BMW R1200R R1150R/T F800 K1200R R1100R/T R1250R RnineT Message Board

Not stupid, I hope, just "uninformed", ie, ig'nant?

I'm assuming (a dangerous thing) that no one's really in love with the placement of the stock R1100 oil coolers, right?

Is there a reason why the 2 small coolers couldn't be replaced with 1 larger one, perhaps an aftermarket Lockhart, situated in a more "discreet "location??

That's a pretty darned good question. Does anyone know if the answer is lurking somewhere in the archives. I'd certainly like to know as well. Maybe someone in the R1150R side knows from owning a R1100R in the past.

Oil pressures and volumes would change, plumbing would change, airflow would change....what effects that might have on overheating, undercooling or engine starvation would take some engineering. Thus, cost would be an issue.

AND maybe some actually like the look. (But I agree with your assumption.)

One of my oil cooler clamps had slipped a little letting microscopic
levels of oil drip down onto the oil cooler connecting hose to which i
thought was aged and starting to leak the BMW price was $226
for 15 inches of oil cooler hose (Go Figure) when i found that out i re-
investigated & found the faulty clamp position

The $226 connecting hose... it was stated that i was the first person in six
years to want one (not surprising)

Maybe the reason of two side coolers would be better airflow dynamics
and more efficient (and the germans are efficient) at the expense of
aesthetics and less likely to cop a wheel full of rocks.

Which leads to my next comment as to where the R1200R places their oil coolers ???
I hope they are robust enough...as they are right in the firing line

I thought about doing the same thing(1 oil cooler). However, I brought up an image of my bike in a photo editor and "removed" the factory oil coolers and I'd have to say that the bike looked plain. It lost something with the factory oil coolers not being where they were meant to be.

Heck, there ain't nothin' perfect. I think I'll just ride my bike and love every minute of it. If my wife started looking at me closely (after 15 years of marriage), bet she'd start finding all kinds of things wrong. I'm not recommending an eye exam anytime soon.

I like em (certainly in preference to the 1150), and I agree that it'd look very odd without them.

I got replacement black plastic covers to replace the stock silver ones that came on my bike. I'd like the fins to be a bit more robust, but hey ho.

The R1200 has the cooler down in front. It looks like a rock could whack it very easily.

The BMW parts fish show a single oil cooler for the R1100R labled auchorities only and it is n/a.

Take a look at some pix of bikes which have had a different oil cooler configuration set up--it made me have a new appreciation of the cool, winged 'radiators in flight'. Poetry in motion.

The police version has to have a fan to draw air thru, I believe, due to their different placement.

Larryboxerguy (aka HerrBoxer)
'96 R1100R, '80 R100T
formerlies: Honda 450, Honda 350, '73 BMW R75 (loved that Toaster)

I really like them, and the little wings divert the hot air nicely. I wouldn't swap them out for a 'discreet' arrangement...

Look down about 10 or so posts. "Photos of my 1100". Oliver's bike has what I consider to be a really elegant solution to the oil cooler issues on the 1100R. Not exactly sure how well it works, but it borrows the idea from the 1200 and GS models of a centrally located unobtrusive cooler.

BTW, it's one of the things I didn't like visually on my 850R and am appreciative that they've disguised them a bit on my 1150R.

Nice looking R1100 I have ever seen. Very close to stock but I like it!

I couldn't agree more. That is why I have replaced the stock coolers with a single cooler under the telelever. BTW I am the guy who has posted the photos about 10 posts down.

I have just come back from a 1600 km ride in the Pyrenee mountains and have not had a single issue with my cooler. Not even during stop and go in the heat of Andorra. However I would assume the single cooler would not be feasible in temperatures like death valley ...

When changing to a single cooler just make sure you take one of the larger ones used in any oilhead (like the one of the R1150RT or GS). That should avoid any problems. I used the cooler of the R1150GS as the connections on the cooler are ideally placed. The overall modification did cost me less than 200 US$.

Best regards from Germany
Oliver