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GS "bill"

geisterfahrer

geisterfahrer

Bill the Cat
I've been wondering about the ginormous "bill" BMW has put at the front of its GS bikes. You know, that big piece of tupperware that sticks out in front like a bird beak.

Is it there only for "esthetic" reasons, or is there some other purpose? :dunno

At least on my G650GS, it serves as a housing for the horn...:thumb
 
it funnels air to the oil cooler.

most call it a "beak"... and the bike looks kind weird without it.

well, for that matter, it looks kinda weird with it, too... :ha
 
It's a styling thing. The beak should resemble the high fenders that offroad motorcycles have, like on this old GS:
pdclassic.jpg

I think BMW copied it from Suzuki, who made this DR BIG in '88:
1988_DR750-Big_red_800.jpg
 
Mike_Philippens said:
It's a styling thing. The beak should resemble the high fenders that offroad motorcycles have, like on this old GS:
pdclassic.jpg

I think BMW copied it from Suzuki, who made this DR BIG in '88:
1988_DR750-Big_red_800.jpg
Click to expand...

Good observation.

You could have posted the second half of this response in the "Jeez, does Triumph have *any* shame?" thread.

E :german
 
I was just about to. The down force generated definitely helps keep the front wheel down during acceleration otherwise it is constantly up in the air!:evil
 
marchyman said:
Heh... Yeah, didn't Suzuki have any shame?

Hint: The high fender/beak was on the R80 G/S long before the DR-BIG. http://www.bikeexif.com/30-years-of-the-bmw-gs
Click to expand...
The high fender yes (like I said), but BMW didn't make it into a beak straight away, did they? Or did I miss something? Not that it really matters anyway. It's all the same in the end. If you look at all the bikes, there's very little that is really original.

We would have ended up with some crazy looking bikes if everything should be original... ;)
 
Easy said:
Good observation.

You could have posted the second half of this response in the "Jeez, does Triumph have *any* shame?" thread.

E :german
Click to expand...

:ha touch?® !!!

there's a saying in the ad biz that goes "there's nothing new under the sun."

ian

ps => man, i wish Suzuki would sell a bike like that here in the US now. Ditto with the Yamaha Tenere 650
 
Purpose?

It holds the computer's temp sensor, up under the beak and aerodynamics, wind tunnel thing. It needed a beak to flow! I have seen some owners taking the beak off, ugly without it. Nice Suzuki, never seen that one:). Randy
 
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