lundi 19 janvier 2015
History of the GS - Part One
Riding in the dirt. In the beginning it was a necessity. The roads that we take for granted today didn't exist when the first BMW motorcycles were developed. Today, finding good roads isn't a problem, and the machines we build are better equipped than ever to take advantage of them.
But some of our most loyal customers continue to ride in the dirt and our best selling motorcycle ever -- is a bike designed to be as capable off the road as it is on the road. 2010 marks the thirty-year anniversary of the BMW GS motorcycle. For three decades, this legendary machine has been crossing borders and shattering the boundaries of what a motorcycle can be.
But what makes the GS unique and why has it become THE icon of adventure riding?
BMW engines were first tested by legendary fighter pilots like Baron Manfred von Richtoffen, the infamous Red Baron, over the skies of Europe in the early 1900's.
Renamed the Bavarian Motor Works on July 21, 1917, BMW's origins began with the Rapp Motor Works, an airplane engine company established in Munich.
After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles effectively ended Germany's aero-engineering programs and the BMW engineers began focusing on small engines for motorcycles. At the helm of the company's engine design group was a young Austrian air force officer named Max Fritz. Originally responsible for aircraft engines like the BMW3A, Fritz turned his attention to motorcycles.
The bikes developed were used and tested on the soil in which they were created, the Bavarian Alps, a rugged environment with unpredictable weather and tightly winding roads.
September 28th 1923. The day BMW changed the motorcycle industry forever. At the Berlin Automobile Show, BMW unveiled its first fully manufactured motorcycle, the now iconic R32.
BMW's flat twin engine was revolutionary. To overcome the heat problems suffered by the rear cylinder in a typical horizontally opposed configuration, designer Max Fritz rotated his engine 90 degrees, placing it at a right angle to the direction of travel. He then mounted the gearbox directly to the engine. This enabled him to run a shaft to a bevel drive at the rear wheel instead of using a chain drive. The bevel design had also proven itself on airplane engines and Fritz took full advantage of its inherent reliability, lower vibrations and reduced maintenance requirements. The boxer engine used on today's most powerful GS motorcycle is a direct descendent of the engine used on the R32 motorcycle of 1923.
BMW's second bike was a racing machine, the R37, designed by engineer Rudolf Schleicher. In 1926, Schleicher became the first German to win gold on British soil when he brought the racing bike the Six Days enduro in England.
BMW's most respected racers at the time were equally at home on the track or in the dirt, with Ernst Henne being the archetypal all around rider. Whether in the mud or through the water, no challenge was too great for BMW's early riders.
BMW has always used racing as a platform to push the limits of performance, and competition as a testing ground for new technologies.
The telescopic front suspension was one of the company's most enduring early innovations and it remained in use on all of BMW's production motorcycles until 1993, when the new telelever suspension appeared first on a sport touring boxer and then the new R 1100 GS.
But some of our most loyal customers continue to ride in the dirt and our best selling motorcycle ever -- is a bike designed to be as capable off the road as it is on the road. 2010 marks the thirty-year anniversary of the BMW GS motorcycle. For three decades, this legendary machine has been crossing borders and shattering the boundaries of what a motorcycle can be.
But what makes the GS unique and why has it become THE icon of adventure riding?
BMW engines were first tested by legendary fighter pilots like Baron Manfred von Richtoffen, the infamous Red Baron, over the skies of Europe in the early 1900's.
Renamed the Bavarian Motor Works on July 21, 1917, BMW's origins began with the Rapp Motor Works, an airplane engine company established in Munich.
After World War I, the Treaty of Versailles effectively ended Germany's aero-engineering programs and the BMW engineers began focusing on small engines for motorcycles. At the helm of the company's engine design group was a young Austrian air force officer named Max Fritz. Originally responsible for aircraft engines like the BMW3A, Fritz turned his attention to motorcycles.
The bikes developed were used and tested on the soil in which they were created, the Bavarian Alps, a rugged environment with unpredictable weather and tightly winding roads.
September 28th 1923. The day BMW changed the motorcycle industry forever. At the Berlin Automobile Show, BMW unveiled its first fully manufactured motorcycle, the now iconic R32.
BMW's flat twin engine was revolutionary. To overcome the heat problems suffered by the rear cylinder in a typical horizontally opposed configuration, designer Max Fritz rotated his engine 90 degrees, placing it at a right angle to the direction of travel. He then mounted the gearbox directly to the engine. This enabled him to run a shaft to a bevel drive at the rear wheel instead of using a chain drive. The bevel design had also proven itself on airplane engines and Fritz took full advantage of its inherent reliability, lower vibrations and reduced maintenance requirements. The boxer engine used on today's most powerful GS motorcycle is a direct descendent of the engine used on the R32 motorcycle of 1923.
