F800GS first impression

[russh]

No, he used to own my RD04 before he went orange.

Ah OK, cheers

[russh]

As I mentioned in my previous posting I had a test ride booked for today on the BMW F800GS, the wettest day since weather was invented!

Luckily the BMW dealership is only 10 miles up a very wet and windy A34. By the time I get there my gloves are already wet through.

After all the formalities, showing of driving licence, coffee and having BMWs idiosyncratic indicator system demonstrated it was out into the rain to try the bike.

Firstly the saddle is no soft cushion, the handlebars feel closer to my body than my TA or AT, more dirt bike style, in fact the seating position reminds me more of a spacious DRz400 than say an Africa Twin. The bike started first push and settled into a nice but deep sounding tick over helped by the optional Akrapovic can fitted to this demonstrator. Feeding the light clutch out and tentively pulling out onto Oxfords ring road I realise this ain’t no new Africa Twin. For a start the engine doesn’t feel like it has the low end grunt of the Africa, instead just a smooth linear rise in power all the way up the rev range, however the engine is more than happy at the lower end of the rev range, pulling cleanly from below 3000 rpm. The bike feels loads lighter than the AT or the TA, I couldn’t test the brakes to the full due to the abysmal conditions of the roads but they certainly had loads of feedback, helped by the steel braided brake lines fitted as standard.

Out onto the A34 to see what the bike is like on the open road, firstly as reported elsewhere the engine does vibrate a little, more of a buzz really although no way intrusive. As I was only on a dual carriageway for 10 miles or so I can’t comment on whether this would be more problematic on a longer stint, I would guess not. The bike seems very willing to zip straight up and over the national speed limit.

The demonstrator had the optional BMW taller screen, at 6’2” I suffered no buffeting but at the same time not all the wind was directed over my head,.

Off the main road to try some town riding, as a lot of my riding is through city rush hour, how the bike coped with this would be quite important, absolutely brilliant is the answer, a lot more manoeuvrable than either the TA or the AT with the best turning circle ever, the bars also felt slightly narrower than the standard bars fitted to my Africa. With such a wide power band to the engine less gear changing was needed through town too. One slight glitch, as with many fuel injected bikes the transition from throttle off to on wasn’t as smooth, not as bad a the KTM 990 Adventure I rode a couple of years back but nowhere near as smooth as the Africa, a slight change in riding style and this all but disappeared.

Due to the awful weather I didn’t get a a chance to try the bike off road, I would stick my neck out and say it would be far better than the AT, however for long distance travel I think an Africa with a tall screen maybe slightly better, albeit slower too. The seat, though hard didn’t get uncomfortable for the hour I was riding, not to sure I would want to sit on it all day though.

Servicing cost also look pretty cheap too, with a minor service at 6000 miles and valves checked at the 12k service, with this bigger service still coming in at under £200 inc VAT at a BMW dealer!

I think if I had to sum up the bike I would say it feels like the ugly offspring of a bizarre mating between a Africa Twin and a DRz400, taking most of the good bits from these two bikes. The only area where IMO it may loose out is in the long distance mile munching, for that I would say something like a KTM Adventure of the big GS1200 would be the way to go. For me if I was to only have one bike in the garage the F800GS would cover most of my needs, better off road that the AT, better at commuting than the TA and easier in the rush hour than say a KTM 990 Adv.

All in all it's a very easy bike to ride, not as mental as KTM but also not so exciting as the Austrian but lots more fun than the Japanese v-twins.

With the added options of heated grips, centre stand and on-board computer it comes in a just under £7k




Will I buy one…….???? Lets just say I'm sleeping on it, but if I do it will be Yellow and black.

[Whealie]

Interesting.

In the pick though Russ, it looks quite low. Any adjustment possible? How did it compare to the @. Yours an RD07, which is a tad lower than the RD04 anyway. And mine has a Hagon, which ups it a little more. What are the rear shock options?

[phil w]

Interesting.

In the pick though Russ, it looks quite low. Any adjustment possible? How did it compare to the @. Yours an RD07, which is a tad lower than the RD04 anyway. And mine has a Hagon, which ups it a little more. What are the rear shock options?

Ohlins and Rush is a fair to long chap

[russh]

Interesting.

In the pick though Russ, it looks quite low. Any adjustment possible? How did it compare to the @. Yours an RD07, which is a tad lower than the RD04 anyway. And mine has a Hagon, which ups it a little more. What are the rear shock options?

Yep, as pointed out by phil w I'm not the shortest around at 6'2"

Acording to the brochure the seat height is 880mm unladen, the RD07 I belive is 860mm. I would say they felt about the same. the rear shock has rebound damping adjustment and remote preload adjustment via a handwheel.

EDIT: Oh, and no rear suspension linkage, instead the shock has travel-related damping, with 230mm of travel at either end.