Bmw F800 GS
 

I am seriously thinking of getting the F800GS instead of the bigger 1200GS for a very long distance trip. Has anyone tried the 800GS yet? Any first hand experience with the new 800 is very much appreciated. Thanks in advance!!

http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/photo...0GSb-small.jpg

A mate of mine bought one of the first batch and i have to say i was quite impressed with it. I did also hear from another mate who's in the trf, that some have gone back in for paint on the engine flaking. Not much of an issue in itself, but apparently as a matter of course, while they rectify the paint issue, they were replacing certain engine internals due to a knocking appearing in the top end. This came from a BMW mechanic. May be rubbish, but it seemed to come from the horses mouth, so might be worth looking into.
I did ride one, and although not my cup of tea ( nor am i a BMW fan ) i thought it was a nice bike to ride.

not first hand, but i met a guy near Whistler in CAN who just returned from a RTW with a f800gs. didn't had any serious problems (some oil sweating from camshaftcover). Was 35000kms.

and, buying a cheap(er) bike leaves more money for traveling!

a concern for me would be parts/knowledge availability in remote areas.

cheers,
sander

Check out the F800 riders forum: F800GS & F650GS Twin Discussion - BMW F800 Riders Association

Ushuaia to Prudhoe Bay
 

It was probably Tom that you met in Whistler. He rode a Suzuki V-Strom down Africa, bought an F800GS in South Africa and rode that up through the Americas. We had met Tom in Egypt and ridden down Africa together to about Ethiopia. When we saw him next in Kelowna, B.C. he had 35,000 km on the F800 and was pretty happy with it. I took it for a boot around the block and while it certainly showed that it had been through some tough riding it was still in good shape and rode beautifully. It felt incredibly narrow, much more so than my wife's F650GS and very light compared to my R100GS or R1200GS. I would have preferred it for some of the tougher sections of Africa for sure. For North America or other places where it is mostly pavement with occassional off road work I would stay with the R1200GS.

Tom is on the HUBB so he might reply to this post with some actual facts...

Just an alternative suggestion, given you are leaning towards smallish bike and other comments about ease of maintenance in nowheresville: Have you thought of the new Yamaha Tenere? I test-drove the 800GS too and was impressed with the ride, but never liked the look and other factors. I came from BMWs, all three of them in my riding life including the R1200GS which I traded for the Tenere. After my two-week motorbiking trip in northern Vietnam on a small 125cc Honda, I am convinced that a smaller bike is much better when traveling in remote places, in fact, most parts of the world. Big bikes are really for in my view US, Canada and German autobahns. I too was concerned about whether it's too small for places like Germany where I currently live. It performs fine on even autobahn going at 140km/h as my own comfortable speed. Not a crotch rocket. I took the Tenere recently to Nordkapp too. I asked myself would a 1200GS be better? Not sure, as the arctic highway is not the typical highway one would think. It's curvy and the conditions are mixed. Ahh, the 23 litre tank on the single-cylinder Tenere gives me easily over 420km. I think the 800GS has only 16 litre feeding two cylinders?

Link
 

Thank you all for your comments and feedback. One link leads to another and there is one helpful site I'd like to share with other potential buyers of the F800GS. It was started by RTW Motorcycling who is back in Vancouver (he's probably on the HUBB, too :blushing:) after a very long ride....

Bmw F800gs Q&A - ADVrider

Cheers,
Norman

Thanks for the link Norman, a great read.

I'd go for the F800GS over the new Tenere. The BMW has 85hp & weighs just over 200kg whilst the Tenere has about 50hp & weighs approximately the same. Whilst the Tenere has the benefit of the larger fuel capacity (22 v 16 litres?), I know that the F800GS is capable of a real world 60mpg @ 70mph.

I rode down through France on my 950SE last May with friends, one of whom was riding a lowered F800GS with full Metal Mule luggage. It performed well offroad with Metzeler Karoo-T's fitted & was returning 60+mpg.

Someone in another blog has actually weighed the F800GS, which turned out 20kg more than what the specs said. On a german motorbike magazine, it listed out the theoretical fuel range of a number of different dual purpose bikes: F800GS along with others in the 300km area, Tenere over 500km.