BMW's second bike was a racing machine, the R37, designed by engineer Rudolf Schleicher. In 1926, Schleicher became the first German to win gold on British soil when he brought the racing bike the Six Days enduro in England.
BMW's most respected racers at the time were equally at home on the track or in the dirt, with Ernst Henne being the archetypal all around rider. Whether in the mud or through the water, no challenge was too great for BMW's early riders.
BMW has always used racing as a platform to push the limits of performance, and competition as a testing ground for new technologies.
The telescopic front suspension was one of the company's most enduring early innovations and it remained in use on all of BMW's production motorcycles until 1993, when the new telelever suspension appeared first on a sport touring boxer and then the new R 1100 GS.
BSMC GEAR GUIDE #43
In this week’s Gear Guide we feature exquisite ladies bike boots, another fine lid from the guys at Hedon, an iconic Lewis Leathers jacket, the bible of choppers by The Vintagent, and something sweet to stop you losing your keys.
HEDON HEDONIST ASTON HELMET
One thing that defines Hedon’s open faced helmets is their use of colour and finish. The Hedonist range is distinctive in it’s striking bold tones rendered the shiniest of gloss and the flattest of matte.
In the Aston they have created a helmet that is both striking and subtle, featuring a gloss gunmetal shell, with two contrasting gunmetal matte stripes. Called the Aston, it’s as slick as it’s namesake.
Hedonist was created by partners Lindsay and Reg for “….those devoted to the joy of the ride and pursuit of unabashed pleasure.” The Aston is trimmed and lined in genuine calf leather and features their logo plaque in brass gunmetal. It’s a very slim fitting composite fiber shell of carbon fiberglass and carbon, and is lined with Hed Armor and 360″ cushion padding, finished with Merlin anti-bacterial fabric. The strap is fastened with a gunmetal plated DD buckle. The Hedonist is ECE 22.05 certified, which means they’re fully road legal for all of Europe and the UK. The helmets are all assembled in London by Lindsay and Reg themselves.
The Hedonist is a well fitting and very quiet helmet. The Aston is a beautiful lid that will look the business with all your brushed ally, titanium pipework, and battleship primer paint.
FRYE VERONICA BACK ZIP LADIES ENGINEER BOOTS
Women get a raw deal when it comes to motorcycle appropriate gear. Almost always they are forced to wear mens clothes in small sizes, or badly fitting specimens half-arsedly (if there is such a word) adapted from male designs by reluctant manufactures. Thankfully Heritage American cobblers Frye are an exception. They have designed an engineer boot in the Veronica that is tough and rugged enough to be worn on a bike, but feminine and stylish enough to be worn once off it.
Frye use their toughest skins for the hardworking Veronica, featured here with a full back zip. Four thick cut straps are buckled down with foundry forged hardware, with three straps securing the zip area. They come in antique pull up leather or soft vintage leather, with a rugged rubber sole and full leather lining. They have a 15″ shaft circumference (based on a US size 6), a 13 1/2” shaft height, a 1 1/4” heel and come in a medium width. The Veronica back zip comes in ten different colour and hide combinations.
On March 10th, 1863, John A. Frye opened the doors of a small shop on Elm Street in Marlborough, Massachusetts. serving a simple purpose: to provide reliable and comfortable footwear for the daily working lives of the hundreds of factory workers in that small New England town. Each generation of Frye dedicated themselves to the art and craft of shoemaking, creating new patterns, discovering new materials, and even inventing shoe-making machinery. Their passion for footwear as durable as it is beautiful has been the company’s benchmark.
These are a lovely looking, built for business, women’s boot, that work well whether on a bobber, cafe racer or brat. A truly rare commodity.
LEWIS LEATHERS SUPER MONZA NO.445 LEATHER JACKET
Lewis Leathers jackets go hand in hand with cafe racer culture, and have been worn by motorcyclists since way before the second world war.
Lewis Leathers started as D Lewis Ltd in late 19th century London, and supplied early aviators, motorists and motorcyclists with protective clothing, and by the mid 50s was the largest motorcycling clothing company in the UK. In the 1960s it aligned itself with the 59 Club and as Mods and Rockers slogged it out on bank holiday beaches, Lewis could be seen worn on both sides. Lewis have always provided racers with protective skins, whilst rock musicians adopted the cool styling as their own.
