keepoffthemarbles
Guest
Firstly, about me. I’m being ‘forced’ back in to motorcycling, after a 10 year layoff, because I’m being relocated into London and I don’t do trains. My commute, if the office ever gets finished, is going to be 25 or so miles from the Woking area in to Battersea.
I’ve had my share of sports bikes in the past, but I’ve always enjoyed the feel and look of ‘off road’ bikes more. I looked seriously at the 650 V-strom, new 700 Transalp, Versys and of course the F650&800GS. Immediately my heart said 800GS, but the decision needed to take in to account my functional requirements so the others needed to be explored. The Versys and V-strom were reasonably quickly dismissed on the basis that they looked like they would dissolve in the winter salt. The Honda was in with a serious chance because it looked well made, nicely equipped and the dealer was offering a good deal, but… The servicing prices being quoted by the dealer initially struck me as fairly costly and once I had a chance to sit down and work out the cost including the shorter 4k intervals and suddenly the BMW’s were again favourites. Not to mention the Honda felt really big and heavy and I have a BMW dealer a few miles from my house.
The 650GS would have been the obvious choice for my intended use and to be honest it would have made much more sense. But, I wanted a F800GS and then a used one with nearly the exact spec I wanted and 2 months old with only 800 miles on the clock came up and it was decision made.
I’ve been off bikes for 10 years and the last bikes I owned were 2 stroke enduro bikes, so after these the 800GS is a revelation. Beautifully grunty engine that sounds good and has ample top end power for my needs. I haven’t ridden 2 up yet, but I don’t doubt it will be well up to the job. The brakes are very impressive (ABS of course), but I find the back brake position is too low, even with the foot peg rubbers removed. I’m breaking in some new Santiago boots, so maybe these feel a little clumsy and this adds to the problem.
I’m happy with the vibrations, but haven’t yet tried a long constant speed ride, so let’s see. The gearbox is slick and positive, but I feel the ratios are longer than they need to be. Being as little out of practice I find slower speed manageability is hampered by a slightly snatchy throttle if I’m in first gear and too tall gearing if I’m in second gear. In fact on my first outing I attempted to turn into a 90 degree corner in second and stalled purely because I was going too slow (yanked the clutch in time tho), yet next time I tried it in first gear I looked like a bucking bronco because of the throttle snatch. This aside, slow speed stability is excellent and maybe more experienced riders won’t even notice the gearing.
The bike initially felt big and the front end felt a little reluctant to turn in, but I’ve discovered that it responds really nicely if you give the bars a proper yank and muscle it round corners. Braking hard in to a corner, changing down and letting the grunt pull you out feels fantastic. I have both the standard and low seat and I find I’m much happier commuting with the low seat, but perfectly happy with the taller seat when out for a weekend ride (5ft 9in with shortish legs), however I could easily understand how a taller rider may feel a little cramped in the lower body. I find the screen more effective than I expected and my newly fitted 1200GS hand guards coupled to the heated grips are very effective, especially the last few cold mornings. BTW, 1200 hand guards fit really well after a little reworking of the inboard clamps with a Dremmel and they retain the standard bar weights (which I think the 800GS guards don’t). I’ve not had any seat comfort issues yet, but I’ve only done about 1 hour max in a single sitting.
I love the trip computer, I’m a sucker for this kind of thing, but I find it a bit annoying when the computer constantly reverts to temperature display to warn you of the risk of ice. On the other hand I can forgive that purely because I love the gear indicator so much. The instruments in general are excellent and my 3 year old daughter loves the sweep and return of the dials when you first turn on the ignition. Initially I found the indicator controls to be a complete nightmare. Cancelling the bloody things without inducing bursts of acceleration was impossible until I read a post in these very pages that suggested aiming at the very tip of the cancel switch. Suddenly it’s all started to feel right. This is the first bike I’ve owned that has a headlight that works.
From the reports I’ve read the 800GS will easily trounce the Honda Transalp on fuel consumption. My trip computer has so far reported mid 60’s and a manual calculation last time I filled up supports this. This gives me a very usable commuting range and means I’ll only need to fill up once per week. From my first few experiences of filling up, I’m happy I only have to do it once a week as trigger restraint is needed to avoid a smelly shower. I intend adding a top box to aid commuting activities and I’m considering a fender extender and possibly a few other road grime combating add-ons which I’ll report on in due course.
No question the F650GS would have been better, or more practical, for my needs, but the 800GS is still easy to live with in the commuting role. Add to this the non commuting rides and the looks and I think I have made the right decision choosing the 800 over the 650.
