BMW Motorrad Anniversary: 30 Years of GS
Wednesday, April 7th, 2010
Boldness gets its reward.
The excitement at the IFMA stand was reflected not only in the large number of spontaneous orders taken at the show, but also in sustained customer interest. By the end of 1981, a total of 6,631 motorcycles – more than twice the number originally planned – had left the halls of the Berlin plant. One in five BMWs sold in 1981 was a G/S. The company‟s boldness was rewarded with the establishment of a new market segment, the touring enduro playing a critical role in reviving BMW‟s sales figures. Indeed, this market segment remains hugely important for BMW today.
Out of nowhere, the R 80 G/S became the model of choice for the adventurous at heart and fans of long-distance treks. One such rider was Hans Tholstrup, born in Denmark but resident in Australia since 1965. Having already completed the fastest motorcycle circuit around the world in 1974 – also on a BMW – Tholstrup undertook a similar expedition with an R 80 G/S in 1981. This made him one of the first motorcycle globetrotters to place their trust in the G/S for such epic journeys.
Anyone for desert?
At the same time, BMW was stepping up its involvement in off-road sporting competition. Next up on the radar after the European competitions was the world‟s toughest and most publicised off-road event: the Paris-Dakar Rally.
First held in 1979, the Paris-Dakar route covered 9,500 kilometres, just 30 per cent of which was over surfaced roads. In 1980 Jean-Claude Morellet – better known by his pseudonym “Fenouil” – finished in fifth place on a BMW.
The brand returned to the race in 1981 with increased vigour. This time the factory machines were prepared by HPN, based in Seibersdorf in Bavaria, in close cooperation with BMW Motorsport. This small specialist firm called on its deep well of endurance racing expertise in creating the technical basis for the R 80 G/S, which Hubert Auriol rode to a stunning victory in the rally. Auriol finished three hours ahead of his nearest challenger, while “Fenouil” came home fourth. A privately-entered BMW ridden by French policeman Bernard Neimer crossed the finish line seventh, highlighting the potential of a series-production BMW motorcycle showing only minimal modifications. The market picked up on BMW‟s success in the Dakar and sales figures for the G/S rose around the world.
BMW chalked up overall victory once again in 1983. With experienced BMW tuner and off-road rider Herbert Scheck having boosted engine capacity to 980 cc and output to 70 hp, Hubert Auriol stormed to a second Dakar triumph on his factory BMW. The Frenchman then followed up this success by winning the Baja California race.
Victory in the 1984 Dakar went to BMW‟s Belgian rider Gaston Rahier. Slight in stature but a fearsome competitor, the professional motocross specialist steered his factory machine across the finish line ahead of Auriol on the second BMW. The brand‟s one-two inspired a desirable special-edition R 80 G/S bearing the Dakar name.
Making short work of long distances: the R 80 G/S “Paris-Dakar”.
The “Paris-Dakar” was released for general sale, its 32-litre fuel tank and a comfortable single seat with luggage rack (in place of the double seat) setting it apart from the standard G/S. The “Dakar” – as it soon became known – was delivered from the factory with a combination of protective bars and side stands, which made good sense for anyone contemplating hard enduro riding. Standard Michelin rough-tread tyres set the seal on the package.
The Paris-Dakar components were also available individually or as a kit. Almost 3,000 customers – in addition to the kit buyers – chose the 800 cc Dakar over the standard R 80 G/S.
With the first examples of the R 80 G/S “Paris-Dakar” delivered to customers in late 1984, it was fitting that Rahier should be the first rider into the Senegalese capital once again in 1985, giving BMW its fourth Dakar victory in five years. This remarkable record of success put to bed those early concerns as to whether the company could make a credible case for a boxer BMW as an enduro machine.
Impressive evidence of the boxer BMW‟s off-road potential came not only in the form of those four victories in the Dakar; there was also success to report on the American continent. Baja California – the 1,200-kilometre-long peninsula on the southern tip of North America‟s west coast – had hosted a legendary desert race for motorcycles since 1975. It was an event characterised by long stages and big variations in terrain. BMW riders Gaston Rahier and Eddy Hau celebrated victory in the large-capacity class in both 1984 and 1985, vividly highlighting the G/S‟s rugged talents to North American customers.
The BMW R 80 G/S was also a big success for BMW on the balance sheet, the company delivering 21,864 units to customers by July 1987.
Every wish was their command: the R 80 GS / R 100 GS.
Success remained a constant companion of BMW as the company set about addressing a host of customer requests with the next model off the line. The result was presented in late summer 1987 in the form of the R 80 GS / R 100 GS duo, which promised greater comfort, improved performance and better brakes.
The engine on the R 100 GS was familiar from the previous year‟s R 100 RS, and its brawny characteristics made it an excellent match for the touring enduro. The existing variant with output of 50 hp from 798 cc displacement at 6,500 rpm was now joined by a unit delivering a full 60 hp from 980 cc at 6,500 rpm. However, much more significant than the larger displacement were the enhanced handling and comfort of the new models.
A new rear-wheel swing arm construction, christened the “BMW Paralever”, largely eliminated the negative side effects of the shaft drive system, whereby the rear would lift under acceleration as the suspension stiffened up. Engineers had known about this “shaft effect” phenomenon, which was a particular problem under heavy acceleration on poor surfaces, for decades. Indeed, BMW engineer Alex von Falkenhausen had fitted the BMW factory racing machines with a double-joint swing arm as early as 1955 in order to improve handling.
However, this technology – for which BMW secured a patent – was not initially carried over to series production and BMW motorcycles retained the standard rear swing arm with universal joint until 1987. The trick of using a parallelogram-type suspension system to decouple the rear-wheel swing arm from drive and deceleration forces meant this “shaft effect” was almost entirely absent on the new BMW models.
BMW was keen to make good use of this stand-out technical feature. Indeed, with a sound set of test results under their belt they soon decided to adopt the Paralever single-sided swing arm for the successor to the R 80 G/S, the R 80 GS.
Innovations could also be found in the front wheel location of the GS. In order to introduce travel-dependent damping – a new technical development at the time – into the much stronger fork, a conventional construction in the left-hand strut was combined with a conical bushing working in conjunction with a valve in the right-hand unit. As a consequence, the compression stage in the fork through the first stage of suspension travel barely had any effect. The result was outstanding ride comfort. However, when the fork compressed, the cone caused the annular gap to shrink, stiffening up the damping and ensuring that the fork could even withstand landings after jumps.
Added to which, the fork now suffered barely any contortion thanks to the installation of a hollow, and therefore lightweight, 25-mm-diameter axle. But the innovations on the R 80 GS / R 100 GS did not end with the swing arm and telescopic fork. The construction of the new cross-spoke wheels also represented a world premiere. These wire-spoked wheels also allowed the use of tubeless tyres, and individual spokes could be replaced without having to take off the wheel or tyre. However, the most important achievement concerned the flat spoke angle, which enhanced elasticity and gave the wheels incredible robustness against impacts and overloading. And there was also more space available for the upsized brake callipers of the larger brake discs.
