Have you ever wondered how BMW names its motorcycles?
What are the differences between each series – and do these letters mean anything?
In this blog post, you’ll discover the differences between each BMW Motorrad series – from the C to the S series.
BMW C Series

BMW F Series
And if your BMW starts with an “F,” it most likely has such an engine.
An example of a motorcycle in this series is the F700GS.

BMW G Series
Two examples include the G310R (which, interestingly enough, wasn’t made by BMW but by the TVS Motor Company) and the G650GS (pictured below).

BMW R Series
An excellent example of such a bike is the BMW R1150GS – the same type of motorcycle ridden by Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman in The Long Way Round.

BMW K series
BMW S Series
Two examples of motorcycles in the S series include the S1000RR and the S1000XR.

What About the Remaining Letters?
You may have noticed that some models mentioned earlier had a letter at the beginning and the end.
For example, we had:
- R1150GS
- K1600GT
- S1000RR
What do letters like “GS,” “GT.” or “RR” mean?
- A: the “A” stands for “Adventure”
- B: short for “Bagger” – i.e. a touring motorcycle
- G: stands for “Gelande,” meaning “terrain.”
- GS: abbreviation for “Gelände/Straße”, – which translates to “off-road/on-road.” In other words, it’s a dual-sport model
- GT: describes a sport touring motorcycle, like the K1600 GT
- GTL: used for luxury sport-touring models
- L: “luxury” models
- R: “road” models
- RR: “Road Racing” models
- RT: “road touring” models
- S: short for “Strasse,” the German word for “street.”
- T: a touring model
X: a letter used for the most extreme of models