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BMW R1100GS

motorcycle

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionMay 19, 2025
Entity authorityQ796660
Source-derived summary

The BMW R1100GS is a dual-sport motorcycle that was launched in 1993, and manufactured from 1994 to 1999 by BMW Motorrad in Berlin, Germany.

The bike has a 1,085 cc (66.2 cu in) flat-twin (boxer) engine, first seen in the R1100RS which was launched the year before in 1992, and was the first member of the GS family to use an air- and oil-cooled engine rather than the earlier air-cooled airhead engines which had been used on BMW motorcycles since the R32 in 1923.

A smaller capacity sister model, the 848 cc (51.7 cu in) R850GS, was produced from 1996 to 2001.

In 1999, the R1100GS was superseded by the R1150GS.

Technical features

Previous BMW motorcycles used the airhead engines such as the type 247 air-cooled flat-twin with two pushrod-activated valves per cylinder. The R1100GS engine introduced partial oil-cooling and four valves per cylinder operated by a single chain-driven camshaft. Motronic fuel injection was included instead of the carburettors found on earlier bikes. Rear suspension and driveshaft used the same Paralever swingarm system as the previous bikes, but with the addition of remote pre-load adjustment on the shock absorber. Front suspension used a new A-arm system called Telelever. Options included heated handlebar grips and ABS. Available in Black and Red. Red is the fastest color.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “BMW R1100GS” as motorcycle. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA practical starting point whose main value is the path it opens into stronger specialist and primary sources. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1993, 1994, 1999, 1992—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. The account is most persuasive where R1100GS and motorcycle can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as motorcycle. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 19, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q796660. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1993, 1994, 1999 and 1992.

Critical limits

The absence of detail may reflect summary conventions rather than a lack of surviving documentation. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “BMW R1100GS”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow BMW R1100GS primary sources, BMW R1100GS archive and R1100GS research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “BMW R1100GS”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from BMW R1100GS” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.