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The BMW R G/S

The Monolever generation

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The 1980-1987 R 80 G/S

R80GS picR80G/S drawingThe first of September 1980, in Avignon (a southern French city), a new type of bike is born. The first big trail bike is on the market. It is the G/S, where G is for Gelände ("offroad" in German motorcycle vocabulary) and S for Strasse ("street" in German).

This bike, with a mono arm rear suspension called Monolever, is the result of the numerous years of experience of the BMW engineers. It is derived from:

The principal qualities of the R 80 G/S :

Technical info

The monolever

monolever drawingThe mono suspension arm contains the drive shaft. The system is enclosed with oil inside to lubricate the shaft. The shock absorber is only on the right side and goes from the frame to the final drive.

The swingarm is now fatter and round because it has to resist the twisting that is a result of only being on one side. Inside the final drive, the wheel is bolted to the ring gear with three studs and lug nuts.

Electrical wiring diagram

The R 80 G/S lineage

R80ST drawing The rare R 80 ST, a road oriented R 80 G/S, may be the best twisty road bike BMW ever built. The differences between a R 80 G/S are:

The racing prototypes used in the Paris-Alger-Dakar rallies.

R 80 G/S Paris Dakar

R80G/S PDR80G/S PD tank with Gaston Rahier's signature
R80G/S PD tank with Gaston Rahier's signature

In 1984, BMW present the first "Africa" enduro bike, the R 80 G/S Paris Dakar. The differences vs. a R 80 G/S are:

R 65 GS

During the period 87-90 (life time of the first version of the Paralever GS), the first G/S version continues with a smaller engine (650 cm³, 82mm x 61,5mm, 27 hp (20 kW DIN) at 5500 rpm, 43 Nm at 3500 rpm, Compression: 8,4:1, 2 Bing carburators 26mm, 5 speeds), it's the R 65 GS. It is exactly like the R 80 G/S except for the chrome exhaust, the GS mirror, the battery (12v/20Ah vs: 12v/16Ah) and the weight : 198 kg.

Updated November 2009