BMW F800GT....any experiences?
Discussion
So a month in and I’m yet to be disappointed.
Can’t say I’ve really noticed the drop in power, and it is making me actually think about use of the gears and throttle.
It’s much, much lighter than the Triumph it replaced so it’s far chuckable and confidence-inspiring in the bends.
It’s also paying for itself already.
A full tank of fuel costs 2/3 of what it did with the Tiger, and that gets me an additional leg to/from work as well.
The other bonus is going on a couple of Triumph forums and having fun telling them I’m quite pleased with it.
“Clearly” it’s not as good and I’ll “obviously” regret buying it.
Apparently the war didn’t end in 1945
Only snags so far is it sometimes objects to going in to neutral from 1st (fairly common apparently) and the fuel gauge reads “Full” until down to 50% (normal by design....zose kray-see Germans)
Can’t say I’ve really noticed the drop in power, and it is making me actually think about use of the gears and throttle.
It’s much, much lighter than the Triumph it replaced so it’s far chuckable and confidence-inspiring in the bends.
It’s also paying for itself already.
A full tank of fuel costs 2/3 of what it did with the Tiger, and that gets me an additional leg to/from work as well.
The other bonus is going on a couple of Triumph forums and having fun telling them I’m quite pleased with it.
“Clearly” it’s not as good and I’ll “obviously” regret buying it.
Apparently the war didn’t end in 1945
Only snags so far is it sometimes objects to going in to neutral from 1st (fairly common apparently) and the fuel gauge reads “Full” until down to 50% (normal by design....zose kray-see Germans)
It’s quite an upright position for a sports-tourer, although being German it’s heavy on the touring and a bit light on the sports bit. Legs are a bit more hunched up but that’s about it.
The CofG is noticeably lower with a very slightly longer wheel base so it flows in to bends and carries speed way better.
For the riding I do on my commute it makes total sense. I can’t see why adventure bikes are such a big thing. (Yeah I know....they sell, and that’s what matters)
Maybe it’s the bikey version of Range Rovers....99% never leave the tarmac.
The CofG is noticeably lower with a very slightly longer wheel base so it flows in to bends and carries speed way better.
For the riding I do on my commute it makes total sense. I can’t see why adventure bikes are such a big thing. (Yeah I know....they sell, and that’s what matters)
Maybe it’s the bikey version of Range Rovers....99% never leave the tarmac.
In terms of comfort, it did take around a week of trial and error to get the angle of the bars and levers just so.
The bars themselves only need a tiny bit of rotation at the yoke to have a huge impact on hand/wrist position at the ends.
I was finding the outer edge of my hand was starting to really hurt. A very minor tweak of the bar position and all is well.
Oh and there’s no adjustment on the rear brake lever’s positioning. It’s where BMW put it and that’s that.
The bars themselves only need a tiny bit of rotation at the yoke to have a huge impact on hand/wrist position at the ends.
I was finding the outer edge of my hand was starting to really hurt. A very minor tweak of the bar position and all is well.
Oh and there’s no adjustment on the rear brake lever’s positioning. It’s where BMW put it and that’s that.
Crossflow Kid said:
hiccy18 said:
Thanks for the feedback, it's top of my list come the summer, hoping the pennies work out.
Slightly dull though it is, you do get a fair bit of bike for your money. Mine’s even got electronic suspension adjustment (not sure if OE or optional)Crossflow Kid said:
Slightly dull though it is, you do get a fair bit of bike for your money. Mine’s even got electronic suspension adjustment (not sure if OE or optional)
The belt drive, fuel economy and improved pillion provision compared to the SV650 are all appealling to me, some extra geegee's and heated grips will be nice to have. If the budget allows the GT with ESA sounds great as I'm assuming it'll make adjustment for taking a pillion very easy; if I don't have the pennies the ST looks fine.I think you might be confusing ESA with suspension pre-load?
It’s got adjustment for that too but it’s the manual twisty knob variety.
The ESA is pretty good though. I don’t ride anywhere near the ragged edge of grip but so find a subtle difference between Comfort on the s
tty roads around Hammersmith before selecting it to Sport for the motorway.
It’s got adjustment for that too but it’s the manual twisty knob variety.
