Previous BMW motorcycles used the airhead engines such as the type 247 air-cooled flat-twin with two pushrod-activated valves per cylinder.

The R1100GS engine introduced partial oil-cooling and four valves per cylinder operated by a single chain-driven camshaft.

Motronic fuel injection was included instead of the carburettors found on earlier bikes.

Rear suspension and driveshaft used the same Paralever swingarm system as the previous bikes, but with the addition of remote pre-load adjustment on the shock absorber.

Canadian drummer Neil Peart wrote eloquently of his traveils on a R1100GS in the late 1990s in Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road: Ghost Rider: Travels on the Healing Road