BMW’s entry-level adventurer proves good things come in small packages
The Sahara Desert, river crossings and tooth-rattling backroads didn’t faze the baby of BMW’s adventure family during its 2000km quick spin around Morocco.
Its cosseting seat, comfy ergonomics and perfectly positioned ’bars (reach and width) are great for munching the miles and it’ll happily cruise at 100km/h, barely turning over at 3500rpm – though you’ll definitely notice the wind buffeting from 80km/h onwards. A higher screen will easily sort that.
The 2016 model has received a mild cosmetic refresh, including a new fuel tank cover and colours – including Sakhir orange metallic. You can also request lowered suspension and five possible seat heights, with four different seats.
The 798cc parallel-twin cylinder engine is shared with its F800GS sibling but has been detuned to produce 8kW less power and 6Nm less torque (55kW and 77Nm respectively).
There’s plenty of grunt from any gear above 3000rpm and sixth-gear overtakes are no problem.
Being a buzzy twin, the vibes through the ’bars and pegs are intrusive beyond 5000rpm and downright crazy near the 8500rpm redline – but it certainly gives the bike character. It isn’t an issue unless you intend to ride it like you stole it every minute of the day.
The clutch is light, the Brembo brakes have perfect power and feel for this type of bike and the gear changes are slick and solid – including clunkless shifts into first. Granted, the gear lever has a long throw and neutral was often difficult to engage on my test bike.
Unlike the off-road-biased F800GS, it doesn’t have spoked wheels, makes do with a 19-inch front rim instead of a 21 jobbie, and lacks the longer-travel USD fork. My bike also didn’t have the optional electronic suspension settings (Normal, Sport and Comfort) or traction control – but it really doesn’t need all that frippery.
With a low seat height of 820mm, unintimidating power and stable handling, it’s a brilliant bike for the less experienced and shorter riders.
Standout features include an easily accessible fuel cap alongside the seat (petrol tank is under the seat) and instantly warm heated grips – with the lower of the two settings being intuitively the first selection (unlike the R1200GS).
Fuelling is sublime, with no hesitation or jerkiness from a closed throttle, it’s frugal (4.5L/100km), the stock exhaust has a satisfying deep burble, the ABS can be easily disengaged for off-road tomfoolery and there’s great steering lock for tight turns – as well as a handy cigarette lighter socket next to the ignition barrel.
The niggles are minor: the forks have a lot of dive under braking – but at least it’s a progressive movement; the headlights don’t have enough penetration; the bike’s too easy to roll off its centrestand (I nearly did so when accidentally nudging it from behind); and the sidestand’s base pad is a tad too large and catches on the ground when you try to retract it – so you need to lean the bike past vertical.
The analogue speedo and tacho are easy to read, even when standing on the pegs, and the digital screen has useful readouts, including time, a gear indicator, external temperature and two trip meters. Bizarrely, it also has a lap timer (why?) and a fuel gauge which only displays empty to half-full. This means you’ll do 220km before any of the fuel readouts change – and the distance-to-empty readout only kicks in with 80km to go.
And while the red trellis frame looks sexy and the attention to detail is typical BMW, the bike’s side profile is rather timid and it resembles a maxi-scooter from the rear, especially with the panniers removed. It’s also a bit heavy at 209kg and darned expensive, though it should hold its value.
For those entering the adventure bike segment for the first time it’d make a brilliant commuter and companion for the occasional off-road foray. It also survived the worst Africa could throw at it over a week. Without missing a single drum beat.
PROS
Plenty of torque
All-day comfort
Surefooted handling
CONS
Bit top-heavy
Boring graphics
F800GS arguably better
