Warm air vents - Kudos to BMW for these!

[Trobinson]

28 degrees F this morning and I rode into work on my 140 mile commute. I hadn't checked the dampers on the oil cooler vents, but noticed during the ride my right hand was colder than the left and the left was actually pretty comfortable. Stopped for gas at the 83 mile mark and checked the damper on the right. Sure enough it was open instead of closed so I closed it. I could immediately tell a difference. Further down the road where it gets colder my forefinger started to freeze (I keep thumb and forefinger wrapped around the throttle) so I moved it up to the brake handle and within a couple of minutes it was no longer cold (not real warm mind you, but a significant difference). Don't let anyone tell you those vents don't work! The only caveat is they are only effective when you are moving faster than probably 45 mph. Slow speed you don't get enough air movement to really feel a difference.

[SinNH]

I thought the last bike to have those vents were the R1100's, did they bring them back to a newer model?

[Trobinson]

Sorry, bike is a '96 R1100RT.

[Selden]

The vents are another nice feature of the R1100RT. After several years, I discovered I was riding with them in the open position during summer, which provided some explanation for why the bike seemed so hot. I have since painted one side of the crisscross lever with dayglo orange paint.

 

Orange = Hot

Silver = Cold

 

[Glenn Reed]

The vents are another nice feature of the R1100RT. After several years, I discovered I was riding with them in the open position during summer, which provided some explanation for why the bike seemed so hot. I have since painted one side of the crisscross lever with dayglo orange paint.

 

Orange = Hot

Silver = Cold

 

Good suggestion. Something I will add to my "to do" list.

[Matts_12GS]

The vents are another nice feature of the R1100RT. After several years, I discovered I was riding with them in the open position during summer, which provided some explanation for why the bike seemed so hot. I have since painted one side of the crisscross lever with dayglo orange paint.

 

Orange = Hot

Silver = Cold

 

Good suggestion. Something I will add to my "to do" list.

 

Always thought that pretty darned clever of BMW to do them like that, and used them on many a cold ride. Still kind of confused by how few people actually knew about them.

[drtnsnw]

I found mine chasing down a wiring issue. Always thought they were summer time vents to help cool the oil not winter to warm your hands. Ducts seem to be in the wrong spot.

 

Chris