These are really two different bikes which share many of the same components. The main and most obvious same bits being the engine and the instruments and panel.
The GSA is known as the adventure and was introduced in 2002. The GS was first introduced in 1999.
The things that are different are the wheels, the screen, the tank, the seat, the suspension, the rack(rear of bike), the luggage that will fit and some minor cosmetic panels. The gearbox is often different as well but not always.
The wheels are generally interchangeable and it is largely cosmetic (coloured rims on the later GSA)
The screen on the GS is adjustable easily and can be tilted up and down. The GSA is not adjustable. People spend vast fortunes on trying to get the screens correct for them. There is no one answer. For some people the original screen is fine for others they buy after market screens and muck around endlessly attempting to eliminate buffeting. Helmet shape body height riding position all seem to be factors but what is perfect for one identical twin will not be for another. Try a bike before bidding
The most obvious difference between a GS and GSA is the tank size. The GSA is a lot larger. (33 litres against 22 litres I think). In either case it is a lot of weight to be sloshing around. If you are planning to tour areas where it is 400 miles between petrol stations then go for the GSA. If you are not then unless you are set on an adventure GSA because of the looks then do not worry too much. If you are riding with other bikes they will want to stop and fill up long before a GSA tank is empty but you will have to stop as well - which brings me on to the best piece of advice about a GSA tank is that YOU DO NOT HAVE TO FILL IT RIGHT UP. It is also hard to fill the tanks right up unless you drill small holes in the interior neck of the filler to let the air out of the top of the tank simply because of the design. I do not advise doing this unless you have seen what someone else has done
The seat on the GSA is one piece and the GS two pieces. The can be adjusted for height (a little) but BMW and many after market companies supply lower or even higher seats.
The seats are not interchangeable between the two models
GSA luggage will not generally fit a GS and vice versa- the correct racks need to be bought. It is the racks that are the important bits. Metal luggage is often important to that "round the world" image. There are many different sorts and they nearly all cost several hundred pounds. They are worth having on any bike though people do find that they make filtering a little bit harder but after a few minutes you almost forget that they are there. The luggage is often sold separately as it adds little to the value of a bike. Luggage, be it BM's extremely good touring cases(black bulbous plastic) or after market cases fetch good prices on ebay as the are wanted by many people who already own GS's
The gearbox on the 1150 has 6 gears. There are two sorts of gear boxes the most common one is identifiable by the fact that sixth gear is indicated on the gear indicator as an "E" not "6". E is for economy. The 6th gear is slight more relaxed if it is an E box but it is only a few hundred revs difference. The first gear though in the Adventure box (for it most frequently fitted to the GSA) is much lower and useful if you ever want to take the bike off road - though you may have to be a bit of an off road god to get any real use from it.
The suspension on the GSA is higher than the standard GS and if you swapped then you would get a higher ride height. The suspension on the GS and the GSA is quite good but does wear out slowly. Experts, unlike me, reckon it is worn out by 30000 miles. You can get it rebuilt for less than
Orignal From: BMW 1150GS and GSA Differences and issues.
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