1982 BMW R80 G/S
A remarkable BMW… ride, service, and ride some more.
What’s truly remarkable about this lovely Dunkel Blue (code 558) BMW R 80 G/S (G for Gelande/off road and S for Strasse/street) is that each of its five owners were of an identical mindset. Buy, enjoy, service, ride some more and here comes the lucky bit, sell to another owner with similar goals. Over nearly 40 years. Remarkable.
Before I remind you of how the R 80 G/S, even for a BMW, is honored with special status, let’s go through the roster of this bike’s owners.
First sold into BMW’s home market it was brought to North America from Hamburg arriving on June 18, 1984 by Peter-Gunnar Timm of Davis, California. It was next registered to a Rodney C Chew of San Francisco on October 13, the same year. Then there was a Jeffrey Bagley of Chalfont, Pennsylvania on December 12, 1998; a Richard Rockey Kay of Sonoma, California on March 15, 2005; and a Jeffrey Rogers of Lawrenceville, New Jersey on March 29, 2017. Currently registered in New York by owner # 5 – license plate # 83SZ97 with 2020 tab – it is available once more. But only if you are of the same mind set!
The service history file is full up with receipts that bring it up to date as a fully functioning R 80 G/S that runs so well it’s hard believe it’s not new. Of course, it’s 39 years old. It needs nothing mechanically and aesthetically. No motorcycle, dear reader, is perfect but this BMW gets darn close. And R80G/Ss in this condition are mighty uncommon.
The R 80 G/S was launched on September 1, 1980 in Avignon, the “City of Popes,” France… “The BMW R 80 G/S is designed as a leisure instrument with universal applications. The motorcycle’s sporty features and high performance in daily use will open a new dimension in traveling by motorcycling. The R 80 G/S is comfortable while touring, fully passenger capable, and has the capacity to carry all necessary luggage.” So read the first press release.
DETAILS:
Frame # 6255867
Odometer reading 30,484 miles
New York registration 83SZ97, 2020 tab
Aftermarket wire-mesh cover on headlamp
Right side orange-plastic hard case pannier
bore 84.4mm, stroke 70.6, 797cc air-cooled boxer twin
50hp at 6500rpm, 8:2 to 1 compression ratio
twin 32mm Bing carburetors
5-speed
BMW could not have imagined the impact this simple, handsome, focused model would have on the world of motorcycling. It started, single handedly the now fully understood adventure motorcycling category where the two letters G and S mean “let me pass.”. 50 horsepower, electric starter, single-sided swingarm, three-bolt rear wheel fixing, “universal” tires that could run over 100mph on the street or trail, fully gassed up a weight of 191 kilograms. That’s “421 pounds in American.”
The bike’s excellent patina remains after a life of timely maintenance and recent painstaking recommissioning. Remarkable.
IF YOU'RE LOOKING TO BUY, SELL, OR TRADE A SPECIFIC
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DISCLAIMER
Every single bike I buy and sell, I personally go through—not someone else. I am the owner operator of my small business, and I take what I do very seriously. I work on the bikes, I ride the bikes.
If you are serious about buying a true collector piece from someone who not only has a passion for these bikes, but works on them, rides them, and collects them then call me. Jokingly people say to me, “these bikes don’t seem so rare as there are so many in your shop” well... I consider myself a custodian for these machines, they should go to people who will love, and appreciate them.