BMW GS Enduro history & 1978 Laverda GS 800 prototype

sfcpiet said:
No, it's actually a comment on how Laverda included a small cut-out in the frame rail to allow filter removal without needing to lift the engine.  Sort of, even for a prototype, this is a well thought out motorcycle. :D

piet
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Pffft, I should have read it before commenting  :D
 
Have always had bmws and have a R90s, R100 pd and have just got a little present for myself a R80 st for being such a good boy 🧒
Regards Andy 😁
 
I love my GS100, took it to Dumbleyung for an annual over night pub run in the wheatbelt last w/e. The ride home, about 300km involved about 150kays of dirt. Sunday it pissed down, torrential at time most of the way south and the last 70 kays the road which was clay turned into a greasy nightmare :o Going through muddy puddles my boots were washed off the footpegs a couple of times.
Hellish ride but once I got home I thought fuck that was a good ride. Bike is covered in mud/dirt and didn't miss a beat. Gotta love ya GS
 
What a fantastic project and great work.
I'm a fan of the early GS BMs before they lost the plot.
Have a GS1000 that sees more dirt than bitumen. Its taken me to some really out of the way places.
If it really had to come down to one bike the Laverdas would be sold.
 
1200ts said:
I am always amazed that each new model of the GS is heavier than the last model. In another 10 years it will be a 1000lb bike with a 2000cc engine and have 200 HP. But impossible to actually ride off road.
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And I'm amazed they find so many new buyers each year... :rolleyes:

Base model R1100 GS started off around 225kg wet, R1150 GS shot up to 249kg. R1200 GS went on a diat and came out at 228kg. Liquid cooling of the R1250 GS added roughly 20kg. (source; https://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/bikes/bmw7.html) Not really so far off from Breganze twins and triples, but it does make one think "where was the progress?"

Of course adding all that totally unnecessary bullshit stuff from the options catalogue will push the weight sky high.

piet
 
Agree Piet - where is the progress?

Arriving at the top of the Stelvio this year (on way to Breganze) the top station looked like a massive BMW-GS sales showroom. They were bloody everywhere! Yep - every single one laden down with a couple of grands worth of accessories.

I hired one in Spain once - not to bad, but not to good. Left me disinterested. Didn't even have the 'character' of my R100RT.

Is it true that in Germany the early GS are called 'rubber cow'?
 
Haggis said:
Agree Piet - where is the progress?

Arriving at the top of the Stelvio this year (on way to Breganze) the top station looked like a massive BMW-GS sales showroom. They were bloody everywhere! Yep - every single one laden down with a couple of grands worth of accessories.

I hired one in Spain once - not to bad, but not to good. Left me disinterested. Didn't even have the 'character' of my R100RT.

Is it true that in Germany the early GS are called 'rubber cow'?
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Rubber Cow (Gummikuh) all old BMW ´s are called so here.
 
The rubber cow monniker came from the pronounced elevator effect of the early short swing arm air heads. Even used to be a periodical named "Gummikuh" here, the first editions were very heavily Beemer-laden.

Funny though Paul, every time you pull up on a Lav at one of those alpine pass stops, packed with GS and the like, you're immediately surrounded by their riders, eyes open in awe that an old clunker made it up the hill, let alone ridden all the way down from northern Europe! Many of those blokes don't have a clue what motorcycling is about... Weekend Warriors.

While I get along quite well with the old 2-valve air-heads, the 4-valvers do nothing for me. My bloody toaster has more character than those appliances! But then, the same applies to most modern bikes for me.

piet
 
The GS is fantastic. At least if someone else is with you on a GS. Great Tool-Set, lots of space in the luggage - I really like it when a GS-Rider companies me on a longer distance ride... 😇

My best buddy has a GS from 1992 or so, bought new then and is still riding it. He's pretty quick on that thing, was chasing a Ducati 996 rider recently on a tour through the west of Germany (Eifel) and into Luxemburg. Tires looked really well used to the edges... They were staying in a hotel and another group of riders (some with GS's) were there, too. They met in the evening again and the "chicken stripes" on the others bikes were like 3 cm on each side... 🤣

So - might - as always - depend a bit on the rider, how good the bike is... 😉
 
In September I was in France with a friend, travelling over 2000km, but not with the Laverda. We never'd problems finding our bikes at the top of the passes. It’s unbelievable, you might think that apart from GSs (and a few Multistradas) there are no other motorcycles left.

BMWs success IMHO has to do with the fact that they have a unique selling point as a car manufacturer. Many of this BMW car clientele are suddenly interested in 2-wheelers again (children out of the house, second puberty, etc.). This is not the case in this particular constellation with any other motorcycle manufacturer.

However, these thingys won't float my boat. Sorry for OT ...
 
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They have taken over from Honda Goldwings, I see loads of them in convoys down in Portugal all having what looks like organised 'adventures'. Funnily enough when I was down there last time on the Spanish border near Badajoz there was a convoy of little scooters followed by a back up van with a trailer. Takes all sorts to make the world go round.
 
Sell like hotcakes here, despite being as expensive as sin.
www.bike.no

Modellsalget tung MC: BMW R 1300 GS på topp foran Yamaha MT-07!

BMW sin nye R 1300 GS er storselgeren i år. Det er solgt 271 av denne sykkelen. Neste år kommer GSA-modellen, og den nåværende GSA (R 1250 GSA) ligger på tredjeplass på modellsalget. Yamaha MT-07, som har toppet listen de siste årene, ligger nå på 2. plass. Deretter kommer A2-modellen KTM 390...
www.bike.no
 
That's Mark Weytens' bike. Lots of clever touches on it including hydraulically activated front brake and an exhaust routed using the rear mudguard .

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It was wonderful to watch it float across the somewhat rough surfaces, particularly challenging to those mounted on SFC750s, as we approached our lunch stop on the Asagio Plateau, in July.
 
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