L
ook BMW makes fine bikes and cars, and
they have a sort of Teutonic, mathematical
approach to naming them; a 323 is a Series
3 car with a 2.3litre motor - 325, 328, 540, 730,
330, etc. First numeral is the series, the numbers
following denote engine capacity.
M means motorsport, and…you get the picture.
Simple. Ok? Then there’s the bikes, it gets a
bit more complex, but basically, this...
The first letter is engine type, starting with;
C parallel twin-cylinder engines for scooters,
S (four-cylinder sport motor), R (opposed twin-
cylinder), G (single cylinder), F (parallel twin-
cylinder), K (three or more cylinders), HP4
(high-performance four-cylinder).
The second number denotes the cc rating.
Currently these numbers are 310, 400, 650, 750,
98 KIWI RIDER
780, 800, 850, 1000, 1200, 1250, and 1600.
Finally, the letter designation explains the
purpose of the bike: A for Adventure, S Sport
or Strasse, GS Gelande Strasse (offroad/onroad),
GT (sport touring), RR (road racing), RT (road
touring), L (luxury), T (touring), and there’s also
GTL (luxury sport touring), B (bagger), R (road),
X (extreme), and GSA for grand sport adventure.
So far so good? Not so fast. I picked up the
new F750GS. Rode off, going very well, thinking
‘this is a nice engine for a wee 750’, except that,
of course, it’s not a 750. BMW sometimes has a
bit of a muck around with engine denoms - e.g.
the F650 in 2008 turned out to be an 800. So to
clarify, BMW put out an F750, an F850, and an
F780 and all three turn out to have the same
853cc engine. Well… yes, and no, not quite.