One of BMW’s Most Iconic Adventure Bikes Is Being Revived as a Retro Custom Built to Your Tastes

The R100 GS is getting a new lease on life as a modernized enduro built by one of the motorcycle industry’s premier boxer customizers.

Close-up of a BMW motorcycle engine and front wheel with knobby tire, blue frame, and silver fuel tank.

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By Gray Van Dyke

Published 47 minutes ago

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Although BMW’s R80 G/S effectively created the adventure bike category, the brand’s subsequent R100 GS (it later lost the slash) is the model that hammered the formula home. Everything about the motorcycle made for an improvement on its predecessor.

So, along with a bigger, more powerful engine, it also brought a revised paralever suspension setup, upgraded forks and a larger fuel tank, among various other impactful changes. Even still, it made for a much more timeless design than its successor, the R1100 GS.

White BMW R80 GS motorcycle with orange seat parked on grass in front of a yellow wooden wall. — The pictured BMW R80 G/S might be the bike that created the adventure bike segment, but its R100 successor brought some significant improvements.

Unfortunately, being an adventure bike, many examples nowadays are either incredibly well-traveled or wrecked beyond repair. Despite the BMW brand’s impressive build quality, it doesn’t make it easy to find a clean or low-mile GS.

Thankfully, one of the industry’s premier boxer customizers has a solution. Following its popular Schizzo builds, WalzWerk has announced that it will be taking a detour away from the street with a new GS-based offering.

A revived classic

It’s called the X-Plorer, and it’s effectively an off-the-shelf custom that’s based on the BMW R100 GS produced from 1987 to 1996. Per WalzWerk, every build comes with a 1,000cc engine, and all donor bikes are equipped with the updated paralever swingarm.

White BMW off-road motorcycle with racing decals ridden on sand by a person in white racing gear and blue backpack. — While the X-Plorer doesn’t automatically guarantee Dakar dominance, it does certainly look the part of its inspiration.

In contrast to some of the company’s other offerings, each X-Plorer will only be available in ‘Pro’ spec. As such, every one completed will be an effectively new motorcycle, outfitted with a refreshed engine, transmission and braking system.

What’s more, as part of the X-Plorer series, WalzWerk is building the bike in two configurations: ‘Rally’ and ‘Raid.’ In the case of the former, the GS dons a smaller, lower-profile headlight fairing. However, the latter sticks with the larger stock unit, as well as its crash bars and tank.

WalzWerk is offering the X-Plorer in Rally and Raid specs, with the former bringing a smaller flyscreen.

WalzWerk

But that’s not all. To make these adventure bikes truly custom, WalzWerk couldn’t outfit the X-Plorer with just any garden-variety components.

Accordingly, the brand has worked with a variety of OEMs to create parts that were specifically developed for the X-Plorer. In addition to plastics courtesy of Acerbis, this means that WalzWerk has tapped Touratech for the suspension, per BikeExif.

White and blue BMW GS motorcycle with knobby tires, black side case, and blue frame bars on a gray background. — Between upgrades and accessories, there are a variety of options to ensure that your X-Plorer build is your own.

Riding on a staggered 21-inch/17-inch wheelset wrapped in knobby off-road rubber, the bike is made only better by thoughtful features —like the two-part seat — and the exhaustiveness of its accessory options.

Have it your way

With 35 years of experience and hundreds of builds to its name, it’s safe to say that WalzWerk knows what goes into making a compelling custom motorcycle: individuality.

For this reason, even though the X-Plorer boasts an impressive base spec, buyers can choose from a variety of options to make their bike their own.

Take the powertrain, for instance. Though standard output for the 1,000cc boxer twin comes to around 66 horsepower, an upgrade kit can boost displacement to 1,070cc and power to around 80 ponies.

Assuming you’d like to upgrade the stopping power or the aesthetics, the brand can do that, too. Between a dual front disc brake mod, an updated R1150 GS rear disc and an eye-catching blacked-out exhaust system, there are plenty of options to make your R100 GS your way.

White and orange Walzwerk off-road motorcycle with knobby tires and blue and red stripes on the fuel tank.

Add to that various luggage system options (WalzWerk will sell you a set of hard cases or soft bags), auxiliary lights and some trendy heritage paint schemes, and you have a recipe for a bike that looks the part of a classic but behaves like a much more modern adventure machine.

Pricing and availability

According to WalzWerk, prices for the X-Plorer will start at €28,990 (~$33,700) for the Rally and €29,990 (~$35,000) for the Raid.

Though the German outfit is willing to ship internationally, it is worth noting that all of its build slots for 2026 are currently reserved. If you’d like to get in on an X-Plorer order, you’ll be looking at 2027 at the earliest.

White and blue BMW GS motorcycle with knobby tires and black seat, shown from the left side.

WalzWerk X-Plorer BMW R100 GS

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About the Author: Gray is an associate editor at Gear Patrol, covering cars, motorcycles and anything else with wheels. When he’s not chasing the latest industry news, he’s probably wrenching on one of many projects. For better or worse, he believes classics make perfectly practical daily drivers.

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