The BMW R1150GS and R1150GS Adventure are

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle Steering, steered by a Motorcycle handlebar, handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: Long-distance ...

s that were manufactured by BMW Motorrad from 1999 through 2004. There was a limited run of 2005-06 model year R1150GSA models as well. The R1150GS models are part of the

BMW GS The BMW GS series of one purpose off-road/on-road BMW motorcycles have been produced from 1980, when the R80G/S was launched, to the present day. The GS refers to either Gelände/Straße (German: off-road/road) or Gelände Sport. GS motorcycles c ...

family of

dual-sport A dual-sport motorcycle is a type of street-legal motorcycle that is designed for both on and off-road use. The terms ''all-road,'' ''on/off road,'' and ''dual-purpose'' are also used for this class of motorcycles. Dual-sports are equipped with ...

or adventure motorcycles that have been produced from 1981 to the present date. The bikes have a 1,130 cc horizontally opposed flat-twin engine and

shaft drive A drive shaft, driveshaft, driving shaft, tailshaft (Australian English), propeller shaft (prop shaft), or Cardan shaft (after Girolamo Cardano) is a component for transmitting mechanical power and torque and rotation, usually used to connec ...

Production history

The 1,130 cc R1150GS had a new six-speed gearbox. It replaced the R1100GS, which had a 1,085 cc engine and a five speed gearbox. The standard R1150GS model was produced from 1999 to 2004, when it was replaced by the more powerful and lighter R1200GS. The R1150GS Adventure, which was produced from 2001 to 2005, was replaced by the R1200GS Adventure in 2006. In late 2002, the optional ABS system was replaced with an electrically servo-assisted combined braking system. In addition the engines were equipped with twin

spark plug A spark plug (sometimes, in British English, a sparking plug, and, colloquially, a plug) is a device for delivering electric current from an ignition system to the combustion chamber of a spark-ignition engine to ignite the compressed fuel/ai ...

s on each cylinder; this was intended to improve emissions and improve a persistent surging problem that affected many BMW boxer models. A total of 58,023 standard R1150GS models and 17,828 Adventure models were made.

Model differences

The R1150GS Adventure had a number of differences over the standard bike to make it more suitable for overland and adventure travel. These included an optional fuel tank, larger screen, single-piece seat, taller suspension front and rear, lower first gear and a conventional sixth gear in place of the standard model's overdrive gear. An anti-knock sensor adjustment change allowed the adventure version to run on lower quality gasoline as well. Common options on both models were heated handgrips and ABS brakes.

Awards and long-distance riding

In 2000, '' Cycle World Magazine'' awarded the R1150GS "Best Sport Touring Bike". In 2005, the R1150GS Adventure was awarded "Best Traillie" by British publication ''RiDE Magazine'', and the standard model came third. The R1150GS Adventure was ridden in 2004 by Ewan McGregor and

Charley Boorman Charley Boorman (born 23 August 1966) is a British TV presenter, travel writer and actor. A motorbike enthusiast, Boorman has made three long-distance motorcycle rides with his friend Ewan McGregor, documented in ''Long Way Round'' (2004), ''Lo ...

in their ride from

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, depicted in the book and TV series '' Long Way Round''. The R1150GS's successor, the R1200GS Adventure was used in the follow-up '' Long Way Down'' trip. It was also ridden by

Guinness World Record ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

motorcycle endurance holder Simon Newbound. Kevin Sanders and his wife Julia rode the R1150GS for their Guinness World Record for the fastest world circumnavigation by motorcycle in 2002. They also rode the R1150GS Adventure for their record-breaking traversal of the

Pan-American Highway The Pan-American Highway (french: (Auto)route panaméricaine/transaméricaine; pt, Rodovia/Auto-estrada Pan-americana; es, Autopista/Carretera/Ruta Panamericana) is a network of roads stretching across the Americas and measuring about in to ...

in 2003.

References

External links

R1150GS specifications & history
*, official promo showing the motorcycle in Bolivia {{DEFAULTSORT:Bmw R1150gs R1150GS Motorcycles powered by flat engines Shaft drive motorcycles Dual-sport motorcycles Motorcycles introduced in 1999