These days a Lewis Leather jacket requires a hefty investment but these jackets will last a lifetime. One of Lewis’s most iconic jacket is the Super Monza,
The super Monza appeared in 1978 as an update on the particularly short Monza jacket. The Monza was an early seventies race inspired design that was instantly popular. The most apparent stylistic change of the Super Monza was the longer length. The side adjuster belts were moved to the back and an inside pocket was added. It came to be the most iconic Lewis Leather jacket of the late 1970s early 1980s.
An extra long jacket tailored from quality hide, it features a wrap over windproof front with heavy duty zipper, zipped pockets and cuffs. It features signature reinforced diamond padding at the shoulders and elbows.
All Lewis leather jackets are made to order and available in eight different shades of cow hide, so give yourself some time when ordering. If you are an odd size – built like Arnie or a Teletubby – Lewis offer a reasonably priced bespoke service.
“THE CHOPPER – THE REAL STORY” – PAUL D’ORLEANS.
“Where did you get this motorcycle?” “It’s not a motorcycle, baby, it’s a chopper.” — Butch (Bruce Willis), Pulp Fiction
As bikers, many of us with a natural leaning towards grumpiness, tend to think we know pretty much all there is to know about bikes that worth knowing. Well, we’re wrong. Paul D’Orleans, The Vintagent, is a man who puts virtually all of us to shame. He knows more, alot more.
Rider, collector, builder and historian, Paul is a rare breed of journalist who always educates and never condescends, and with an unbridled enthusiasm he has the infectious knack of rendering subjects once dismissed by some as irrelevant, utterly fascinating.
The sleeve notes to “The Chopper” claim:
“Whether you collect custom motorcycles or want to throw rocks at those biker freaks who leave you deaf as they zoom by, you need to know the story of the chopper. Because the story of the chopper is the story of popular culture.”
I’m not a big chopper fan, in fact much of my interest in the new wave custom scene is a reaction against the blingy excesses of the Orange County chopper scene. But Mr. D’Orleans turns all of my ill-formed misconceptions on their collective head.
In an entertaining and illuminating narrative he navigates the journey of the chopper from the Great Depression to post war austerity, through to the explosive 1960s counter culture, past the excess of the 70s, through to the present day.
Accompanied by archival and contemporary photographs, this is a terrific read. Produced to the highest quality, this essential book for the custom bike library is equally at home on the coffee table as it is in the workshop.
SIDEWINDER APPAREL LEATHER LANYARD
Sometimes it the littlest thing that makes the difference between a perfect day out on the bike, and a wretched miserable ball-ache. One recent little thing springs to mind (yes Bike Shed crew, have your giggle now) – losing one’s keys. Unless you lose them before you start your journey, such misadventure costs too much time and money for it to be vaguely amusing. Even now.
An easy solution is a lanyard. There are many on the market, but this one from Sidewinder is particularly sweet. Not too long, or too short, this handy and hard wearing plaited leather key holder is perfect. It securely clips onto belt loops, bags etc with high quality and reliable fittings.
Martin Black, the founder of Sidewinder Apparel states “Sidewinder is dedicated to bringing you high quality, practical & classic accessories for the modern Gent around town. We are very proud that all our items are crafted in small quantities within the UK.” All materials are sourced only from British suppliers. Fabrics all come from British manufacturers. The leathers are European or British and conform to strict EU regulations, naturally tanned using vegetable tanning agents.
The lanyard comes in black, brown and untanned. Perfect!
via The Bike Shed
This week’s highlights from the Classic Driver Market
While the Carrera RS 2.7 might be the most desirable (and thus least obtainable) variant of the 911, some enthusiasts prefer the simple shape of Porsche’s inimitable coupé sans-Ducktail. And they don’t come much purer than this gorgeous 2.4S…
Vaughn Gittin Jr’s 2014 World Tour of Fun, Winning and Tire Slaying
ROCKET CUSTOM GARAGE BOL D’OR
When the order for early retirement came through from his superiors, Ron Fairbrother found himself looking at life back in civvies with a lot of time on his hands. ‘Yes Sir, no Sir, three bags full Sir’ would be left far behind and the vacuum needing filling with a hobby. Rocket Custom Garage became the plug, letting Ron attack a lifelong passion as he would the enemy lines. Building bikes with a regimental attention to quality, the Bol D’or is the most recent bike to roll out onto the front line. This was to be no parade ground pony though, performance being just as important, so when thrown in the battlefield of a trackday, the old guard would embarrass a few of the young upstarts.
His 4th major build, Ron has previously put together a Flatlands Racer framed bobber and a Harley V-Rod Cafe Racer. We’ve also featured his rather tasty Sanctuary-inspired Zephyr which got us all drooling. Next up on the block though Ron fancied a bit of old school European flair. The Ebay coin toss landed on a rather tatty 1980 Moto Guzzi Mille GT. Beneath the 32,000 miles of corroded aluminium and flaky paint lay the key ingredients; Tonti frame, big block engine and triple discs. This was the one.
