BMW has indeed – as reported by our colleagues at Motorrad – patented aerodynamic winglets for its models, into which can be integrated night or daytime running lights (DRL), direction indicators and side lights. Today, many modern motorcycles use so-called winglets, the aerodynamic appendages used to load the front wheel at high speed, a true manifestation of the link between racing – both MotoGP and SBK – and production
If, from a purely sporting point of view, aerodynamic wings fulfill their function of providing greater stability at the front end, on road bikes these appendages can, however, prove providential – according to BMW patents – for integrating passive safety elements.
Their aerodynamic function would be unaffected and the weight increase in the wings would be negligible, while styling and the freedom to design a personal optical signature would certainly benefit, as would the safety of being able to place the lights in a wider contour. But another, no less important, application mentioned in the patent applied for by BMW is to use the winglets to house lights that illuminate the side of the bike: somewhat similar to what already happens with the K1600 (where they are used more to illuminate the rest area), but this time with the freedom of being able to have wider illumination and perhaps also on the move or with varying silhouettes.
It is not clear if and when these patents will be applied in series production, but what we think, of course, is that application to a current model (perhaps as an option) should not have insurmountable technical difficulties, to say the least. There will probably be homologation issues to resolve, but if the Munich company has patented these solutions, it has most certainly done so having considered this issue in advance.
