hot legs

[samweaver]

Anyone else have hot legs? I'm new to BMWs having had Japaneses bikes most of my life. I now own a 1985 K100RT! This bike must feel great in the winter but I'm in Savannah, GA where it's in the 90s everyday and the heat around my knees is really hot. It looks as if one of the many previous owners had mounted some type of air foil at the edge of the fairing to pull cool air back towards the knees. Is there maybe something else I can do? Or some way to block the hot air?

thanks, sam.

[BlackHoof]

Hi,

Have you looked at attaching some Air Wings? I've heard they work well.

[rdalland]

Anyone else have hot legs?

Just got back from a 45 min ride on my K75RT. It's 84 degrees at 8:00PM. After 10 years of riding this motorcycle in the summer I am still amazed at the amount of heat that gets trapped behind the fairing.

When I can, I ride with my heels on the footpegs, and keep my knees outside of the fairing. This keeps lots of fresh air on my legs. I have a "summer" windshield that is considerably smaller than the stock windshield.

There are lot's of "fixes" out there, but whatever you do it's gonna be hot. Unless...

you do what wndsrfr does;

http://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showpost.php?p=116266&postcount=5

[Gilly]

The airbox eliminator worked great on my 75S and on a friends early 85 100RT.

Gilly

[deilenberger]

I owned an '85 K100RT for quite a few years. The heat finally drove me off it - and I got a K75S.. that wasn't a hot bike at all compared to the RT.

I'd suggest buying an inexpensive naked bike for summer use - in your area of the country the RT is going to cook you no matter what you do to it (BTDT, don't wanna do it again..)

[samweaver]

Thanks guys. The air wings are what must have been installed by another owner as there are holes in the lower fairing. I like what wndsrfr did with removing the lower fairings all together. I haven't even looked at how they come off yet but I will. Now I just need to research the airbox eliminator.

thanks, sam.

[Gilly]

I'm sure you can find a pic of the eliminator somewhere. You remove the airbox entirely, then a bracket holds the air flow meter in place (which is inside the top section of the air box), then an adaptor is bolted to the intake side of the airbox which a K&N filter is clamped to. I have many 10's of thousands of miles on this setup on my bike with no problems or concerns due to rain or filtration. I had my bike ran on a dyno and if anything they said I'd gain a little by restricting my intake, so there is plenty of flow, plus you don't have to replace the dry filter anymore.
If you can't find a pic of it, let me know and I'll post one of mine here.
Gilly

[osbornk]

I had an 85 K100RT. It is the hottest BMW. The heat was great but it was offset by the fact that it is also the fastest year of the K100. I sold mine and replaced it with a K75RT only because I didn't like the buzz that went away at about 85MPH.

[rdalland]

I'd suggest buying an inexpensive naked bike for summer use -

In my case, '71 R75/5...

[BuddingGeezer]

I have a 1987 K100LT in Arkansas. Temp 96 today and humidity just like GA. (I been there/Ft. Gordan). Legs do get hot,hot,hot.

I personaly can put up with the heat to escape wind blast that you get naked bike. I really enjoy riding in the cold weather when everyone else is at home.

I took foam padding and filled in the gaps around the air intake and taped all the crevices with aluminum tape. More hot air comes through the fairing vents than before. Still hot around the left calf though.

I removed the lower fairings and tried that. The problem I had with this is, with the tall windshield an updraft is created at speed and the hot engine heat that was on my legs or escaping trough the fairing louvers now was sucked up to my upper body. This would work with a smaller windshield, that would eliminate the updraft.

My ideal is to find the headlight and turn signals from a standard and swap them out. Winter/Sumer bike.

I have a 1987 K75C. Very smooth engine, but my K100 is almost as smooth and love the power.

Ralph Sims

[wndsrfr]

I dropped the lowers on my bike (92 K75RT) again this summer.....took about 45 minutes this time since I've got it worked out now. Makes it bearable to ride and it's an easy and fun little project. Bracing the tail ends of the uppers with a bit of bent conduit wrapped with neoprene foam insulating tape was the biggest part of it. The radiator shroud only needs a short piece of aluminum angle iron for bracing up on the left side and a couple of plastic wire ties does the job on the right side. Try it....you'll like it!

John

[Texfire]

I live in Texas, and I've just started riding. After one false start with a cruiser, I ended finding the bike for me when I purchased a used '92 K75RT from the local dealer. It's a sweet bike, perfect riding position, and great on the highway. I'm in love with it already. But I'm not blind to it's imperfections, the hot leg/RT fairing phenomena is pretty uncomfortable and I'm looking for solutions. My lower legs aren't bad at all, but there's a hot spot right at the seat/tank/frame juncture, especially at highway speeds. Rotating my feet on the pegs and sticking my knees outside the fairing helps, but is a temporary solution which makes me pretty sore if I do it for an extended period. Also I have to shift my legs/mount back every time I have to shift or brake so it's not a great solution.

