I have had more problem with the dealers than my old 1999 F650 it self. I ended up trading my f650 in for a DL650 dew to it. My rectifier overheated and burend out the bike dint start. Sent it in to the dealer told them to check it out they spent 4 months not fixing it. After that they stared to work on it. Then it was 2 months for them to start looking for problem, for some reason they drained the oil and then ran it around, and found a oil pressure problem. Then told me they need to crack the case to replace the oil pump (ahhh no you dont its on the other side of the motor just remove 4 bolts). After posting my problem on F650.com I was told they dint know how to fix it, and where lying to me. Well after the bike was in a shop for half a year I pulled it got it home did an oil change replaced the chain tensioner. I found out why there was oil problem, no oil. DAM FOOLS draind the oil but dint put any back. F...ING HELL I bring a bike in to a shop for a electrical problem tell them what I think it is, tell the to check F650.com ask real nice for an electrical check and its 4 moths befor they put in an old broken R/R in then they try to brake my bike by running it with no oil. FYYFF! F you BMW service! I was not happy then and not happy now with them.

I fixed the bike! I got the parts! I did the work! I then traded it in! It was not the bike, BMWs do take more parts to keep going but I am willing to pay for it. Its BMW service they suck. If its not a R1200 they dont want in there shop. There answer to the problems the bike was having was to trade it in for a new R1200GS.

I may have been hasty on trading in the F I still miss it but I was mad I dont like dealing with people that will mess with you gust because they think they can. The f650 community is like few others and f650.com is one reason to get a F bike. BMW service is a reason not to.

Sjeng,

What's your opinion of the technoflex shock? If it can take the bounding of Kazachstan, I'm happy with it.

Goed te horen dat alles goed ging.

Taco

I am quickly starting to get tired of the problems that my F650 has started to have. For the most part my problems have been fixable, but having to fix something all the time is so annoying on a F650. Like Ted was saying, to top the radiator up you have to remove the side panel which requires taking the turn signal holder off (4 bolts), unlocking and removing the seat.

Th oil pressure sensors go every 20,000 miles so make sure you carry a couple extra of those.

Since no one chimed in on this ... I will.
BMW: Made In China.

Has a nice ring to it, no?:rofl:

The more you take you panels off, the better and quicker you get at it. But yeah, it is a bit of a pain. I actually put some spotties infront of the indicators, so I've made it even harder for myself. But how often do you have to top up your coolant? Serious question, as I've never had a watercooled bike before and didn't realise I needed to take some. Also, how much does it need periodically. I'm putting red coolant in to make it easier to see through the check slot.

Thanks for the tip on the sensor. The Chain Gang actually had an FAQ on it without me knowing so I'll definately bring some.

Have you got a quick list on what else went? I'll be going to SA this year as well.

I'm more pissed off that the filter is that hard to get too. And that the filter clamp to the battery tray is not threaded but uses self tapping srews instead. I've already busted one. Big desing flaw I reckon.

Hey Taco,

The Technoflex did take the bumps and "roads" of Kazachstan and those of Kirgistan and Mongolia aswell. It's quality stuff. The manufacturer is an old engineer from WP who wanted to improve the WP shocks. Now the Wilbers shock is shameless copied from Technoflex, they're still fighting in court.
Short... a great shock.

Hey Edde,

How's the motor-renting-on-the-top-floor-of-an-empty-building-
with-cold-beer-and-a-pole-with-a-dancing-lady-bussiness going, or was this Bill's idea to become entrepeneur of the year?

Grtz,
Sjeng.

Just in case anyone derives wrong deductions from this thread
 

I had thought this thread might make a bit more progress in pulling together some owners' facts about the F650GS, second generation, which is the bike that Ted first asked about.

Having gone off topic more often than it has stayed on the topic, one could deduce from the replies in this thread that the bike in question does not function in South America (in fact it may not be "fit for purpose" on that continent) but it works pretty much OK in the rest of the world - obviously this is not very logical and is unlikely to be true (unless someone can come up with an explanation beyond this, I am inclined to reject this hyphothesis).

There are other threads that may give a more balanced view, if only because they have a far bigger number of replies (and far more of them will be on topic):-

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...klr-650-a-5001

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...s-bmw-gs-26997

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...n-f650gs-29055

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...y-f650gs-28232

Put that load of reading together and ........ you might have a balanced view!!

The F650 is a street bike, not an off road bike.

That shouldn't matter too much....

