whilst collecting my bmw headlight protector yesterday there were a couple of new gsa's in the showroom with the little black vents on the panniers and top box. you can buy these vents seperately at a cost of £14 each (ouch). i pressume you need to drill the box and then fit the vent, anyone done this ???
pannier & top box vents
- Thread starter rossi46
- Start date
What are you carrying? Livestock? 
Seriously, why would you need vents?
Seriously, why would you need vents?
You may well do on the older boxes, particularly the topbox.
Quite often when riding up high passes the pressure drop would seal the lid down, making it difficult to open having descended.
This natural phenomenon triggered various inventive solutions on the pages of UKGSer along with the usual assorted, "Not fit for purpose, it's a premium priced around the world machine" responses... followed by a fix from BuMW.... but no recall.... That's life.
I Drilled Mine
Had this problem with the pressure, so drilled a very small hole in one corner of each box. Sorted.
Had this problem with the pressure, so drilled a very small hole in one corner of each box. Sorted.
As Wapping rightly says, under some circumstances the panniers create a vacuum which make the lifting of the lids very difficult.
BMW started fitting these 'vents' a while ago obviously to try to prevent this happening.
Personally I find them a bit ugly looking, and certainly wouldn't retro fit them to my 06 GSA.
And although getting the lids open has caused some cursing or swearing at the side of the odd foreign hotel sometimes I certainly wouldn't say it made them 'unfit for purpose' or expect a recall....just added a little amusement to passers-by who wondered what the 'engleesh biker' was doing pulling the hell out of his pannier, and muttering under his breath in a foreign tongue!
Actually I've always found it a little re-assuring that the vacuum proves that they are at least water tight....even if that vacuum maybe also causes the condensation on the left hand pannier (exhaust side) that sometimes gets confused for it leaking....maybe another reason for BMW's actions to do something about it.
As for retro-fitting....as I remember they are just bolted through from one side to the other?...so fitting them would just mean drilling a hole and bolting on.....but someone with a 08-onwards bike would be able to tell you better.
BMW started fitting these 'vents' a while ago obviously to try to prevent this happening.
Personally I find them a bit ugly looking, and certainly wouldn't retro fit them to my 06 GSA.
And although getting the lids open has caused some cursing or swearing at the side of the odd foreign hotel sometimes I certainly wouldn't say it made them 'unfit for purpose' or expect a recall....just added a little amusement to passers-by who wondered what the 'engleesh biker' was doing pulling the hell out of his pannier, and muttering under his breath in a foreign tongue!
Actually I've always found it a little re-assuring that the vacuum proves that they are at least water tight....even if that vacuum maybe also causes the condensation on the left hand pannier (exhaust side) that sometimes gets confused for it leaking....maybe another reason for BMW's actions to do something about it.
As for retro-fitting....as I remember they are just bolted through from one side to the other?...so fitting them would just mean drilling a hole and bolting on.....but someone with a 08-onwards bike would be able to tell you better.
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