B*W F650 Dakar - Discuss

[z-weiser]

Hello

Mate of mine has expressed interest in one of these (or the normal F650) and is gathering info - any comments will be gratefully passed on!

thanks!!

Z

[MacP]

Well the F650 is changing quite a bit for 2008 - is this right?

[Annette]

Boboneleg has an F650GS Dakar and will be along some time soon extolling it's virtues.

I had the non Dakar version F650GS and absolutely loved it. I rode it all the way down to Italy and did the Stella Alpina on it last year and it was great both on and off road.

It's nippy around town and good on the motorways up to about 85mpg on foreign roads for long distances with no problems whasoever. It's extremly economical averaging 77 - 80mpg.

With the fuel tank being under the seat the weight is low down, making it easy to manoveur and pick up.

Don't expect manic acceleration on it though. You can keep up with an Africa Twin but it takes a bit longer to get there

One thing you need to be aware of if you're mate has had another bike is that the F650GS/Dakar is a bit more "agricultural" than most bikes. The gear changes are more clunky.

And if you read anywhere about a "quality issue" on engine covers....it's a load of rubbish. The casings only corrode due to poor maintenance and allowing fluids to leak on them.

I loved it, and had loads of fun on it, both on and off road and I'm sure your mate will.

There's a load of old rubbish about "BMW riders"............. don't listen. He should get one and enjoy it.

The only thing I found was that after a while the bike felt too small for me and that's the only reason I changed up to a bigger bike.

If you mate does go for one. Tell him to take his time as there are good and bad ones out there and due to their popularity there are some right ropey ones going for a lot of money. Don't worry about high mileage as long as it has been maintained properly, and be aware that the whilst the service history may not by by BMW (I certainly never paid their prices) it doesn't mean it hasn't been looked after.

After all, there must be something about them as for many years they have been the bike of choice for many long distance, worldwide travellers.

[Dee Duble Yuh]

The single cylinder F650GS we know and - ahem - love (?) is probaby slightly more off-road oriented than the Transalp and Africa Twin (lighter, low CoG), but reasonably capable on-road. On some bikes the single cylinder engine can vibrate a lot, but others are pretty smooth. The Dakar verion is a flippin' tall bike!

It's now been superceded by a twin cylinder bike that's really an F800GS with fewer valves or something. (There was also the G650 X Series for a while but not direct replacements for the F650. Dunno if they are still available.)

There's an on-line club specifically for th F650 "The Chain Gang" though plenty of owners use the UK GSers club too.

[the_earlobe_of_doom]

I had a GS for a while, I liked it apart from the fact the steering head bearings needed replacing at each service. This was a major problem around the time, (2001-ish), and much discussed on web forums. Whether BMW has sorted that I don't know.

[Lord Stig]

Yes, isn't it that the head bearing grease gets cooked by the heat of the oil in the frame? Another recurring fault on a friend's Dakar was the speedo pickup at the rear wheel - it gets wet and muddy and can fail intermittently. He didn't like riding over 80 mph on his (probably at least partly thanks to the noisy screen, though later Dakars have a different one), and he reckoned it wasn't as good off road as the NX650 he'd had previously. I nearly bought one when I was looking for a bike last - in the end I bought an AT, which was better for the motorways. I'd certainly consider one again though, especially considering petrol prices these days. One thing I didn't like was the lack of a temperature gauge....

[the_earlobe_of_doom]

Another recurring fault on a friend's Dakar was the speedo pickup at the rear wheel - it gets wet and muddy and can fail intermittently. He didn't like riding over 80 mph on his (probably at least partly thanks to the noisy screen, though later Dakars have a different one), and he reckoned it wasn't as good off road as the NX650 he'd had previously. I nearly bought one when I was looking for a bike last - in the end I bought an AT, which was better for the motorways. I'd certainly consider one again though, especially considering petrol prices these days. One thing I didn't like was the lack of a temperature gauge....

Ah yes, I'd forgotten about the speedo problem. I had the problem there as well. Worryingly, the new Transalp has the same setup, though it hasn't caused a problem on the NT700 Deauville yet, which also has that. That may be a problem if taking the TA off-road. Then again, the inability to switch off the new TA's ABS might also be problematic.
I fitted an aftermarket screen to my GS, which was the same as the Dakar one in shape and much better. I also put some Dakar handguards on there as well.

[The Pheasant]

My only experience of this bike was through a mate who bought the single plug Dakar version. It became known as the 'Dakka Duffa' after one trail riding expedition when he got stuck in a deep bog, thoroughly wetting the lambda sensor on the exhaust pipe. It took some starting and never ran right again despite extensive remedial work by the local BM dealer. He also hated various aspects of the design that seemed to get in the way of regular maintenance.
On the other hand, it was easily as fast as my 600 Alp, much more economical and tougher if dropped off road.

[JohnR]

This is spooky! I've been pondering a F650 for a while as my next bike and have just looked up the BMW website in Dorchester for a detailed look. Having decided to take a run over there soon I logged on here and found this thread.

Annette, from your other thread I gather you are tallish and you say you found the bike too small. I'm 6'3; will it be uncomfortable?

[z-weiser]

I must admit having looked at a few with my friend i'm impressed - and with the insurance being about 4 groups lower than a Vara i may start having a serious look!

Z