1. Locals ride street bikes off road often and they seem to get pretty good longevity with minimal maintenance.
2. Considering the $$s the new BMW's cost, its fair to expect better quality machines. Its seems their older stuff is holding up better than their newer stuff...e.g. the older F650s...pre 2002.

Hell a BMW K75 is a street bike and I took it RTW with minor issues...so I personally have confidence in my theories enough to put them to the test...


Bottom line...the old F650s were pretty good bikes, but ANY of the newer stuff coming from BMW has a bit more to prove in terms of durability/quality...including the F800GS

F650GSs in Africa
 

This thread has some experiences of riding with an organised expedition in Africa, and there is no mention of poor bikes (maybe, just maybe, they all took their own bikes - but one, at least, did not):-

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/hub...highlight=kudu

These are the bikes that they have been using in Africa:-
Kudu Expeditions

i.e. standard or Dakar versions of the recently replaced F650GS.
I see that Kudu are swopping over to the F800GS rather than the new F650GS BTW.
My guess is that this company knew enough about riding in Africa to make a sensible short list of bikes to provide for their customers and, ultimately, to make a well informed decision about the single type of bike to be used.

Again, I am not claiming that these bikes are perfect (I, for one, don't like dismantling half the plastics to get at the battery etc).

Well, if you have 2-3 landcruiser's/support vehicles following you, with a mechanic,a trailer of a couple spare 650's and parts, you only ride relatively new bikes and you spend 40% MAX of your time off tarmac...you better be able to do the ride or "expedition" without many issues. Kudu does...I spent about 3 hours talking to their guides on the border or Morocco and Mauri while waiting for exit stamps.

IF I bought the bike new and paid the $10-15k, my expectation is I shouldn't have any part failures for 50k, except for worn sprocket or chain.
Unfortunately, the newer Beemers don't offer that confidence anymore...

Again, pre 2002 F650...is another story.

MotoEdde "...except chains and sprockets"

Moving from shaftdrive for many years, I am surprised that my Dakar gets through chains and sprockets faster that tyres or brake pads. 21,000 miles and about to get its fourth set - despite regular check/adjust/lube.

This is not how my last chain drive bike (N400 Superdream) lasted. Bought second hand and only had to replace once in the 25,000+ miles I rode it.

Is it me, this individual machine or is this usual for Germany's finest ?

Tony,
Me thinks you have a very special problem here. Did you say four sets of chain/sprockets in 21,000 miles?:eek3:

Most decent chains, even on big bore bikes (like my Vstrom1000) will go over 20,000 even with rough treatment. There are some really crap chains/sprockets out there, and when I was in the UK a dealer tried to sell me some of these crap chains. I went elsewhere.

I've had very good luck with DID VM chains. These are X ring 525 chains, or 520 too. Never mix worn sprocket with new chain or vice versa. All new to start, then replace your countershaft at 10K miles. Chain should last to 25K miles no problem.

Use Quality sprockets, not budget ones. I like OEM usually but very dear. Try
AFAM, JT, or Renthal. Hundreds of Vstrom riders on various boards run the DID VM X ring chains and all go well over 20k miles with them, many even over 30K miles.

Note: Adjustment is critical.

Patrick:scooter:

so the EU and other markets will be their prime focus for now.

Agree with everything there Mollydog and sorry if my post is confusing - I was trying to refer to the recently available model that Ted asked about originally - the single cyl F650GS which has been marketed as a standard bike or a Dakar version.
Kudu are replacing the single F650 with the twin F800 according to their website, but the point was that they have used the F650GS single, up until recently, for travelling the length of Africa.

I read somewhere that Rotax switched production from the single to the twin engine quite a few months ago.

The "brand new" F650GS:
For UK insurance the bike capacity would be declared as 800cc - the ins company would not even ask the guy who wants insurance but simply refer to the BMW database of bikes by year of manufacture, once the owner tells them which bike they want to insure.

This bike will be marketed in the UK with a conversion to 33 HP available at no extra cost because folk who have just passed their licence are not allowed to ride a bike that is more powerful than 33 HP for the first two years after getting their licence. (The same thing has been done with the "old" F650GS and it is just a simple fix on the throttle to stop the full movement).

Yes, I can see that the weak $ has stuffed the US market for importing this bike - no point at all in selling it at the list prices in the US when BMW can sell it elsewhere for more profit per unit: as long as demand exceeds supply (how long?) I think that situation will remain, or the $-euro exchange rate changes drastically.

Orders are being taken at about £5300, give or take the "farkles" - the big BMW release weekend is 8/9 March for this one and the F800GS (the latter is "on offer" at about £6750 from memory).