MOTOBRICK.COM
MOTOBRICK.COM => The MBdotCOM Community Center => Topic started by: Supershooter on June 23, 2019, 09:52:56 PM
-
I'm confident that I've got my K100 RT running reliably. When I purchased it, it did not run and the lower fairing and other misc bits were in a box. Ive come to find out the power plant creates a lot of heat. As I consider whether I should restore to original or make it something else. I wonder does the body work actually vent the heat away from the rider or was the body work, just decoration? If the bodywork gets rid of the heat I'll be more likely to restore. If it's a hot ride or hotter ride with the body work on I'll probably head down the scrambler path. One last random question, would the RS lower fairing easily attach, in place of my RT fairing?
Superhooter
-
The RT fairing is designed to help protect the rider from rain, wind and road grit, allowing more comfort at highway speed. It's more than just decoration. I've read from some RT riders that the RT can challenge comfort in hot weather but is downright cozy in cooler or cold weather. The engine is not the only heat generator; the other is the fuel tank radiating heat from hot fuel within it. There are published strategies to cope with these conditions and lessen their effects.
I ride a naked K. I don't consider it a hot ride but I don't ride in poke-along traffic often. If the fan is activated by slow moving traffic, I might feel heat on my shins but concentrating on discomfort doesn't come easy when I'm doing something I enjoy so I might not. :giggles Making a naked bike from an RS or RT means accepting that the original instrument cluster might look like a floating afterthought above an aftermarket headlight. The BMW naked bike cockpit trim panel—which is neither cock nor pit but rather an integrated round headlight/instrument cluster holder—is ~$65. The BMW round headlight assembly that attaches to it will cost a kidney. I don't know whether the RT/RS rectangular headlights or aftermarket rounds can be adapted to it.
-
Laitch,
I hadn't thought much about the hot fuel, but it makes sense. I've ridden a naked bike with and without a clip on windshield or a HD touring bike most of my riding career. So when I rode the RT I was surprised how much protection it provided with out the fairing fully assembled. The two lower fairing prices each have vents in them, do they actaully vent the heat around the rider? Mine were in a box when I bought the bike, and after further evaluation i noticed they are both damaged and unable to be installed. Just wondering if the lower fairing does any good or not.
I told my buddy he could ride the the RT and his hair wouldn't even move.
Supershooter
-
The fairing on my new to me k1100rs seems to be a liability in hot months here in the chee. While ive only a few miles added so far the temp gauge went to the base of the red fairly quickly and the PO installed manual fan switch activated. BMW is more about function before form so I've a long way to go before I write off this particular fairing as cosmetic only.
Pushing 90 today, the Goldwing seems to cool best on such days. Cheers.
-
greetings...
you mean that red k eleven hundert reise strasse...
j o
-
Have you flushed out the inside of the radiator with white vinegar?
Have you cleaned the 20+ year accumulation of dead horseflies out of the radiator fins?
Good airflow is pretty important for keeping the temperature down when the weather is hot.
-
If your brick hasn't been used much, just riding might help. My RT wasn't used for at least three years before I got it. My lower legs got hot even though it was winter. After about two months of riding it was hardly noticeable. The temperature gauge rarely goes above the quarter mark.
-
After riding this weekend, it seems like a lot of heat comes off the motor, follow the upper fairing and blows onto my legs. It looks like if the lower fairing panels were installed they'd hold the heat in and force it out of the vents molded into the panels.
I made sure to monitor the fuel tank temp with my hand, it never really got hot, though it was warm and it was a warm day 88 F
Unfortunately a lot of the lower fairing parts came with the bike in box and they are in bad shape. I guess I need to decide what this bike's future is and get going on it.
Supershooter
-
I have four RT's, and I have noticed different fairing types. One type has small air scoops on a panel surrounding the forks (probably the later type, probably during 1985) the other doesn't. I removed the fairing on mine, I don't remember why, but this thread has reminded me that I left that panel off, this may have reduced the heat problem that I had.
The lower fairings on some of my bricks have baffles bolted to them to help direct the heat out the vents. One of them had home made baffles, probably because the originals were lost. One of them also has vents to direct "outside air" to your legs to cool them.
I'm also curious if the RS lower fairing will fit easily.
-
I bought my '91 4v for a cooler summer ride than the '05 K12LT. Turns out those engineers developed that fairing in a wind tunnel and it very efficiently blocks air, leaving only the head and shoulders in the wind. The naked '85 is 10x cooler when moving through this 90+ heat.
-
Once again, procure a set of K Guards.
-
RS in German signifies Rennsport- or “race, sport”
According to Motorcycle.com (https://www.motorcycle.com/events/bmw-product-name-history-86961.html), the RS designation was redefined in 1975; on both Motorcycle.com and Phil Hawksley's BMBikes sites, RS is defined as Reisesport. It translates as travelsport. RT has meant Reissetourer and translates to traveltourer, a redundant title but the R in RT is unlikely to mean Race, given the moto's bulk.