Let’s see how I feel after a long, dark, cold and no doubt wet winter.
Regards, Marbles.
I’ve had my share of sports bikes in the past, but I’ve always enjoyed the feel and look of ‘off road’ bikes more. I looked seriously at the 650 V-strom, new 700 Transalp, Versys and of course the F650&800GS. Immediately my heart said 800GS, but the decision needed to take in to account my functional requirements so the others needed to be explored. The Versys and V-strom were reasonably quickly dismissed on the basis that they looked like they would dissolve in the winter salt. The Honda was in with a serious chance because it looked well made, nicely equipped and the dealer was offering a good deal, but… The servicing prices being quoted by the dealer initially struck me as fairly costly and once I had a chance to sit down and work out the cost including the shorter 4k intervals and suddenly the BMW’s were again favourites. Not to mention the Honda felt really big and heavy and I have a BMW dealer a few miles from my house.
The 650GS would have been the obvious choice for my intended use and to be honest it would have made much more sense. But, I wanted a F800GS and then a used one with nearly the exact spec I wanted and 2 months old with only 800 miles on the clock came up and it was decision made.
I’ve been off bikes for 10 years and the last bikes I owned were 2 stroke enduro bikes, so after these the 800GS is a revelation. Beautifully grunty engine that sounds good and has ample top end power for my needs. I haven’t ridden 2 up yet, but I don’t doubt it will be well up to the job. The brakes are very impressive (ABS of course), but I find the back brake position is too low, even with the foot peg rubbers removed. I’m breaking in some new Santiago boots, so maybe these feel a little clumsy and this adds to the problem.
I’m happy with the vibrations, but haven’t yet tried a long constant speed ride, so let’s see. The gearbox is slick and positive, but I feel the ratios are longer than they need to be. Being as little out of practice I find slower speed manageability is hampered by a slightly snatchy throttle if I’m in first gear and too tall gearing if I’m in second gear. In fact on my first outing I attempted to turn into a 90 degree corner in second and stalled purely because I was going too slow (yanked the clutch in time tho), yet next time I tried it in first gear I looked like a bucking bronco because of the throttle snatch. This aside, slow speed stability is excellent and maybe more experienced riders won’t even notice the gearing.
The bike initially felt big and the front end felt a little reluctant to turn in, but I’ve discovered that it responds really nicely if you give the bars a proper yank and muscle it round corners. Braking hard in to a corner, changing down and letting the grunt pull you out feels fantastic. I have both the standard and low seat and I find I’m much happier commuting with the low seat, but perfectly happy with the taller seat when out for a weekend ride (5ft 9in with shortish legs), however I could easily understand how a taller rider may feel a little cramped in the lower body. I find the screen more effective than I expected and my newly fitted 1200GS hand guards coupled to the heated grips are very effective, especially the last few cold mornings. BTW, 1200 hand guards fit really well after a little reworking of the inboard clamps with a Dremmel and they retain the standard bar weights (which I think the 800GS guards don’t). I’ve not had any seat comfort issues yet, but I’ve only done about 1 hour max in a single sitting.
I love the trip computer, I’m a sucker for this kind of thing, but I find it a bit annoying when the computer constantly reverts to temperature display to warn you of the risk of ice. On the other hand I can forgive that purely because I love the gear indicator so much. The instruments in general are excellent and my 3 year old daughter loves the sweep and return of the dials when you first turn on the ignition. Initially I found the indicator controls to be a complete nightmare. Cancelling the bloody things without inducing bursts of acceleration was impossible until I read a post in these very pages that suggested aiming at the very tip of the cancel switch. Suddenly it’s all started to feel right. This is the first bike I’ve owned that has a headlight that works.
From the reports I’ve read the 800GS will easily trounce the Honda Transalp on fuel consumption. My trip computer has so far reported mid 60’s and a manual calculation last time I filled up supports this. This gives me a very usable commuting range and means I’ll only need to fill up once per week. From my first few experiences of filling up, I’m happy I only have to do it once a week as trigger restraint is needed to avoid a smelly shower. I intend adding a top box to aid commuting activities and I’m considering a fender extender and possibly a few other road grime combating add-ons which I’ll report on in due course.
No question the F650GS would have been better, or more practical, for my needs, but the 800GS is still easy to live with in the commuting role. Add to this the non commuting rides and the looks and I think I have made the right decision choosing the 800 over the 650.
Let’s see how I feel after a long, dark, cold and no doubt wet winter.
Regards, Marbles.