Real weight of the BMW with full tank is 223 kg according to a test-group I have talked to.
They have not tested the Tenere but Yamaha claims that 183kg is the dry-weight. If you add fuel you will have more then 200 kgs, so my guess is that the BMW will be 20 kg (maybe 25 kg) heavier. 75% increase in power and 44% increase in torque will still be more then able to handle a 10% weight-increase (with a rider it will be around 7% weight increase).

But of course the 20-25 kg weight-penalty might be noticeable when driving extreme off-road.

The fuel-range might be an issue on the F800GS but it would be strange if this is not solved within 6 months.

I will hopefully have a long testdrive at the end of this week, but I’m not planning to buy one.

Hi Norman

I've got the F800GS; super bike. Just done 2000 miles in nine days on it: The Strategy Meeting - via the Pyrenees and Alps - ADVrider. My only comments for a "very long distance trip" would be the seat is not bad but can get uncomfortable so you may want to factor in an aftermarket seat (when they become available) or at least an Airhawk and consider trying to get a touring windshield from BMW or Givi. The stock shield isn't bad but it could be improved. Also, if you're very tall, you may find the riding position just a little cramped.

The bike is perfect for me and my needs.

http://wildmania.smugmug.com/photos/...42_eUbvE-M.jpg

http://wildmania.smugmug.com/photos/...80_tytvQ-M.jpg

Hey, Thank you Wildman! :D
Yeah, I'm not "very tall" at 5' 7" :nono: thus the choice of a lower bike. Did a Borneo trip though (lots of pictures :) on BMW sponsored bikes i.e the 650X-Country and a lowered seat 1200GS. Backside wasn't very happy. Is that an airhawk on your 800 seat? Looks comfortable even from the picture.

Wow!!!

The bike has only been out for the last 9 months hasn't it? And he has been RTW already on it? Or which part of the world did he go round??

Interesting.

Just Americas...
 

Tom rode the F800GS from Buenos Aries down to Ushuaia and then up to Prudhoe Bay before going down to Whistler. Not exactly RTW but a significant distance nonetheless...

Sebastian Klein
 

Met a German guy at the Sepang GP yesterday. Sebastian Klein - ( Seppotage | Blog ) we became good friends instantly! what a nice bloke!

He travelled from Germany to India then into Malaysia on an F800GS. Had no complaints about the bike and infact strongly advised me to use the same for my next long journey - instead of the 1200GS.

He is also the guy in the "Scissors" and "Unstoppable" F800GS videos!

Way to go Sebastian!

pictures of Sebastian and me here

Norman to Cape Town: Sepang GP and Sebastian Klein

I bought an 800GS about a month and a half ago and have been very impressed with the handling. All though it can be a bit twitchy in first gear it seems more than capable off road. I'm planning on using it for a london to Oz trip starting next April.

BMW F800 "now" comes with lower seat ... you can purchase a seat which is ( as i recall) 7 cm.lower. Something definetly nice for "not tall" drivers like you and me ... :)

Forgot to mention that I did a test ride on the bike (the new ones, not Sebastian's) - and it felt great. The height is not too much of a problem but a 7cm lowered seat would be even better, me thinks.

Hi Norman

Yes, I'm using an Airhawk on the low seat until I can get a comfortable aftermarket seat.

Cheers.

Paul

F800gs
 

I was at the dealer today for some part for my bike and looking at the F800GS they will not compete with the 1200 when you want to travel 2 up , the back seat look like you will kill your butt are 100 miles ( on good road), 3 were left in the store? they may not sale as oon as they were supposed to???

Hendi

Here is a thread over on ADV about this BMW GS800 Tunisia Rally. Some good pics further in the thread of the F800GS's in the deep sand :helpsmilie:

The link here starts on page 5.

BMW GS Trophy in Tunisia - Page 5 - ADVrider

F800gs
 

Not very impressif in deep sand , I still prefer my XR650R, I guess we all have to understand that each bike is good for a specific use??

This is a street bike that you can ride off-road. Or an adventure bike, one capable of going off-road, with caution. The suspension is set for street riding. If you want a really BIG dirt bike get an HP2 or a KTM 950SE, there is a really big difference, trust me.

