Dual-purpose legend celebrates 30 years

BMW's modern GS1200. Photo / Supplied

BMW's mighty Paris Dakar-eater is 30 this year.

Designed as a cross-over, road-dirt machine before SUVs made the concept popular, the GS allegedly started as a few privately ordered conversions to standard twin-cylinder machines.

When owners took part in the German off-road championship they proved the horizontally opposed twin had off-road capability, not least because of the low centre of gravity.

So BMW decided to take the concept further, while retaining the bike's tarmac ability.

At the time, the Japanese and their multiple models for multiple tastes were conquering the two-wheeled world while BMW was sidelined as a nostalgia brand. But a high-capacity enduro bike has sex appeal - if it's successful.

So BMW took its prototype GS to the over-750cc German off-road champs, with a win in its second year, then a pair of golds in 1979's International Six Day Trial.

The GS went on sale the following year as an 800cc, shaft-drive machine with larger wheels and long travel suspension, designed to take two people and luggage almost anywhere they wanted to go.

By the end of 1981 BMW had sold 6631 of the new bikes, double its prediction.

And it had its sights on a new race - the Paris Dakar.

The new GS seemed purpose-built for the notoriously tough 9500km race, and so it proved. BMW took fifth in 1980 - and first in 1981, by more than three hours. A private entry was seventh, and sales rose again.

BMW won the Dakar with a 980cc machine in 1983 and 1984, and released a production Dakar with a 32-litre tank and a single seat.

By the 1990s the GS had gained a rep as the favoured mount of around-the-world adventurers. It had also become a test-bed for the brand, and an icon - but a hefty one. So BMW introduced the F650 single cylinder machine, also an all-roader.

Now there are 650, 800 and 1200cc variants for the bike that rebuilt BMW's rep, and created a dual-purpose legend.