Once in bits the pile of useful parts was considerably smaller than the pile to sell on. Effectively just the frame, engine and wheels, nearly everything else was resold and recycled to go back in the build fund. The frame received a simple delugging and looped rear end; any other changes to the Tonti masterpiece is tantamount to sacrilege. A deliciously deep stove enamel coating of zinc oxide onto which the blue was overlaid makes for an incredibly tough finish and shows the simplicity of the frame to it’s best.
Weight saving was a key aspect of the build. As the bike was designed to be both a fast road bike and track tool, simplifying the electrics meant unwanted pounds were shed and non track-essential parts could be easily removed before trickling down pit lane. A GPS speedo reduced trailing wires while massive weight savings were made through the use of modern electrical componenets. Ron notes:
“The battery was the biggest single weight saving, weighing in at 1.3kg, opposed to the near 13kg of the original, and is housed between the carbs thus keeping the frame clear under the seat. It was only after constructing this, did I see Kaffee Maschine’s method of hiding the battery under the gearbox. Hey, it is my first Guzzi build. Anyway, while we are on the weight saving, my estimate for the total bike is an overall reduction of about 35kgs.”
A very useful weight loss indeed, which will help the bike flik-flak through the twists and turns of UK circuits.
That iconic engine is key to the look, and feel, of the bike. Rather than prat about, Ron handed it over to his friend Paul Curtis, an engine genius, who builds Laverda’s for himself whilst rebuilding engines of all makes for others. As he explains;
“Once gutted, it was aqua bead blasted ready for my original plan of black enamel; however, once I had seen the immaculate blasted finish, I just couldn’t bring myself to cover it in paint. Good move because it looks splendid now. He fitted new valve springs, valves, shell bearings and rings etc., along with a 2.3kg flywheel vice the 4.2kg original and a new clutch. The remainder was left untouched as it showed no sign of wear. The carbs were kept original too, just re-built with new parts and re-jetted for the bell mouths now the airbox had been junked. And the bloody thing started first time, sounding proper nice through the new stainless pipework and titanium end cans. I do like a loud bike.”
To further help turn the heavyweight Guzzi into a lean, mean fighting machine, the rolling chassis was thoroughly revised. Ron made sure the suspension could handle the rigours of fast road and track riding.
“Front forks are pretty much all new with progressive springs, new stanchions and dampers, held together with the original yolks, only the black lowers are original. Rear shocks were sourced from The Shock Factory and are smashing quality too.Front and rear wheels are originals but with new rollers and spokes and a satin black enamel coating. Brakes were given the new treatment too, opting for more modern discs and new OEM Brembo callipers. This pretty much sorted the rolling chassis, bar the blasted and stoved swingarm and all new bevel gear internals.”
For rider controls, new bars made from thick ally tubing gave a wider stance that Ron prefers for riding. A new Brembo master and clutch lever, Ducati 748 kill switch and universal switchgear for the right side rounds out the spartan functionality in the cockpit.
Transforming the Mille from grand-tourer to ‘go-faster’, the tank, seat and fairing combo work together along Lino’s horizontal line for that perfect balance of purpose and beauty.
“The seat unit and Le Mans tank were Ebay finds and the fairing is the Con1 from Airtech Streamlining in the US. It’s smaller than the usual BMW/Guzzi affair and fitted well with new bracketry, more to the point, it doesn’t dominate the front of the bike like the latter do. The screen was cut down by me for a more retro/custom look. The paintwork was completed by the master himself, Ty Lawyer at Pageant. The tank required much reshaping prior to coating and the overall effect is stunning in the flesh. The only thing I’m not 100% with is the seat, which I will have re-done in the new year; apart from that she’s awesome all over.”
Couldn’t agree more, Ron. That classic Guzzi silouhette is unmistakeable, long, low and, in this case, lean.
A fantastic tribute to the crazy Bol D’or racing at Paul Ricard in the ’90s. As Ron reminisces, ‘”Mad days racing each other through the mountains, camping, drinking and generally being incompatible with polite society. Proper biking.” Hard to disagree with that. Although he’s yet to take her on a proper test ride thanks to the UK’s inclement weather, the initial 5 miler went perfectly: ‘she revs well, sounds the biz and looks exactly how she should’.
That’s the sound of very happy man and a job well done. We can’t wait to see what comes next; here’s to early retirement!
You can see more of the build process, trials and tribulations in a build thread in our very own forum. Or pop over toRocket Custom Garage, Ron’s site for more on all of his builds.
via The Bike Shed
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