BMW R100GS Classic
BMW R100GS Classic | |
Manufacturer | |
---|---|
Production | 1993 - 96 |
Engine | Four stroke, two cylinder horizontally opposed Boxer, 2 valves per cylinder |
Compression ratio | 8.5:1 |
Top Speed | 181 km/h / 112 mph |
Ignition | Electronic ignition, Bosch |
Transmission | 5 Speed |
Frame | Double loop tubular frame with bolt on rear section |
Suspension | Front: Telescopic fork with hydraulic shock absorber. Rear: Paralever adjustable preload, rebound damping compression |
Brakes | Front: Single ∅285mm disc, 2 piston caliper Rear: ∅200 Drum |
Front Tire | 90/90-21 |
Rear Tire | 130/80-17 |
Wheelbase | 1514 mm / 59.6 in |
Seat Height | 850 mm / 33.5 in |
Weight | 210 kg / 462 lbs (wet) |
Fuel Capacity | 24 L / 6.3 US gal |
Manuals | Service Manual |
It could reach a top speed of 181 km/h / 112 mph.
Engine[edit | edit source]
The engine was a Air cooled cooled Four stroke, two cylinder horizontally opposed Boxer, 2 valves per cylinder. The engine featured a 8.5:1 compression ratio.
Drive[edit | edit source]
Power was moderated via the Dry single plate, with diaphragm spring.
Chassis[edit | edit source]
It came with a 90/90-21 front tire and a 130/80-17 rear tire. Stopping was achieved via Single ∅285mm disc, 2 piston caliper in the front and a ∅200 Drum in the rear. The front suspension was a Telescopic fork with hydraulic shock absorber. while the rear was equipped with a Paralever adjustable preload, rebound damping compression. The R100GS Classic was fitted with a 24 L / 6.3 US gal fuel tank. The wheelbase was 1514 mm / 59.6 in long.
Photos[edit | edit source]
Overview[edit | edit source]
BMW R 100GS Classic
With newly-legal plastic tanks comes the UK BMW R100GS PD. But
there's much more to it than an ancient engine and eight-gallon refills
THIS IS A BIKE AND A HALF. It's half tourer, half schoolboy
motocrosser and, in its violet and white paint, it looks half Cadbury's Dairy
Milk too. But oddest of all, it's half thanks to Triumph, of all people, that
the bike's here in the UK at all.
IKE first tested the P-D (for Paris-Dakar, though BMW isn't allowed to use the full name for copyright reasons) version of the popular GS a year ago when, because of its oversize, illegal-inthe-UK plastic tank, it was available only via a grey import back door in our case known as Guernsey. Now, due mostly to Triumph's concerted parliamentary lobbying over the then imminent and similarly plastic-tanked Tiger 900, things have changed. Placcy tanks are now (as long as they meet the required standard) legally kosher; the Triumph Tiger is here, the similarly be-tanked Cagiva Elefant is back and BMW's P-D is now officially available too. Great, innit? Essentially the P-D is stock GS and none the worse for it. BM's enduring, rose-tinted, 980cc flat-twin embraces the now familiar Paralever shaft-drive rear, a pair of soft-ish, leading-axle teles up front and some rather tasty Akront wire wheels, with the spokes on the outer edge of the rim to allow for tubeless tires at each end. It's all familiar, pleasantly proven and, well, let's face it, a bit old bast'd. Sixty lumbering horses at 6500rpm and a top whack that struggles to count up to three figures was never likely to get anyone younger than 30 to drop their knickers, but Boxers manage to get you going in other ways. And that's not just another way of saying it's slow. This might have all been said before, but BMs, and Boxers in particular, take time and many, many milesto appreciate. At first, a lot of things are a pain in the bot: unfamiliar switchgear; a tight and clonky gearbox; an almost impossibly tricky sidestand; an engine that seems to want a higher gear before you've even reached 4000rpm; and a severe lack of go. But no matter how irate such things make you at first, I defy anyone to then stop the fondness start flooding through. Even though the Dark Ages gearbox was always unhappily clonky around town and sometimes full of more neutrals than a UN peace keeping force, above that... just stick it in top (fifth) and travel; this thundering, but soft, elastic twin can still deliver. What vibes exist seem only to numb the second finger on the throttle hand -and even then only on long motorway journeys. The single plate clutch is reasonably light and nicely precise. And any other idiosyncrasies from the two-valve old-timer are quickly overshadowed by the lumbering, practical, unpressured joy of it all. The P-D may be a little soggy, but there remains a barrelling thunder about a Boxer BM when you really roll it on. So, roll that throttle; roll around those bends; roll a little Beethoven or Strauss around in your helmet and, with that 35litre tank and a range potentially the far side of 300 miles, it's 'Next stop: Somewhere Very Far Away', cos that's the sort of fun it brings.
Handling, though a little unsophisticated and heavy and a
touch vague when on the edge of the excellent Metzeler Sahara tubeless tires,
is, on the whole, fine. Around town the low comfy seat, good visibility, light
steering and masses of steering lock, put the P-D ahead of virtually anything.