Or as Hendi Kaf said, the XR650R.

With your height I'd suggest you look at the F650GS twin. It's still 800cc but is lower.

Check out rider reviews here: F650/800GS road test reports by UKGSers - ::. UKGS'er.com .::

Tim

A friend has one, a very nice bike. What I would say is that you can see where BMW spent your money, and importantly where they did not and cheaped out. The major bits are all good, but the little finishing details like the brake levers are waiting to be bent.

A good nearly new 2nd hand buy.

Norman,

He is sponsored and rides for BMW he HAS to say it's a good bike! Also it has spent a lot of time on a aeroplane! Did you meet Dirk who HAS rode all the way from Europe to MY including China? He was there too!

Cheers.

Hi Dingo,
Sepp Klein was introduced to me by a local bike regular editor only because she (the ed) knew I was going to do a trip of a similar kind. Sepp also did a few modifications to his bike:
1. Air intake protector
2. Extended the windscreen (touratech extension)
3. Touratech seat
4. Engine/body protector
4. Of course, handguards

He also changed his rear suspension to accommodate the extra weight (his girlfriend joined him in Nepal - 2up) during his journey. Although it didn't bother him too much, he didn't quite like the lower gears.

Yeah, he was very careful (almost whispering the answers) when asked about the things he didn't like about the F800GS.

I wish I had met Kirk too.

Im 5'7" and the bike is fine with the low or high seat. Dont settle for the 650gs. Go try both and make your decision. Oh and the 650gs is a detuned 800cc engine, it doesnt put out 85 hp

f800gs vs r1200gs
 

I have had a '88, '98 and '07 r12. I was going to buy another new one about 18 months ago and I decided to try the F model. I was so impressed I bought it instead. I put on Jesse bags, PIAA lights, new seat, windscreen, etc etc etc. All the yuppie crap. I rode it from New Orleans to SF and back, about 5500 miles. On the return trip, my wife flew out and drove back with me. About every hour she would comment on how awesome and comfortable the bikeway. I second that. I'm 63 and have been ridding since I was a teen. I've ridden all over the world and have owned more bikes than I think is sensible. From experience I can say that the F is lighter and easier to handle. It provides all the touring capabilities of the bigger bike and has more power and capability than more riders know how to use. The only reason I can see to buy the R is ego.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.n...88828909_n.jpg

I just finish crossing Africa two-up on a 2009 F800GS.
The bike had approx. 10,000kms when we started and we did 20,000kms on it across 10 countries (South Africa to Egypt).

Around 20,000kms the engine started leaking oil (a common problem with all/most 800GS apparently) and it got fix at Jungle Junction in Kenya.

The bike is not ideal for riding 2-up off road as the tank is in the back and makes it unconfortable for the pillion while standing up.

After the trip I took the bike to the dealership and they asked me for 3,000 USD just in spare parts to fix it. The bike is still running fine but it needs a lot of love. It's an expensive bike to travel with but I guess all GS are.

I'm planning to keep the bike and do some more long distance riding on it.

I really wanted to like the F800GS and in the beginning I was really in love with it. But...

The engine needs to be very carefully warmed up, before using it hard! Some years ago I had bought a demo bike, just 750km on the clock. Soon realized that the engine sounds strange, compared to other bikes. I found quite a few documented cases in the internet of excessive piston/cylinder wear and when BMW after half a year of discussion finally opened up the engine, this was exactly the problem they discovered. Obviously the bike was mistreated before being really broken in and not warmed up sufficiently. :cursing:

BMW installed a replacement engine, but this one leaked oil at the the head after only three months, another problem well documented, but never solved. If this kind of problem has been existing for years, I am expecting that a new replacement engine should not show it!

The whole story had then gone on for over 9 months and I was so disappointed of BMW quality (and the behaviour of the service department which had delayed the repair for 6 months!!!) that I sold it and got a 990 adventure.

I got rid of that later just because I wante to have a lighter bike and replace that one last fall with a 690 Enduro.

Hopefully rumors of a new KTM 900ccm engine will prove to be true and they make a F800GS competitor around it!