Nowadays, the BMW R/GS series is well-known in the motorcycling world as the bikes that launched the concept of big-bore dual sporting. No small part of that is due to the documentary of Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman going the Long Way Round the world on BMW R1150GS Adventures. Hell, we’re guilty of it ourselves – there’s a R1150GS parked in the staff garage here on most days. But the half million GS bikes out there all owe themselves to the granddaddy – the BMW R80GS.
In “Paris-Dakar” Trim
In German, G/S stands for Gelande/Strasse. In English, that’s just Off-road and Street, respectively. Centered around the distinctive airhead boxer twin, BMW took a 800cc displacement version and threw it into a R65 frame. Many, many tweaks later, and BMW created a monster that went on to win the Paris-Dakar rally 4 out of 5 years. Popularity of the R80 shot up for consumers after the PD wins, and it created an incredible aftermarket that still thrives to this day, which sells larger fuel tanks, tougher spoked wheels, auxiliary lighting, soft and hard luggage…the list goes on and on. Got a friend with a dual sport adventure bike? Then he or she has probably told you about Touratech, one of the strongest players in this aftermarket.
In “Stock” Trim
The seller does a good job telling the story of this specific BMW R80GS, which has only covered 7,500 miles and comes with some, though not all, of the Paris-Dakar trim bits (like the 8.5 gallon fuel tank). Note that the PD bits were released in 1985, so they were all sourced after this bike had been around for a few years. This bike was one of the 1,500 R80GS’ ever made, and one of the first 150 sold in North America. You’ll get plenty of spares, and a patina that we think is absolutely perfect. It still looks good, but not so good that you should be scared of riding it. Someone please get this bike dirty again!
Find this BMW R80GS for sale here on ADVRider (registration required) for $10,000 in San Francisco, California.
