2009 BMW F800GS Web Impression

In reality, this is not a light-weight bike and when you really get going the effects from the girth start to happen before you actually start feeling them. The bike's good handling is masking the weight and it takes a high level of feel to pick up on this. To me, it felt like the chassis is plenty stiff to let it work hard while there is just enough flex and cushion built in to have the rider not care.

Onto the off-road and here is where I see the biggest problem or shortcoming with the package. People might be buying this bike based on the impression that this is a big dirt bike. Forget it. This is a street bike that you can ride off-road. Or an adventure bike, one capable of going off-road, with caution. If you want a really big dirt bike get an HP2 or a KTM 950SE, there is a really big difference, trust me.

Typical to the GS line, this bike is not an Adventure version either. What I mean by that is the suspension is set up for street riding with a much less progressive damping and it rides low in the stroke. As such, it bottoms out at the first sight of a bump with a clank that is telling you, in mechanical language, that you are going to break something or crash and get hurt unless you slow down. Yes, we saw it happen a few times on our trip. From blown rear shocks to bent rims to broken bodies, we saw carnage. And yes, it was caused by 100% rider error in my not-so-humble opinion. I rode all the same places, usually slower than the affected parties and I was fine, so was my identical bike.

The suspension is pretty much non-adjustable in the front. It rides too low in the stroke and could use some stiffer springs to use the top of the stroke more effectively. The rear has preload adjustment (I ran mine full stiff to get the most shock stroke I could) and there is an adjuster on the bottom of the shock that controls rebound, I assume, that I didn't feel the need to touch.

In the dirt the light feeling stays, which is a good thing if you don't get fooled into riding to fast! The handling is planted and the weight keeps the bike stuck to the ground and it gets good traction-as long as you possess and utilize throttle control. Because here the parallel twin gets very snappy and has a hit on the bottom of the power delivery that likes to light up the tire and get the bike moving too fast. I found it a lot better to be a gear or two high and really let the bike bog down to a smoother power level combined with enough clutch work to keep my speeds down.

The Karoo II tires helped the off-road grip, especially when we had the pressure in the 20-25 PSI range, but they were definitely not true knobbies.

BMW has built, with the F800, the perfect mid-sized GS. It is a do-all, street-biased machine that is as capable off-road as any sport-utility SUV. It bridges the gap between the old 650 single and the 1200 and builds a happy home for the many riders for whom the 1200 was just too girthy. Plus, it feels a lot faster than the 1200 if you are willing to rev it.

What the 800 is not is an Adventure version, which BMW would not tell me anything about. But if history is any indicator, they should be building one. What that will hopefully bring is an altered power delivery (more torque), different gear ratios (lower first and hopefully a taller sixth), more fuel capacity (I'm not sure where they are going to hide it, there isn't much more room under the current seat where the gas tank resides) and, mostly needed, suspension more suited to handle off-road bumps (more progressive damping and some bottoming resistance). For the dirt-biased rider in me and someone whose adventures reside primarily off-highway, I'm waiting and crossing my fingers and keeping to my 1200 GSA and my KTM 950 Adventure. I could get by on the F800GS, in fact I did so along with my teammates in the GS Trophy doing harsher off-roading than most would ever consider. The bike was truly the wrong tool for the job, even though it easily got the job done quite well.

Learn more about the BMW GS Trophy event here: GS Trophy

Contact
BMW Motorrad USA
300 Chestnut Ridge Rd.
Westwood, NJ 07675
201.307.4000
www.bmwmotorcycles.com