F650 GS Dakar - Owner Experiences

[Vampire]

I'm thinking of buying the F650 GS Dakar for dirt road touring, but wanted some input of existing owners and maybe some suggested alternatives. Had been thinking of a more dirt oriented bike, but don't like the idea of trailering around, and want to be able to cover up to 600 km a day on a combination of sealed and dirt roads. Can't imagine myself doing genuine "off road" work.
Already have an R1200GS, but wanted something that I'm less concerned about dropping, and want to set it up to be more dirt oriented than the 1200.
Any and all input welcome, whether it be objective, subjective, emotive or whatever.
Thanks

 

[Dave Hall]

I borrowed one and did about 250 miles on it, all on the road. I enjoyed it immensely. It had full on knobbly tyres but still felt great in bends. Nice and light weight so I imagine it would perform well off road but I`ve no experience.

 

[SQD8R]

best place is chain gang, a dedicated 650GS site.

My .02. I love the bike but I tend ot ride over 120 kph regularly so that's why I passed. It's too much work above 120 kph.

 

[laughingBob]

Mine was a bloody nightmare. It was the worst bike I've had, no question. It nearly put me off Beemers for life. It was one of the first 650GS's imported into the UK. It would cut out on the over-run and had a flat-spot the size of an aircraft carrier. I owned the bike for about four months and for most of that time it was at the dealers, Park West in Chiswick. I have to say that they tried their best and the service I recieved from them was excellent, even though they could't find the fault. I was eventually asked if I would like a new bike or my money back. I took the cash as at that time I couldn't bear the thought of another Beemer.

I rode a friends Dakar a year or so later and loved it. His had done nearly 15k at that time without a problem. At the same time I had a KTM 640 Adventure, which I loved to bits. The motor on the KTM, although very similar to the GS, had loads more power and the gearbox was smoother but, the GS was far more comfortable and didn't suffer from the anoying ever present vibration that the 640 had which numbed my feet and hands on long road trips.

Persoanally, if I were going to ride mainly off-road I'd have another KTM. The suspension is better as is the gearing and the tank range is huge but, if I were to ride mostly on road with the odd excersion off-road I'd go for the Dakar, even after all the problems I had.

 

[BawdyMonk]

Not much experience apart from a couple of short test rides but my rule of thumb* would be;

If you live very near or in the dirt, buy a KTM640...

If you have to travel to the dirt, buy a GSDakar...








*Read that as "rule of bum"

 

[Wreford Miles]

wish I'd kept mine longer... it was great in the wet

 

[G.C.]

If you have to travel to the dirt, buy a GSDakar...

Seconded, I'ts a compromise ! and as such not the best bike for either, but if you want just one bike to do both it's hard to beat.

Right now I would'nt swop mine.

 

[Dene]

I rode the F650 GS off road on one of the World of BMW courses, it is a very capable bike although most of the instructors seemed to have KTM's as their private bikes.

 

[bigkuri]

Had the 650 before - and a great commuter - loved it to bits. BUT, get an XT. You already own a 1200GS, so no need of another, smaller, one....

 

[basil]

Traded in mi dakar 02 ,for gs12 only one thing i would say mine was a cracking bike ,never put any oil in 5ooo miles ,more than capable of road ,i wud have another any day .p/s the gs12 a cracking bike off road as well

 

[Vampire]

Thanks everybody for your comments. Due mainly to the distances I expect to be riding, and my less than exhuberant riding style on dirt, I think that I'll give the Dakar a try.
Thanks again.