Anyone else's F800 Hot as Hell?

I'm always tempted not to "suit up", as I own a black, one piece Aerostich Roadcrafter. Over the years I have found i'm always better off wearing the suit. It does the obvious, plus actually makes hot weather riding more tolerable. I dont notice the engine heat at all with the suit and it blocks the blow drier like wind of 100+ temps. I often soak my t-shirt with water and then suit up, which is nothing short of chilly at any temp.

Off-road with my enduro pants (fox) on I dont notice any excessive heat, maybe because i'm up and down off the seat to much. Plus, the crotch is leather all the way down the inseam.

I know that I cant ride this bike with shorts on, to hot, jeans maybe, suit no problem. As good a reason as any to "suit up". Pain in the ass! I know!

I would like to think that if my bike were to over-heat, the guage would give me some type of warning.


'09 F800GS

Finally went on a far enough trip to wear long pants. Me and my buddy did a speed trip to camp overnight in arkansas when the last cool front came through. The bike is still putting out a lot of heat, but it is much less noticeable in a pair of proper riding pants than in jeans or shorts. I was wearing the BMW summer pants, great pants but badly named. They must be made for summer in Alaska because they are not vented at all, the Kahki color seems to keep them cooler than jeans or darker pants. Anyway, I also put some heat tape on the crash bar mounting bolts and parts of the frame I might touch while riding and that makes a big difference. Those parts are now only warm to the touch instead of hot.

Perhaps BMW could make an 800 boxer instead? Sticking the heads out in the breeze seems like an idea that didn't need to be "fixed".

I wouldn't buy an 800 boxer - I wanted a water cooled parallel twin, and that's why I bought mine.

Besides, didn't they already make an 800 boxer, and it weighed pretty much the same as the big ones since it shared so many parts with them?

BMW R850GS

And yet here we have scads of reports of how hot the thing is. What good is the water cooling if the bike is too hot to ride?

Dang whippersnappers and your new-fangled technology!

Not as hot as Hell...maybe as hot as the path that leads there. You know, the one that is paved with good intentions?

My area (Bakersfield) tends to be on the warm side (perhaps as hot as the hinges to the gate to Hell ;-) and all my riding lately has been in town hops. I suspect it will not get any hotter than in stop and go traffic here. It really does not seem all that hot to me.

I checked these out at the dealer. They were trying to charge me almost 70 bucks for what looked like two pieces of slim rubber.

Do they actually do anything?

-AR

It's not, just some people think it is for them. Yes, the location of the water pump on the top of the right cylinder head does tend to get hot but you don't have to rest your leg on it.

I started paying attention after a couple of guys posted about the heat issue. I hadn't noticed it particularly before. What I noticed was, if I kept my legs really tight to the tank, then it seemed a bit warm, but I don't normally ride that way, so it hadn't affected me previously.

they do put off some heat, but growing up with the old British twins and Harleys, I don't notice it.

Mine puts off a considerable amount of heat to the balls as well. Especially during these Summer months. It is a motorcycle though.

For me it's welcomed in the early Spring and Fall!

Hey Guys,

I got my F800GS a week and a half ago and I've already taken several rides into the blazing heat of the Texas back-country. Yesterday I was with my buddy around Glen Rose and we found a couple water crossings and dirt roads to have fun exploring on.

As you can see in the pic below I am currently wearing my street gear (need to buy dual sport gear soon) which includes a full face street helmet, black jacket, black gloves, and goretex hiking boots (I have street boots but I wore these if I need traction in the dirt).

I have felt a little hot air come off the sides but I don't ride with my knees close to the airbox. I believe it is related to the engine being close to the frame/your knees.

I will pay more attention to it next time. Anyways... It sure beats the BALL NUMBING heat coming from the tank (actually the engine under the tank) when I ride my SV650S on the back roads during the summer. At one time I was worried I had damaged my family jewels!?!

Also, getting hot?? Find some creek crossings and go fast!



(Oh yeah... to the guy who was angry at people telling him to wear a helmet in Texas, I'm not trying to tell you what to do (I love my Shoei!) but there is a helmet law in Texas as well, to bypass it you have to take the motorcycle safety course (go figure) or have proof of 10k personal medical insurance)

In sweaty 'ol Nawlins, it aint that bad, unless you're ridin' neked.:eek1

They arrived and were returned the same day. For once I want to direct air to me and they did just the opposite. Back to the drawing board.

First, let me say I love my f800gs but yes it can get very hot. I wouldn't trade my bike for any other bike currently, but interestingly I looked at Buells before I bought my f800gs and was turned off by the excessive amount of posts on this thread regarding the fan that blows heat directly back at the rider...unless I am crazy...isn't that what my bike is doing? Again, I am not trashing my bike. I do realize it's a bike and I am sitting just inches above and behind an engine without any firewall, air conditioner, etc.

I live in Las Vegas also and have ridden in temps as high as 114 F. I have the SW Motech crash bars. It can get hot but I have not noticed it being excessive. I have also noticed that no matter what the outside temp or how hard I ride the bike the temp meter never gets above 4 bars. I have also noticed that when it gets hot the fan comes on and I have had some leakage from the water pump. Nothing excessive just noticed some white residue on the engine from dried coolant.

In my last bike I ran water-wetter instead of Ethylene Glycol based coolant. I have heard of folks also having good luck with Engine Ice coolant but I have personally not changed my coolant out yet as I don't want to have BMW challenge my warranty status if something breaks.

I don't hug the bike with my legs so much (more with my knees) so my guess is more air is flowing between my legs and the engine.

yes I know this is an old thread

someone will get on me for not searching
someone will get on me for reviving an old thread
cant win either way

I like to wear a helmet
even though I dont have to in colorado

so get off my ass

my 2015 F800gs with 5,000 miles on it just started getting hot on my legs.

I never noticed it before
but its pretty warm

the only new thing I did recently was switch to 20w-50 quicksilver synthetic oil

prior to that I was running rotella T 15w-40

I ran the same model rental bike in argentina and chile for 9 days and never noticed any heat on that bike



I’m just trying to contribute to the conversation in a positive way

The Quicksilver should not be more than a few degrees hotter than the Rotella, if that much.

You might notice the heat more or less at lower elevations than higher due to heat transfer through air. Lots of factors there.

If you are wearing the same riding pants on the same ambient temperature days and noticing more heat - are you spending the same amount of time above 30mph? Shifting the same?

Are your cooling fins clean?

There should be no penalty or judgement for asking a question after a reasonable search thru the archives.

I did change my pants from 3 season to mesh
I also hit the radiator fins with the hose
I’m not a redline shift guy and I always use the clutch

noticeable difference but still seems more warm than before

I love this bike, its so damn neutral everywhere, can ride it all day long, love in the canyons too
K60 tires rule

with only 5k miles I haven't done much to it yet
oil/filters
tires/bearings