serious replies please lads!!

[Ming]

The wife is starting to see my point of view that a f650 would be a good move for her !!!


so i am looking feedback from owners especially from the ladies.


thanks!

 

[judge]

Ming,

Can't promise you serious replies especially as you appealed to the lads and want replies from the ladies but I have copied your thread to the 650 forum where they tend to live.

Judge

 

[retroman]

Matt

I had the use of a F650 whilst the 1150 was off the road.
It is CERTAINLY a birds bike.

O SHIT ..... INCOMING ..............

 

[Ming]

didnt you have the scarver though ???


they let one of those to me ..........quite amusing !!!

 

[retroman]

Yes that too.

Neraly crashed it. Several times. Fekkin front end kept slipping away ...

 

[andy leett]

Hi Mat
I think your after a second bike to play with OFF-ROAD

 

[Ming]

cant be a dakar mate too tall for shaz

 

[wessie]

Yes that too.

Neraly crashed it. Several times. Fekkin front end kept slipping away ...

Never had that, despite trying very hard.

I thought the scarver was a hoot around town. So narrow, so light.

The steering did seem twitchy - then again almost any bike with a conventional front end would seem twitchy over the bumpy roads in Cardiff compared to a GS.

Once I started avoiding potholes my bollox hurt less.

Any of the BMW 650s look expensive against the Suzuki SV though.

 

[BTBR]

I would agree with others that the F650 is for sure a real "girlies" bike and a dam good one at that.

I had one yesterday as a loan bike while my GS was in for service and to be honest I was'nt looking forward to riding it when I first saw it. However how wrong was I, its a cracking little bike, went like a train, handled like a dream, made lots of induction noise, stopped excellant the only down side was that the colour clashed with my helmet and boots.....

 

[Mike Werner]

My wife is buying one next quarter. trading in her Suzuki VanVan.... she can't wait...

 

[Spanish Bob]

why not ask Liv, Norway or Matron directly?

 

[Spanish Bob]

I rode one fofr the off road course and have had them as loan bikes, they aren´t bad at all.

 

[cookiemonster]

serious reply....

my wife had one for a first bike. The general points were that it was reliable, very easy to handle while on the move (good first bike from that perspective) and quick down country lanes and through traffic. Also it could be dropped with minimal damage (she went through a couple of clutch levers and i replaced the exhaust guard with a new one when we sold it and it looked mint) which is (IMO) very important for a first bike...

The downsides were: firstly it was too tall for her (it was f650gs and she's maybe 5'9", still couldnt get her feet down) which led to a couple of the aformentioned clutch lever episodes. I think the scarver is lower, so it be worth looking there. Secondly there was a huge amount of fork dive on the brakes - it could catch you out at junctions when you come to a stop, the whole bike dives and your weight is somewhere beyond the front wheel; not very pleasant. Finally it doesnt have the guts to sit on a motorway at 80, take luggage or do anything two up (again in our opinion - someone else has probably been round the world twice two up at 100 mph on one... )

It was never taken off road, so i cant comment there.

Punchline - yep, nice little bike and good first bike. But if we were spending the cash again on a first bike there are others we'd go for first (Hornet, SV650, etc). Check the height, if she cant get both feet down (and she's not an experienced rider) then look elsewhere.

hope this helps

 

[Jaq Draco]

I have ridden one as a loaner, and found it a little twitchy for my tastes, I know that in this months issue of BIKE magazine Dan Walsh argues against this being called a 'girls bike'. He states that it has done all that he asked of it. He has of course now crashed it but it is still going.

 

[bgd]

My first bike was the 650GS. Great machine. I would still have it now if I hadn't taken an 1150 for a test ride.

 

[Deleted Member Mtn]

oi!!!

told you lot!!!

its not a girls bike its a WOMANS bike!!!!!

 

[Fanum]

I had the old one, a Funduro, as my first newish decent big bike.....was great.

Dead easy to ride, well built and very reliable...I couriered it in London and did some reasonably long trips on it with no problem.

I did keep hitting the rev limiter though, and it is underpowered for a fat git like me, but as a first bike I'd recommend it.

They don't like being ridden under dumper trucks though.............

I still have its corpse in my back garden...i keep saying i'm going to rebuild her for a winter ride.

 

[walkon40]

This is from someone who's GOT a 1994 Funduro and is about to switch to a 'bigger' bike.

Got my F secondhand in May 02 as a first bike after 20odd years off powered two wheels. I don't agree with the 'girly' bike, as it's too tall for many women (my wife doesn't reach the ground sitting on it). It's great 'round town, easy to handle and to work on, very forgiving for the mistakes newcomers/born-agains make and cheap to run/insure.

My F was great as it ALWAYS started, never developed a fault, and - maybe because I looked after it - didn't develop any rust during the 21,000 miles I've done since May 02 - summer and winter, rain and shine (what shine?). Having seen a number of SVs and other bikes of that calibre, I wouldn't go for one of them as they are too short for a tall guy like myself, and I think their build-quality isn't as good as the F's (which isn't known for really good build quality itself).

No, it's not fast. And it's too short for two up for any length of time, hence my idea of changing, quite possibtly to a 1100/1150 GS. But if you don't want to do any serious touring, want to have a cheap, reliable, fun bike - the F650 Funduro is worth it's money. Whether the F650 GS or Scarver is in the same class, I don't know. But look at www.bmwf650.co.uk for lots of great info on all the F650 models.

Martin