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Unit Garage R120 GS Kit Takes You Off Road and Back in Time

By Paul Crowe

Unit Garage R120 GS vintage look kit with BMW R1200 GS performance
Unit Garage R120 GS vintage look kit for your BMW R1200 GS – modern performance in a vintage package. Completely reversible, too!

You’re riding along on your spiffy new BMW R1200 GS and everything is fine, it performs everywhere just like it should, on road, off road, it’s great, but, … you long for the old days with a more basic look, something like the R80 GS. The modern bodywork of the new bikes really isn’t your cup of tea, what to do? Easy, install the R120 kit from Unit Garage and you get vintage looks and modern performance, the best of both worlds.

It takes about 4 hours in the garage to remove the original pieces and install the kit, losing 14 pounds in the process. Another nice touch, no parts are harmed in the making of the conversion, your valuable OEM parts are safe. Then, go out and have fun. When you finally decide to sell your bike, reinstall the original pieces and the bike will look brand new. Cool.

Thanks for the tip, Richard!

Link: Unit Garage

Posted on August 30, 2012 Filed Under: Motorcycle Accessories

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Comments

  1. Mike says

    August 30, 2012 at 2:21 pm

    For 3920 euros I could just go buy an R80GS…..

    • Richard Gozinya says

      August 30, 2012 at 3:01 pm

      Yes, but that old R80GS wouldn’t perform nearly as well, be nearly as low maintenance, or reliable. With this you get the retro styling, and modern performance.

      • todd says

        August 30, 2012 at 4:56 pm

        I don’t know, the R80G/S had a 21″ front rim and weighs close to 100 pounds less. Maybe the R1200GS performs better at the drag strip…

        Likely, between the two, the greatest limitation and area of potential improvement is the rider.

        -todd

  2. Tom Lyons says

    August 30, 2012 at 3:24 pm

    I must be getting old!
    I thought the R80GS styling looks too modern!

  3. B50 Jim says

    August 30, 2012 at 3:26 pm

    The “Old Days?” For me, the Old Days ended around 1976. An off-road bike usually was any bike you happened to be riding off the road. K70 tires, front and rear, did the job. This kit still looks to me like any lumpy Paris-Dakar clone from the past 10 years. Don’t get me wrong; anything that gets rid of the Darth-Vader styling common to most “adventure” bikes on the market is a good thing. But this hardly qualifies as “old days” styling.

    Excuse me… my AARP magazine just arrived.

    • Paul Crowe - "The Kneeslider" says

      August 30, 2012 at 3:59 pm

      The R80 came out in 1980, that’s 32 years ago and some folks think that’s back a while. I agree, it doesn’t seem very long ago, but it is retro, even for us. Remember the Ford Pinto, the Chevy Citation? You could still buy them brand new.

      • B50 Jim says

        August 30, 2012 at 4:53 pm

        In 1980 I was a mechanic for an independent garage — I worked on more than my share of Pintos and Citations, as well as Chevy Chevettes and AMC Pacers — POS’s all. I guess it WAS a long time ago, but the memory of those God-awful cars still is fresh in my mind, especially the ordeal of changing a starter on the Chevette. It gave new meaning to the term “contortion”.

    • Russell B! says

      August 30, 2012 at 4:14 pm

      Hey, I resemble that!

      And, with this kit, you still end up with a bike that takes a stepladder to mount.

      Grumble, grumble…gotta go find an old R80ST and quit looking at the current crop of bikes that resemble insects.

  4. Ecosse says

    August 30, 2012 at 4:28 pm

    i like it! it makes me want to go out and buy an r1200 just to do the conversion and i don’t labor under any ewan mcgregor fantasies.

  5. BoxerFanatic says

    August 30, 2012 at 6:18 pm

    BMW needs to remember where it came from, and this is proof.

    There is no reason that they can’t build this and sell it at BMW dealers, aside from the F800GS being too expensive, and thus too close in price to what this should retail for.

    Unit Garage should put out an R120S kit, based on Nicolas Petit’s C12R concept illustration, to be a companion go the above pictured R120GS.
    http://a34.idata.over-blog.com/2/78/64/83/c12r-panda-moto.jpg

    A scrambler-style boxer like this… A half-faired S, a naked Cafe Racer like LoRider Concept, and a revival of the RS line… so many things BMW could do… and yet doesn’t.

    But scooters, and S1000RR… that gets attention… [shakes head]

    • todd says

      August 30, 2012 at 7:24 pm

      I always thought an oilhead version of my R75/5 “Toaster” would be real nice. Keeping it closer in execution to a Guzzi V7 than a R1150 Rockster would be essential.

      -todd

      • BoxerFanatic says

        August 31, 2012 at 1:28 pm

        That would be interesting.

        There was a bit of detail on the LoRider concept to show a little bit of metal on the side… slightly reminiscent of a toaster tank.
        http://s2.bikewalls.com/pictures/BMW_CONCEPT_LO_RIDER_2008_31_1024x768.jpg

        But a narrow-tank with an optional panel, narrow bread-loaf seat, somewhat like a classic roadster alternative to this R120 GS classic scrambler kit, applied to an R1200R, to simplify it even more than it is, would be nice.

        I fell in love with a Triumph Daytona T595 on the showroom floor, when going with a friend and his dad to pick up parts for their R50/5 Toaster, back in 1997. I think I was more interested in the mechanical aspects of the BMW bike than my friend, who was receiving the bike as a hand-me-down from his dad.

        The Triumph, though, was what made me decide that I needed a bike of my own, but BMWs now top my list. I would consider clothing a 1050i Speed Triple in t595 bodywork painted in union-jack blue white and red, though, as a project.

  6. ABQ says

    August 31, 2012 at 1:23 pm

    Why convert a GS to this when you can get a standard R and throw a larger fuel tank and knobby tires on it. That’s what I want. My GS is just too tall.

  7. Richard Gozinya says

    August 31, 2012 at 1:50 pm

    I think this is targeted more at people who already own a GS.

  8. Slider12 says

    September 1, 2012 at 9:43 pm

    Is there an off road kit for the Honda NC700X? I don’t own one myself but wouldn’t all that low-revving torque will fit it rather nicely?

    And as a bonus you can now call the lack of top speed a feature, not a bug 😀

  9. Bob Metzger says

    September 4, 2012 at 4:09 pm

    Not to my liking…. what was so goo about those “good old’ days” anyway?

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