BMW F800GT....any experiences?
Discussion
Ok, not the most exciting bike in the world but one’s caught my eye and looks like a bit of a bargain...’14 plate, FSH, 23k on the clock for a smidge under £4K.
I’m currently on a Tiger 1050 for my commute but that’s getting rather leggy and is nearly fifteen years old.
The baby Beemer seems to get good reviews as a dull commuter if nothing else.....which is so very me. Also noticed the Met Police have a few in their fleet which is an endorsement of sorts.
Just a bit wary that I’ve got lazy with the power from a litre bike, especially on motorways, and I’m also aware BMWs can have some quirky maintenance issues.
Anyone?
I’m currently on a Tiger 1050 for my commute but that’s getting rather leggy and is nearly fifteen years old.
The baby Beemer seems to get good reviews as a dull commuter if nothing else.....which is so very me. Also noticed the Met Police have a few in their fleet which is an endorsement of sorts.
Just a bit wary that I’ve got lazy with the power from a litre bike, especially on motorways, and I’m also aware BMWs can have some quirky maintenance issues.
Anyone?
Well this is all most encouraging stuff.
Thanks folks. My previous BMW experience wasn’t brilliant but that was a bargain basement F650GS which, judging by the number of bi-metalically corroded bolts, had spent most of its life in the sea. Also found some aspects of BMW design utterly baffling - replacing the headlight bulb on the 650 involves removing the (fake) tank IIRC.
Anyway, that was then, this is now.
Will have to arrange a test ride.
Thanks folks. My previous BMW experience wasn’t brilliant but that was a bargain basement F650GS which, judging by the number of bi-metalically corroded bolts, had spent most of its life in the sea. Also found some aspects of BMW design utterly baffling - replacing the headlight bulb on the 650 involves removing the (fake) tank IIRC.
Anyway, that was then, this is now.
Will have to arrange a test ride.
CookieR said:
the only really annoying failure I had was the rear light unit failing, necessitating the removal of most of the rear portion of the bike.
This is what’s lurking at the back of my mind, stalling my decision.My own experience with an F650GS was totally ruined by some of the utterly daft Bavarian design flaws. It appears they think their bikes will never, ever go wrong so why would an owner need to dismantle it?
So I’ve gone for a ‘65 plate, with 37k on the clock but a twelve month warranty instead of the usual three, on the back of a full BMW SH.
No luggage, but then I thought about it and can count on one hand the times I’ve used the Triumph boxes.
Bit sad to break up an all British garage (with the other vehicles being a Land Rover and a Caterham) but it’s all made in China now anyway. Won’t miss the actual name “Tiger”. Always struck me as a bit ambitious for what was a fairly mediocre bike at the end of the day.
No luggage, but then I thought about it and can count on one hand the times I’ve used the Triumph boxes.
Bit sad to break up an all British garage (with the other vehicles being a Land Rover and a Caterham) but it’s all made in China now anyway. Won’t miss the actual name “Tiger”. Always struck me as a bit ambitious for what was a fairly mediocre bike at the end of the day.
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.
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.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
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