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Airheads are the traditional
BMW motorcyclesBMW's motorcycle history began in 1921 when the company commenced manufacturing engines for other companies. Motorcycle manufacturing now operates under the BMW Motorrad brand...
with a
flat-twinA flat-twin is a two cylinder internal combustion engine with the cylinders arranged on opposite sides of the crankshaft. It is part of the class of flat engines, sub-type "boxer", and shares most characteristics of those engines.-Motorcycle use:...
air-cooled engine (including the BMW 247 engine) that were built from 1923 to 1995. The airhead engine was replaced by the
oilheadAn oilhead is the name used for BMW motorcycle engines that advertise the use of oil cooling to transfer some of the heat from the engine to the atmosphere....
, also a
flat-twinA flat-twin is a two cylinder internal combustion engine with the cylinders arranged on opposite sides of the crankshaft. It is part of the class of flat engines, sub-type "boxer", and shares most characteristics of those engines.-Motorcycle use:...
or boxer engine, which includes a number of design changes including partial
oil coolingOil cooling refers to a process whereby heat is displaced from a 'hotter' object, into a cooler oil and is the principle behind oil cooler devices. The oil carrying the displaced heat usually passes through a cooling unit such as a radiator or less commonly a gas decompresser...
.
While the term Airheads provides description of the Type 247 engine produced by BMW until 1995, the term can also describe someone who rides these machines. Airheads are a collective group of people with a shared passion for these machines. There are significant airhead communities which share knowledge about the motorcycles and how to maintain them. As of 2006, there are approximately 8,000 current members of the international
Airheads Beemer Club with about 3,000 active members.
Several shops and businesses have grown nationally and internationally to support Airhead BMWs.