BMW Motorrad RS-Models Mark 50 Years of Sport-Touring

• 50 years of RS production motorcycles
• Latest R 1300 RS sings the anniversary story with 145bhp
• RS line spans boxer and four-cylinder motorcycles across seven generations

BMW Motorrad has marked 50 years of its RS series production motorcycles revisiting a long line of very capable sport-touring machines. While RS once stood for racing on BMW competition motorcycles, the arrival of the R 100 RS in 1976 changed that to represent travel and sport in one package. That original motorcycle is what BMW describes as the world’s first large-series production bike with a frame-mounted full fairing shaping the sport-tourer segment as we now know it.

The anniversary spotlights on the current BMW R 1300 RS which carries forward the 50-year tradition as the latest expression of the RS. It has a new engine, new chassis and revised aerodynamics to keep it sporty along with offering more touring comfort and long-distance abilities. The 1,300cc boxer engine producing 145bhp makes it the most powerful production BMW boxer engine ever. Standard equipment includes three riding modes and engine drag torque control with options like Automated Shift Assistant and Dynamic Suspension Adjustment. It is also the world’s first production motorcycle with a telescopic fork featuring adjustable spring rate.

The RS badge has evolved beautifully across both boxer and four-cylinder platforms over the decades. The boxer lineage runs from the original R 100 RS through the R 1100 RS, R 1150 RS, R 1200 RS, R 1250 RS and now the brilliant R 1300 RS. BMW did major technical shifts such as four-valve heads, air/oil cooling, digital ignition and fuel injection, Telelever front suspension, liquid cooling, Dynamic ESA and later ShiftCam variable valve timing through years of development. The platform kept adapting to new expectations in performance, refinement and touring function.

The four-cylinder RS story came equipped with more technology. Back in 1983, BMW’s K 100 RS came out as a more modern half-fairing model with a low centre of gravity through its horizontal inline-four layout. Following it were the K 100 RS 4V, K 1100 RS and K 1200 RS carrying similar dynamics with more power and robust long-distance ability. The K 1200 RS was able to pump out 130bhp and 245kmph top speed combining speed, comfort and mile-munching capability.

The original R 100 RS is still a charmer today with its 980cc boxer engine making 68bhp and equipped with a fairing developed with help from Pininfarina giving riders wind protection and relaxed high-speed cruising, in the 80s! Later R 100 RS Classic 500 and the R 100 RS Nardò Record Bike added extra bits to the comfort cruising recipe, while the return of the R 100 RS Monolever in the late 1980s showed how much demand still existed for a large-capacity boxer sport-tourer.