The ESA is pretty good though. I don’t ride anywhere near the ragged edge of grip but so find a subtle difference between Comfort on the s
tty roads around Hammersmith before selecting it to Sport for the motorway.
Having a twiddly knob is still a huge improvement over needing to dig out a spanner I never bother with.Iminquarantine said:
^ FYI replacing the headlight bulb on the F800GT was horrific. I am not bullstting or exaggerating, two BMW techs worked non-stop on it for 90 minutes. These are guys that know what they are doing and it was 3 man hours.
If you don’t read up in advance on correct technique, you can break the bulb retaining clip. The reason it took 3 man hours was, after the clip was broken (by me), they tried to fix it without taking the front of the bike apart (1 man hour), then taking the front of the bike apart (1 man hour) and fixing it so it never breaks again (1 man hour).
If the clip has already been modified or if you know about the weakness and the correct technique in advance, then you don’t need to dismantle anything and the bulb can be changed in a few minutes. Get it wrong and holy fking fk, it’s bad. It’s actually got potential to get even worse as you need to take the whole headlight assembly out, with fairing off. There are screws holding the assembly in which BMW have loctite’d in, only it’s the Loctite you need to heat up to remove so you can strip the head trying to remove them if you don’t know.
It really was mind bendingly bad. My head hurts just remembering it.
I’m assuming mine’s had the clip modification, although I couldn’t really see what there was to modify. It’s pretty straight forward.tting or exaggerating, two BMW techs worked non-stop on it for 90 minutes. These are guys that know what they are doing and it was 3 man hours. If you don’t read up in advance on correct technique, you can break the bulb retaining clip. The reason it took 3 man hours was, after the clip was broken (by me), they tried to fix it without taking the front of the bike apart (1 man hour), then taking the front of the bike apart (1 man hour) and fixing it so it never breaks again (1 man hour).
If the clip has already been modified or if you know about the weakness and the correct technique in advance, then you don’t need to dismantle anything and the bulb can be changed in a few minutes. Get it wrong and holy f
king fk, it’s bad. It’s actually got potential to get even worse as you need to take the whole headlight assembly out, with fairing off. There are screws holding the assembly in which BMW have loctite’d in, only it’s the Loctite you need to heat up to remove so you can strip the head trying to remove them if you don’t know. It really was mind bendingly bad. My head hurts just remembering it.
Edited by Iminquarantine on Thursday 22 October 22:28
Were you wearing boxing gloves when you changed yours?
Not an ST or GT but Ive recently returned to 2 wheels with an 08 800S - 24k, pretty decent history for the princely sum of £1800... Even had the optional Akrapovic pipe on it (sounds alright with the baffle out). After having not really ridden for 12 years - did a bit of off road on my WR250f but been in a box on the road. 2 hr drive from collection in the dark to home was interesting - getting back on a bike and learning the BMW indicator system....
Bought the android diagnostic for my phone followed by the correct OBD2 / adaptors to turn out the service light etc.
Ive not done a huge amount of miles - weather work etc but as a return to the fold I cant fault it.
Its sporty enough without being heels-up-your-butt uncomfortable and although the looks might be a bit marmite I like the cafe racer sort of style. While the ST/GT have an upright stance the S has clip-ons that havent proved too uncomfortable. Oh, my first bike with heated grips..... what a revelation! I did have to put some foam over grips on as I felt the OE grips a little thin. Fork seals were the only advisory so will do them in the next few weeks. Looking forward to spending some time on it!
As for power etc, all the reviews seem to put it with 600's in performance, not that the capacity was an issue. Seems pretty frugal as well. For the money I cant fault it to be fair.
Bought the android diagnostic for my phone followed by the correct OBD2 / adaptors to turn out the service light etc.
Ive not done a huge amount of miles - weather work etc but as a return to the fold I cant fault it.
Its sporty enough without being heels-up-your-butt uncomfortable and although the looks might be a bit marmite I like the cafe racer sort of style. While the ST/GT have an upright stance the S has clip-ons that havent proved too uncomfortable. Oh, my first bike with heated grips..... what a revelation! I did have to put some foam over grips on as I felt the OE grips a little thin. Fork seals were the only advisory so will do them in the next few weeks. Looking forward to spending some time on it!
