BMW designations

[Barry]

We all know that our R45/R65's are type 248  and most other Airheads /5 onwards are type 247.

What then is a type 247E  ?

The reason I ask is because I've seen BMW refer to an "E series"  below which looks like a list of every BMW from 85 onwards.  There is obviously oil heads and K's in there and I even figured out that E169 and R13 refers to the recent 650 singles.

One thing I think the E doesn't stand for is European as this list is from a US document.

[k_enn]

I suspect that the E designation for motorcycles is similar to the e designation for automobiles, and stands for  "Entwicklung"  (the German word for Development).  see,http://www.theknese.com/pages/bmw-e-codes.php   I have no clue about K.  

As a practical matter, it appears that they are internal designations for various model designs by BMW.  http://bmwetk.info/parts/flt/MS/BMW/VT/M/259E/ohne/R%20850%20GS%2095%20(0403)/ECE

[Barry]

Thanks,

So "E series" just means "Development Series"  hence the list of different type designations that follow.

If the E in "E series" and the E in "247E" mean the same thing that would make a type 247E a development of the basic type 247.  I wonder if that means it refers to a type R100R or Mystic which were the last of he airheads.