BMW GS: special edition to celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of its launch

In 2010 we celebrate an important birthday: 30 years of the BMW GS. In the autumn of 1980, BMW Motorrad presented the R 80 G/S, a motorcycle that combined two peculiar uses: road and off-road, offering a perfect mix for road riding, touring and off-road raids, without compromising its daily use. With the R 80 G/S BMW Motorrad inaugurated the new segment of large travel enduros.

The R 80 G/S, and its successors, also showed their qualities in competition. Right on his debut, in 1981, Hubert Auriol secured victory in the famous and challenging Paris – Dakar rally. This is just one of the many sporting successes that BMW Motorrad had the honor and pleasure of celebrating over the next three decades together with the GS.

Over the last thirty years, the great advantages of the GS models equipped with a boxer engine such as driving dynamics, off-road ability, comfort and durability have been continuously optimized by BMW Motorrad and successfully transferred to other series.

In 1993, with the launch of the F 650, BMW presented the first single-cylinder Enduro model in its history. The F 650 immediately showed its dynamic qualities thanks to its low weight and an engine that was ready from low revs, with 47 HP.

A completely new generation was being introduced in the GS range with a boxer engine. With the BMW R 1100 GS, BMW Motorrad not only presented the first GS equipped with a four-valve per cylinder boxer engine with 80 HP of power, but also anticipated new solutions in the chassis of large travel enduros. In fact, for the first time in an enduro model the engine/gearbox group acted as a load-bearing element, making a central frame superfluous.

The rear suspension was another BMW exclusive: the Paralever system which eliminated the negative impact of the engine on the shaft drive. The front suspension was entrusted to a new and innovative suspension scheme, the Telelever. This scheme offers compensation for pitch during braking and at the same time speed and precision of response. Thanks to the Telelever system, BMW Motorrad has defined the new benchmark.

The new R 1100 GS was also the first enduro in the world equipped with ABS, an electronic safety aid, which today is available on all BMW motorcycles (with the exception of the BMW G 450

The F 650 itself has, since 2000, been the subject of numerous optimization interventions including electronic injection, the catalytic converter and the ABS. Since 2007, 2 new models have entered the history of the GS, always equipped with a twin-cylinder engine, this time parallel, the F 650 GS and the F 800 GS, a new milestone in the history of the BMW GS.

The two models were equipped with a powerful 800 cc engine with a trellis frame, interpreting the BMW GS theme with a new style, but still typical for BMW. With these two new models, BMW Motorrad has not simply introduced the successors to the very popular F 650 GS with a single-cylinder engine, but has also expanded the enduro range into the medium segment.

In the autumn of 2009, BMW Motorrad presented the restyling of the BMW R 1200 GS, now equipped with a revised boxer engine thanks to the adoption of the twin-cam distribution system, DOHC, inherited from the HP2 family, with a power of 81 kW/110 CV, which offers greater torque at low and medium rpm, as well as better acceleration up to 8.500 rpm.

With the new “30th Anniversary Edition” versions of the BMW R 1200 GS, R 1200 GS Adventure, F 800 GS and F 650 GS, BMW Motorrad wants to celebrate the successes of the GS range. The competitions themselves determined the fascinating look of these special versions, painted in the classic BMW Motorrad Motorsport colors of 30 years ago.