As for power etc, all the reviews seem to put it with 600's in performance, not that the capacity was an issue. Seems pretty frugal as well. For the money I cant fault it to be fair.
Vantagemech.. said:
Not an ST or GT but Ive recently returned to 2 wheels with an 08 800S - 24k, pretty decent history for the princely sum of £1800... Even had the optional Akrapovic pipe on it (sounds alright with the baffle out). After having not really ridden for 12 years - did a bit of off road on my WR250f but been in a box on the road. 2 hr drive from collection in the dark to home was interesting - getting back on a bike and learning the BMW indicator system....
Bought the android diagnostic for my phone followed by the correct OBD2 / adaptors to turn out the service light etc.
Ive not done a huge amount of miles - weather work etc but as a return to the fold I cant fault it.
Its sporty enough without being heels-up-your-butt uncomfortable and although the looks might be a bit marmite I like the cafe racer sort of style. While the ST/GT have an upright stance the S has clip-ons that havent proved too uncomfortable. Oh, my first bike with heated grips..... what a revelation! I did have to put some foam over grips on as I felt the OE grips a little thin. Fork seals were the only advisory so will do them in the next few weeks. Looking forward to spending some time on it!
As for power etc, all the reviews seem to put it with 600's in performance, not that the capacity was an issue. Seems pretty frugal as well. For the money I cant fault it to be fair.
Good write up. Bought the android diagnostic for my phone followed by the correct OBD2 / adaptors to turn out the service light etc.
Ive not done a huge amount of miles - weather work etc but as a return to the fold I cant fault it.
Its sporty enough without being heels-up-your-butt uncomfortable and although the looks might be a bit marmite I like the cafe racer sort of style. While the ST/GT have an upright stance the S has clip-ons that havent proved too uncomfortable. Oh, my first bike with heated grips..... what a revelation! I did have to put some foam over grips on as I felt the OE grips a little thin. Fork seals were the only advisory so will do them in the next few weeks. Looking forward to spending some time on it!
As for power etc, all the reviews seem to put it with 600's in performance, not that the capacity was an issue. Seems pretty frugal as well. For the money I cant fault it to be fair.
Can you add a link to the Android app for resetting service indicator + the adaptors. Ta.
GadgeS3C said:
Good write up.
Can you add a link to the Android app for resetting service indicator + the adaptors. Ta.
Motoscan app - download is "free" but you have to pay depending on what levels you want to access.Can you add a link to the Android app for resetting service indicator + the adaptors. Ta.
This is their website https://www.motoscan.de/ the dongle/ OBD2 adaptor is around £50 delivered - ELM327 will not work with it (sort of connects but not fast enough so no functionality also very hit and miss connecting). However this dongle also works well with the Torque app so not a 1 trick pony.
Youll also need the OBD2 to BMW adaptor - I got mine off eBay for about £10.
It will cost you about £80 in total but it checks mileage and service lights (more if you pay the £50 option)
I did the service myself (obviously being a mechanic!) and from various forums found 10w50 is the preferred oil, I put Mahle filters on mine but boy was the old oil filter tight! I nearly cut it in half using the old school screwdrivr through the middle.... Also put 15w oil in the forks - but thats diverting from the original post....
Having to change the dipped beam H7 headlight bulb after a relatively short 15 months prompted me to provide an update. Mainly as I refound this thread after googling how to change the bulb to remind myself.
With BMW permanently fixing the retaining clip problem, changing the bulb was a pretty easy DIY job compared the 3-man hours of BMW tech time in the 2020 bulb change cluster fk.
Still quite happy with the bike; it is quite a practical bike which comes into its own in twisties where there is a limit to how much engine power you can use without running off the road. I've since fitted a peg lowering kit, bought the higher comfort seat and fitted bar risers.
With BMW permanently fixing the retaining clip problem, changing the bulb was a pretty easy DIY job compared the 3-man hours of BMW tech time in the 2020 bulb change cluster f
k. Still quite happy with the bike; it is quite a practical bike which comes into its own in twisties where there is a limit to how much engine power you can use without running off the road. I've since fitted a peg lowering kit, bought the higher comfort seat and fitted bar risers.
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