BMW is to reveal another variation on the R nineT theme at EICMA in November and strong money says it will pay homage to the original R80 G/S. It’s likely to go under the name R nineT GS.
If it’s something that sounds familiar, that’s because BMW has already shown just such a machine in the form of the Lac Rose concept. See our original story on that bike (click here).
The Lac Rose was revealed at Wheels and Waves earlier this year, and far from being a pie-in-the-sky concept it immediately looked nearly production ready. Given the huge sales success of the R1200 GS and the rocketing prices for original R80 G/S machines on the secondhand market, a tribute model makes a lot of sense.
Just like the recently-released R nineT Pure and Racer models, the R nineT GS is expected to be derived from the relatively low-spec R nineT Scrambler. That means it won’t have the normal R nineT’s upside down forks or h igh-spec brakes. Instead it will be a cheaper offering, with a simple chassis and huge scope for personalisation.
Where the Lac Rose featured orange-and-white bodywork that paid homage to the firm’s 1980s Paris-Dakar racers, the production machine will surely appear in the white, red and blue scheme of the original R80 G/S Dakar.
Given the huge success of the R nineT, allied to the everlasting popularity of the GS, a combination of the two ideas could well be a massive sales hit. Could it even beat the modern GS in terms of outright sales? Don’t bet against it.
With EICMA opening on November 7 we don’t have long to wait before seeing whether the real thing lives up to expectations.
