Hello, Friday and Sunday I rode my bike around in 80+ F weather. There's probably an issue with my fairing that is actually causing a lot of my issues, that being that there really is no sealing to keep the heat from the engine from blowing onto the rider, cruising or stuck in a traffic jam. Sunday I got stuck in traffic and the radiator fan kept kicking in, which is a good thing, but the heat from the engine was blowing all that hot air right on to me, more particularly my inner thighs. Thought I was getting burned for a little bit. Other than stripping the fairing off and rebuilding it, I'm not sure if there's anything missing, like thermo lining or rubber seals or something. Any suggestions?

Secondly, I'm assuming because of the massive heat blowing back at the rider, my 7L low fuel light has seemed to reverse role. Meaning that if it's fuller than 7L the light is on, but turns off if I accelerate fast (i.e. the fuel is getting sloshed to the back of the tank away from the sensor). Will check the light again tomorrow after the bike has had a chance to cool down. Normally I can get 90-120mi before that light turns on, but this time it turned on after 40mi. It kind of scared me so I pulled over and opened the gas cover to find that my fuel level was at a normal level for that mileage. I wonder if the wire casings melted and caused a... reverse short? Any suggestions on this?

Thanks in advance.

The 'non-optional heater' effect is common on early K-bikes, especially full fairing models like the RT and LT. It was not such an issue for the BMW test riders in say, Munich in October, on the way to a beerfest, but can be quite an issue in Summertime Wisconsin, the Moroccan desert, or the Outback of Australia. If you had a way to actually measure the engine internal temps you'd see that it is well within temperature specs. They are quite thermally efficient. But my legs too get toasted like a salted pretzel in heavy traffic whilst the sun shines brightly above, especially on the right hand side. I wear longish Sidi boots and BMW's excellent Summer II trousers, which helps alleviate it a bit, but mostly just suffer and bear it with a grin.

I can no 'splain the fuel level warning being amiss. My '87 RS's guage and warning lights seem to work correctly.

On the earlier bike the retrofitted some insulation to prevent most of the air from the fan to get to the rider. If that's not there it will get warm (even with it). There are ways to close the fairing better and to fit spoiler lips around the fairing opening for the air to draw the air out better.
The earlier bikes also had a stubpipe with two sensors for the level of the fuel tank and they got influenced by the fuel temperature. The other ones have a float and allow fitting of a gauge. The 'K's had an issue with heating the fuel and therefore they retrofitted insulation to the underside of the fuel tank.

I have not tried it but removing the lower half of the fairing may be an option with the RT in hot weather.
Another option would be a sizeable vent in the lower part of the windscreen.
I have ridden mine without a windscreen and the airflow is nothing like a naked bike in that it seems to funnel over the tank and down onto the thighs, so another option I had not got around to was a small windscreen for summer.
A great winter bike but even a mild day in Tasmania (read cool for those on the big island) can start getting unpleasant.

The pressing issue is to make sure that the temperature is with in the specs. I've struggled to keep the engine temp up to spec because I tend to ride outer suburban roads at speed. In fact I didn't know that my fan wasn't working for a year or so.

What i did was this:
a. installed two digital thermometers, one at the base of the sump (oil temp)
b. and the other strapped to the rubber hose near the temp sensor, and
c. got an IR thermometer for spot checks (great tool,

Two Wheels Better, that's exactly the situation I was in, where the right leg was getting blasted with heat while the left was just getting uncomfortably warm. I've got a buddy with a hand held IR temp gun, I'll have to borrow it next time I ride over there just to check engine temp for safety's sake, though I doubt it's actually overheating.

I plan on taking the my bike to a dealer to have the rear tire replaced, all the fluids changed and the 'major service' done to it (i.e. valve clearances, timing, new plugs, etc etc), and maybe have they put some insulation around the fuel tank and lower fairing. Thanks for the tips. Ride hard, and ride safe.

Gents, just look at your bikes. Due to the throttle bodies on the left there is far less restriction for the hot air to deflect to the right side. This will mean that with any air leakage to your legs the right side will get warmer/heat up faster than the left.

With regards to airflow over the tank - the earlier bikes had parts fitted that closed the fairing around the forks whilst later they removed those and actually fitted scoops for a better airflow over the tank to the rider.

I would make sure that if you have the fairing fill-ins fitted with the slots that you get the ones without. Further try to close the fairing as much as possible to the tank and parts below.