On motorways at a steady, respectable 80-85, the plush seat, half-decent (and
adjustable) screen, hand guards and top-gear effortlessness come into their own.
And along fast country roads the preload-only adjustable Paralever rear-end
sumptuously absorbs every rut and hole. Wherever you may be, however hard yo,u
may be travelling, on a GS, PD version or no, everything seems to attract a
comfortable, easy, mile-eating hue.
Push a GS and you'll be surprised how ably it responds. I
remember a guy who used to race a GS in Battle of the Twins around Cadwell and
the like and there was many a red-faced Ducati, Guzzi or Cagiva rider in his
wake. Unlike some Japs (the Super Ten springs to mind), the BM nears its limits
slowly, gracefully, gradually. It never gets ragged, threatens to throw you off
or scares. It merely deteriorates, gets slightly more sloppy the more crazy you
ride. And that's largely why it's so much fun.
The only time you really have to wake from this swinging,
lumbering bliss is on the brakes. With its solitary 285mm Brembo up front and
single disc rear, the P-D's brakes are, to be blunt, a little marginal. I always
needed hefty wodges of rear to slow as I'd like -and that was relatively unladen
and solo. With repeated hard use, such as my twisty, eight-mile hack into work,
they faded quicker than a cheap T-shirt in a Philips
Whirlpool. The rearwards weight bias doesn't help, of course, but an extra disc
up front would do wonders for my self-preservation.
Overall, those are the sort of conventional
performance-orientated parameters that plain don't seem to matter very much on
the P-D. Yes, you can have a whoop-whoop blast on this Beemer, even if it is
lOmph slower than would be possible on most of its obvious competition. But,
more usually, even more idiosyncratically, it's the things that aren't
immediately obvious that, in time, bring big smiles to your face. And that can
be the first long ride when you notice how comfortable the deep seat and low and
easy riding position is; the first unscheduled shopping binge when you realise
how useful those panniers are big enough for a full face lid for example or that first cold morning when you fall
instantly in love with the wonderful heated bar-grips. And on top of all that
the P-D has that aforementioned but unobtrusive huge tank, a useful rear rack,
stylish if a tad useless raised front mudguard AND more gaudy style than any GS
can shake a stick at.
Whether that's all worth the ,£909 the P-D costs over the standard R100GS is
another matter. And if you want the heated bar grips they're an extra $105. But
for me, the GS remains my favourite BM and the P-D version of it is, if not some
kind of weird ultimate, definitely the best yet. For two weeks it was my car, my
scratcher, my van and my joy. It had a heater, it had superb panniers, it was
comfortable, but more than anything, it was fun. And one day I'd like to end up
with one. When I'm 35.
Source By Phil West Bike Magazine 1993
Make Model | BMW R 100GS Classic |
---|---|
Year | 1993 - 96 |
Engine Type | Four stroke, two cylinder horizontally opposed Boxer, 2 valves per cylinder |
Displacement | 980 cc / 59.8 cu in. |
Bore X Stroke | 94 x 70.6 mm |
Cooling System | Air cooled |
Compression | 8.5:1 |
Induction | 2 x Bing carburetors |
Ignition | Electronic ignition, Bosch |
Alternator | Bosch 12V/280 W |
Starting | Electric |
Max Power | 44 kW / 60 hp @ 6500 rpm |
Max Power Rear Tire | 41.7 kW / 56 hp @ 6500 rpm |
Max Torque | 76 Nm / 7.75 kgf-m / 56 ft-lb @ 3750 rpm |
Clutch | Dry single plate, with diaphragm spring |
Transmission | 5 Speed |
Gear Ratio | 1st 4.40 / 2nd 2.86 / 3rd 2.07 / 4th 1.67 / 5th 1.50:1 |
Rear Wheel Ratio | 1:3.09 |
Bevel / Crown Wheel | 11/34 teeth |
Final Drive | Shaft |
Frame | Double loop tubular frame with bolt on rear section |
Front Suspension | Telescopic fork with hydraulic shock absorber. |
Front Wheel Travel | 225 mm / 8.8 in |
Rear Suspension | Paralever adjustable preload, rebound damping compression |
Rear Wheel Travel | 180 mm / 7.0 in |
Front Brakes | Single ∅285mm disc, 2 piston caliper |
Rear Brakes | ∅200 Drum |
Front Wheel | 1.85 - 21 MTH 2 |
Rear Wheel | 2.50 - 17 MTH 2 |
Front Tire | 90/90-21 |
Rear Tire | 130/80-17 |
Dimensions | Length 2290 mm / 90.1 in Width 1000 mm / 39.3 in Height 1165 mm / 45.8 in |
Wheelbase | 1514 mm / 59.6 in |
Seat Height | 850 mm / 33.5 in |
Ground Clearance | 200 mm / 7.9 in |
Wet Weight | 210 kg / 462 lbs |
Fuel Capacity | 24 L / 6.3 US gal |
Top Speed | 181 km/h / 112 mph |
Road Test | Adventure Group test Motosprint 1988 |