I’ve featured plenty R100Gses in the past – for good reason, they’re awesome! But it also means I’ve become pickier about which ones I share. This example stands out thanks to a cool history and a rebuild by a known ADVer.
If you’ve ever owned a BMW R1100S, you’ve probably heard of Rapid Dog and his barbacks – I had a set on my old one and would absolutely buy another set if I got another one…which I’m always on the look out for because I still have Ohlins shocks and a Van der Linde exhaust waiting for a new home. But that’s a story for another day. The point is, this Rapid Dog character is fairly well known in the BMW and ADV worlds, and he got his hands on an interesting R100GS a couple of years ago. He acquired it from an aircraft composites specialist who put nearly 80,000 miles on the bike touring the US and South America – here’s a cool photo of the previous owner in Bolivia with custom 13 gallon tanks that he had built (sadly no longer with the bike):
Over time (and documented in this thread), the seller brought it back to excellent condition, including a new top end, rebuilt carbs, new steering head/wheel bearings, steel brake lines, rebuilt Ohlins shock, a new rebuildable Ted Porter driveshaft, rebuilt dash, and plenty more. While the previous owner’s custom fuel tank is gone, the custom panniers he built are included.
For more photos, check out the seller’s SmugMug album here. Or just find this GS for sale here on ADVRider (registration required) for $7,500 in Southern California.