I've ordered some Baker Air Wings, I'm hoping that they'll help. I'm also trying to track down some battery covers, my bike didn't have any when I purchased it, the dealer said they didn't fit with the Corbin aftermarket seat. I don't have any idea how much those missing add to the heat problem, but since they are right were my legs get hot it's worth a shot. If I can find a pair, I'll see if I can make them fit with minor alterations. If anyone has a line on some battery covers or ideas where to look I'd appreciate it. I've already checked at the beemer boneyard, but struck out.

If neither installing the air wings or replacing the battery covers do the trick I'll consider doing the lower fairing removal modification, but my fabrication skills workspace and access to tools are pretty limited. Is it a difficult mod to do?

Tex

[Beemer01]

I have an 85 K100RS.

1. Make certain that the knee pads are perfectly aligned with the fairing and that the weatherstripping is new.

2. I've used the insulation reflective foil (and some handfuls of fiberglass insulation) to block the hot air from coming out the back of the kneepad and fairing. The setup I use diverts almost all the the hot air out the side vents.

3. For the hot spot by the tank, just stuff some insulation into the hole... makes a big difference. I actually keep some in the tail piece so I can add more as needed.

4. I bought and installed K-Guards. Out of production, but still occasionally available on the bay.

I live in the Chicago, so we're more apt to have cool days, than you folks down South, so my 'fixes' may not work for you... but they're cheap and they help!

[DarkCloud]

The 87 and newer K100RT (LT) fairing has some louvers that can be retrofitted on the 85 and 86 models. I believe A&S Cycles carries this retrofit kit.

JON
K1100LT for sale

[Texfire]

The 87 and newer K100RT (LT) fairing has some louvers that can be retrofitted on the 85 and 86 models. I believe A&S Cycles carries this retrofit kit.

JON
K1100LT for sale

Would a '92 model 75 already have these louvers?

[wndsrfr]

I tried a PM to you on the procedure for removing the lowers......didn't work for some reason......see if you can shoot me a PM to connect.

Regards,
John

[DarkCloud]

Would a '92 model 75 already have these louvers?

I'm pretty sure the 92 K75RT has the louvers.

Instead of removing the lower fairing, take out the black plastic strip that runs from your feet to the glove boxes between the bike and the fairing. This would give you an increased airflow and dilute the heat coming from the engine with ambient air.

JON

[Texfire]

I tried a PM to you on the procedure for removing the lowers......didn't work for some reason......see if you can shoot me a PM to connect.

Regards,
John

PM sent with my email addy. Thanks for the help.

[Texfire]

I'm pretty sure the 92 K75RT has the louvers.

Instead of removing the lower fairing, take out the black plastic strip that runs from your feet to the glove boxes between the bike and the fairing. This would give you an increased airflow and dilute the heat coming from the engine with ambient air.

JON

Or it might make it even worse, but certainly worth a try.

[RandallIsland]

I really enjoy riding in the cold weather when everyone else is at home.

+10 :thumb

[BuddingGeezer]

The black plastic strips are knee guards. If you remove them almost all the engine heat will be directed onto the rider.

BMW has a heat kit that is suppose to seal the tank and fairing sides to keep the heat from penetrating the knee guards and direct the heat through the lower fairing lovers.

These are hot bikes. August in Arkansas has been 100+ most days, it was only 98 yesterday. I can't ride mine that hot, but 100 is too hot to ride any bike comfortable, in my opinion.

Ralph Sims

[ziegelreiter]

The airbox eliminator worked great on my 75S and on a friends early 85 100RT.

Gilly

.I know how it ends. He gets shot down by the Red Baron, which happens to be the name of my K75, Baron Manfred von Bricktofen.:german .
By the way, if you ever get out to Sonoma Co. Ca., they've put about a hundred Snoopy's and other peanuts characters all over the place, and they're about 4' high. Charles Shultz wasn't from Sonoma Co., but it's where he called home. :usa

[Texfire]

I appreciate all the help. With the instructions from wndsrfr I removed the lower fairing from my bike. It made all the difference. I used zipties to secure the fairing around the radiator and to pull the upper fairing towards the motor to keep it from flopping. It's worked very well, I'm going to hold off on fabbing something to permanently attach the upper fairing to the engine mount since the ziptie is holding it very snugly. If this becomes a permanent mod I'll probably make a mount out of tubing or conduit.

Tex

[PGlaves]

Anyone else have hot legs? I'm new to BMWs ...

My wife does - but she rides an R1100S :)






sorry ... I couldn't help myself. I'll go to the corner now:brow

[scootrp125x]

Anyone else have hot legs? I'm new to BMWs having had Japaneses bikes most of my life. I now own a 1985 K100RT! This bike must feel great in the winter but I'm in Savannah, GA where it's in the 90s everyday and the heat around my knees is really hot. It looks as if one of the many previous owners had mounted some type of air foil at the edge of the fairing to pull cool air back towards the knees. Is there maybe something else I can do? Or some way to block the hot air?

thanks, sam.


Check out the HOT HOT HOT post for more info.