BMW R80 Gallery

The BMW R80s evolved from the 750 and then just kept on evolving slowly, like most primitive forms of life. The R80/7 appeared in September 1978 and was basically a bored-out R75. It had a duplex endless timing chain, contact breakers and mechanical advance/retard, wire wheels, fork gaiters, single front disc and a solid shaft.

The British police were much taken with the bike, and, largely at their instigation, a second disc went on the front. The front suspension was beefed up by reducing the damping rod holes from four to two. All engines were the S model with 9:1 compression ration, Kinematics gearchange went on soon after, in a half-successful attempt to get a half-decent gearchange action. Cast wheels followed and brake calipers changed from ATE to Brembo. These changes crept up osmotically on the Beemer, but in late 1979 came a major overhaul.

The seat changed to the sportier R90S style and the rear light became the current twin-bulb type. Changes also took place in the engine. The timing chain changed over to a single-row item with split link, which is worth remembering as it takes half the time to replace compared to the duplex one.

The ignition was modified to get out of the way of water and oil, and was put in its own container and remotely driven, much like a car's distributor. Fork gaiters departed and the shaft drive finally got a cam-type shock absorber. Production finished in 1980, The engine continued in the R80G/S Paris-Dakar model, until the R80 was brought back in 1983, featuring some of the C/S mods.

Bike	Image	Description
1977 BMW R80/7		Air cooled, four stroke, two cylinder horizontally opposed Boxer, pushrod operated 2 valves per cylinder. 215kg 5 speed 50bhp @ 6500rpm
1978 BMW R80/7, 800cc
1979 BMW R80/7		ex-Police bike.
1979 BMW R80
1979 BMW R80/7		797cc.
1978 BMW R80		800cc
1979 BMW R80
1980 BMW R 80GS		For a company which had previously taken new model introductions lightly, BMW brought the house down in revealing their latest wonder, the R80 G/S. At BMW's invitation, over 30 curious journalists from around the globe were assembled in the historical city of Avignon, in the south of France. In a conference room, president of BMW's Motorcycle Group, Dr. Eberhard Sarfert and vice-president Karl Gerlinger, had the tough task of explaining the G/S's reason for existence. After all, what reasoning could there possibly be for producing a so-called multi-purpose bike weighing 400lb and sporting an awkward boxer engine? Or better yet, what advantages or enticements could it possibly have over the current crop of lightweight singles? There were obviously none if you were to pit it head-to-head; but then the point was clearly stressed that the G/S was not designed to compete on the same turf against the familiar cluster of conventional "enduros," or against anyone else for that matter. In fact, BMW may well have dreamed up an entirely new and untouchable slot in the market solely for its purpose.
1980 BMW R80
1980 BMW R80/7
1980 BMW R80
1981 BMW R 80T
1981 BMW R80RT
1981 BMW R80RT
1982 BMW R 80ST
1982 BMW R 80RT
1982 BMW R80 RT		798cc
1983 BMW R80RT
1983 BMW R80		798cc, 50bhp. Very nice R80 (it was an RT). Originally a Police Bike.
BMW R 80GS Paris Dakar
1984 BMW R 80RT Mono
1984 BMW R80		800cc.
1984 BMW R80
1985 BMW R80S		800cc, 80 Bhp.
1986 BMW R80 RT,		798cc
1986 BMW R80RT
1986 BMW R80RT
1987 BMW R 80GS		An upgraded bike arrives with a new rear suspension, the paralever in place of the monolever. A change also for the name, the most visible is that the '/' between the G and the S disappears, but also the meaning of the letters changes. Now, the S is for Sport (in place of Strasse, "street" in German).
1988 BMW R80		800cc monolever.
1988 BMW R 80GS
1990 BMW R 80GS		The R80GS of 1990 is really the same as the previous bike but now has the look of the two year old R100GS PD, and all bikes have a new dashboard with odometer and tachometer included.

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