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BMW GS, the Father of Enduro Touring, Is Now a Middle-Aged Bike

Back in 1980 there was nothing like the newly introduced R 80 G/S. There was nothing like it in BMW Motorrad’s own history that harkens back to the BMW R 32 from 1923. And there was nothing on the market to combine virtues from the off- and on-road riding segments. You could even say the R 80 G/S was a motorcycle crossover. And you would be right, hence the 40 years of continued success.
BMW GS 40 7 photos
Photo: BMW Motorrad
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Today any rider – and especially BMW aficionados – is well familiarized with the Gelände / Straße (German for off-road / on-road) or Gelände Sport series. Particular praise could go to Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman’s Long Way series of adventures, but we need to be honest about this approach.

The motorcylce division would have achieved the more than half a million sales of the GS boxer series anyways – only perhaps a little later than 2014. BMW Motorrad credits itself with the creation of the enduro touring segment and we are not going to argue much about it.

The original R 80 G/S really was a forerunner for the appreciated combination of on-road, off-road use that did not even sacrifice on everyday use values. And jump forward from 1980 to 2020 when BMW says the series has already reached a production total of 1.2 million units.

Of course, the success was based not only on casual use – the R 80 G/S was ridden in its first year of full production by Hubert Auriol to a resounding victory in the 1981 edition of the prestigious Paris - Dakar Rally.

Other notable firsts include the introduction of the F 650 "Funduro" in 1993 as BMW’s original single-cylinder enduro, the arrival of the R 1100 GS as the first enduro with ABS, the expansion of the GS moniker to the F Series or the expansion of the range from the compact G 310 GS to the flagship R 1200 GS.

Our personal favorite is the R nineT Urban G/S - it relies on the genes of the original R 80 G/S but takes the DNA into the 21st century for arguably the perfect combination of vintage style and modern air/oil-cooled boxer engine performance thanks to the available 110 hp.

For more fun facts and valuable information on the GS series you can check the press release section below.

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press release
About the author: Aurel Niculescu
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Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution.
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