MUNICH: BMW Motorrad is celebrating 40 years of BMW GS models this year.
The story started in autumn 1980, when BMW Motorrad presented the R 80 G/S, a motorcycle which combined two very special areas of riding for the first time: Off-road and on-road.
Thanks to its combination of road, touring and off-road capability, the R 80 G/S became the conceptual forerunner of the new motorcycle category of touring enduros created by BMW Motorrad.
To date, BMW Motorrad has delivered more than 1.2 million BMW GS models.
But it wasn't just motorcycle adventures that were ideally suited for the BMW GS right from the outset; the R 80 G/S and its descendants also quickly proved their qualities in racing.
In 1981 Hubert Auriol rode to victory in the equally prestigious and challenging Paris - Dakar Rally: one of the many motorsport successes that BMW Motorrad was able to celebrate with a GS.
In 1993, the F 650 "Funduro" was the first single-cylinder BMW enduro to come onto the market.
While this bike drew its riding dynamics from its low weight and the thrust of the 47 hp single cylinder, the changing of the guard took place simultaneously on the BMW GS models with boxer engine.
In 2017, BMW Motorrad continued to write GS history with the two completely redesigned F 750 GS and F 850 GS enduro models.
BMW Motorrad consistently built on the typical GS strengths in the successor models to the successful 2-cylinder F 650 GS, F 700 GS and F 800 GS motorcycles with the aim of making good things even better.
At the heart of the new development was a newly designed, powerful 2-cylinder in-line engine with two balancer shafts and 270/450 degrees ignition distance for optimised running characteristics and emotional sound.
It generated 57 kW (77 hp) for the F 750 GS and 70 kW (95 hp) for the F 850 GS from 853 cc, thus providing superior drive power for both GS models.
This meant even more power, torque and efficiency for the big boxer-engined GS.
In autumn 2018, BMW Motorrad once again introduced a radical upgrade for the boxer engine of the large GS models in order to further improve power and torque yield as well as reduce fuel consumption and emission values.
For this purpose, BMW ShiftCam Technology was used for the first time in the serial production of BMW Motorrad engines: this allowed valve timings and valve stroke on the intake side to be varied.
In addition, the intake camshafts were designed for asynchronous opening of the two intake valves, resulting in enhanced swirl of the fresh, incoming mixture and therefore more effective combustion.
Other technical changes to the engine related to the camshaft drive – now taken care of by a toothed chain (previously a roller chain) – optimised oil supply, twin-jet injection valves and a new exhaust system.
