and other sites. Advertise WTB. You'll find one. Its a good half day but a relatively easy and straight forward job to replace the dash. I've not taken it all off so I'm just guessing. The speedo, tach and rider information display (clock, oil temp and gas gauges) may be a bit tricky. I don't know. The dial with the blue pointer is a dimmer switch for my running lights. Also the order I told you is incorrect. The heated grips on the left, flashers in the middle and ABS switch on the right. The heated grip switch is a three position switch, low/off/high. The OEM grips work great. I found them and the switch on eBay. I hoped and it was true on my bike that the wiring and connectors were already on the bike as part of the wiring harness. Phew!! I'm guessing they are already on your bike as well. A BMW mechanic told me the OEM grips are much better than the aftermarket grips. Also, the connector just above the switches is called a DIN connector or powerlet connector. There's a company that makes various accessories for the Powerlet connector. The plug is live even when the key is off and connected to a 15 amp fuse. I don't think anything else is connected to that fuse. Google Powerlet. Also, the heater that has been referred to is pretty ineffective for the rider as others have said. I wish it worked better tho. Here's the vent-door lever in the open position (end of the screw driver). You have to turn the handlebars all the way left or right to get your hand in there. I just leave it open year-round to help with engine oil cooling in hot weather and probably get a little benefit in cooler weather. You close it by pulling (or pushing) on it. And this is the heater vent output port, under the mirror at 5 o'clock on the fairing. When the vent door is open, you can look through and see daylight. Some bikes had radio and cd changers in the glovebox on the left side fairing. Speakers were evidently mounted behind the grill material. Hope that helps! Miguel Thanks so much miguel. Being a police bike it is wired a bit different. It has the heated grip switch on the handlebars and a fog lamp switch. The speedo and tach work fine. I have a lot of wiring to sort but, my neighbor is an electrical engineer and willing to help, too. This eases my mind. I have new fogs coming and hope I can loop them in. I'll look for some factory heated grips but not overly worried on that yet. I'm lucky my hands stay pretty warm. Was riding my son's bike in 45 degree weather last week with no fairing and after an hour finally switched to an insulated glove. Sure is nice to get responses. I wont pull fairing or tank till next week. As an old guy back in college i have to focus on midterms Link to comment
Miguel! Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 May be worth starting the hunt for the grips and switch now. IT took me a while to find them. You have a few threads going and I didn't see you had an RTP till after I'd finished the post but just let it go. Your wiring is likely to be nonstandard. Even still, I think the dashboard is likely to be the same. Miguel Link to comment
joeyjamb Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 Are these on the 1150's too? The warm air vents I mean. Link to comment
Miguel! Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 Looks like it does but this is just a picture from the web from a google search for BMW R1150RT. Miguel Link to comment
AndyS Posted June 4, 2020 Share Posted June 4, 2020 4 hours ago, joeyjamb said: Are these on the 1150's too? The warm air vents I mean. The vent outlets are, but the ducting and the mechanism isn't. Why? Because it was a waste of time. Link to comment
joeyjamb Posted June 5, 2020 Share Posted June 5, 2020 Cool, thought maybe it was missing from mine. Link to comment
B3of21 Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 On 6/3/2020 at 9:44 PM, Miguel! said: Looks like it does but this is just a picture from the web from a google search for BMW R1150RT. Miguel Can u give ma a front shot of your fairing and winshield please? Link to comment
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