In 2007, BMW announced they’d produced 100,000 R1200GS motorcycles (84,373 of the R1200GS and 15,627 R1200GS Adventures) since 2004, making it their most popular model ever.
The R1150GS Adventure was made popular after actors Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman rode from London to New York by going east across Europe, central Asia, Alaska, Canada and the U.S. covering a distance of 22,345 miles. In 2007 they used the R1200GS Adventure in their journey Long Way Down, in which they rode from John O’Groats at the northern tip of Scotland, to Cape Agulhas in South Africa at the southern tip of the African continent.
Rush drummer and lyricist Neil Peart did his bit to push sales along when he chose a R1100GS for his 14 month, 55,000 mile self-healing trip that he made following the deaths of both his wife and daughter within a year. Peart also rode the R1200GS (with an 1150GS as a backup) on his 2004 motorcycle trip between gigs on Rush’s 30th Anniversary tour.