IT HAS been a long anticipated wait for adventure bike enthusiasts, but the F 800 GS is now here and ready to take on the road less travelled. It is a true adventure bike and although the engine is similar to the F 800 S/ST it has been modified to meet adventure style riding. BMW has long ruled the adventure bike market, and the new 800 offers riders a lighter, easier handling package to the big 1200s – indeed, in many ways the machine harks back to the first GS, the R 80 GS of nearly 30 years ago being a (relatively) lightweight tourer capable of taking on dirt road conditions.

The R 80 GS was a traditional BMW horizontal twin with shaft drive. After growing in capacity for number of years it was replaced with the R1100GS and today the configuration lives on in the R1200GS. If there has been one constant complaint about the 1100 and 1200 GS models, though, its weight – even though BMW managed to shed a heap with the 1200GS – is still high.
 

Enter the F 800 GS.

As far as adventure bikes go, the F 800 GS certainly looks like it’s ready to hit the dirt from the word go. It sports an entirely new frame and suspension to deliver a package that is equally at home road touring or getting off road adventure kicks. Conventional USD front suspension looks after the front end, while the fairing, screen and headlight are all off road oriented. Looking quite slim, the ergonomics on the F 800 GS feel slender beneath the rider allowing to make the transition from sitting to standing an easy task.

Handlebar, seat and peg height matched to an upright riding position make the F 800 GS a nice and comfy commuter or road tourer if the nine to five grind keeps you away from the gravel until the weekend arrives, which is where the fun really starts. It’s not designed to replace the 1200cc models, but to offer a lighter, less expensive and, in some ways, more capable alternative.
 

The adventure begins

Adventure riding can take in many forms of off road use from forest trails with a light covering of dust all the way out to sandy whooped out dirt roads within the desert regions of Australia. For the launch of the 800 BMW took us on a mixture of logging tracks, forest roads, open trails, with a bit of gravel and tar thrown into the mix.

This type of riding is what you expect the average adventure rider to tackle over the course of a weekend and the F 800 GS takes this type of riding all in its stride. It is especially awesome to ride on the more open trails when you instantly adopt the standing position, weight over the ’bars tipping the bike into corners and blasting out the other side with the tail wagging. With the fuel tank below the seat and the air box above the motor this further helps with the centre of gravity and handling of the bike, while keeping dust and water at bay from entering the engine.

Standing up is the best way in to ride this machine off road and as your confidence grows so does your temptation to push that little bit harder and faster, which the bike handles easily. Pushing harder the suspension starts to become the limiting factor – launching over moderate erosion humps the 230mm of suspension travel is pretty well used up on landing with very little clearance left between the bike and the ground. This was quite evident in the front suspension, which has no adjustment to stiffen things up as the terrain goes south or the pace goes north. For most riders this won’t be an issue, but for the hard core riders heading out to remote areas well known for their deep corrugations, this is certainly something of a consideration. On the back however adjustment is far greater with a hydraulically adjustable spring pre-load and rebound damping adjustment producing 215mm of travel.\\

Seating is firm yet comfortable and makes it easy to sit or stand, plus there is plenty of room for a pillion to sit without being numb after 30 minutes on the back. Standard seat height comes in at 880 millimetres while an optional lower seat is available, reducing the height to 850mm and comes at no extra cost. Fuelled up and ready to go the F 800 GS hits the scales at 207kg and with the 16 litre fuel capacity, fuel stops after 300 kilometre plus can be quite confidently reached.

Up front the 300 mm twin floating discs go a great job in pulling the F 800 GS up from any range of speed, while the rear 265mm rear brake does it’s job without any fuss. ABS is a factory-fit option which can be turned off via a button on the left hand side of the ’bars. Many rider prefer to turn off the ABS when on gravel or loose surfaces as they like to induce rear wheel slides and it tends to give that little more rider feed back. I tried it both ways along various trails and all I can say is I wouldn’t turn it off unless you really felt it necessary. ABS really worked well over loose surfaces and it takes a little bit of brain retraining to tell yourself it’s OK to grab a handful of brake when on the gravel or a slippery road. When you do though, complete control over the front end is easily maintained and should be confidence inspiring for less experienced riders.

Heart of the F 800 GS

Keeping this bike motoring is a fuel injected 798cc engine with DOHC and four valves per cylinder. This base parallel twin engine is shared with the F 800 S and ST models, producing 85 horsepower, and with 83Nm of torque is certainly very usable with great torque for climbing hills. When pushed high into the rev range the motor is quite lively and can certainly reach some decent speeds on request, which in no little part is certainly assisted by the six speed gearbox. It also has a sound familiar to that of the Boxer engine, which has been deliberately done by BMW due to the even firing order. Being an engine which is sure to see plenty of hours and kilometres put on it both on and off road, the F 800 GS uses slightly modified camshafts suited to adventure riding. From a servicing point of view the valve clearances need only to be checked every 20,000 kilometres.

Conclusion

The BMW F 800 GS is sure to win many hearts as an adventure bike. It is light and nimble for its size and has plenty of power on tap. It has a comfortable seating position for one or two and has a good cruising range. It will easily eat up you average dirt road or logging trail without hesitation and will just as easily cruise at freeway speeds and above.

There are not many down falls with this bike as BMW has certainly done its homework when it comes to adventure bikes. One of the biggest questions will be how long will I have to wait to get one and how much will it be? We have it on good authority that the first units will be here as we go to press, but you may not be able to ride away with one unless you have pre ordered – early stocks will be limited. The F 800 GS is priced from $16,750 plus on road costs. If you haven’t pre ordered, take a demo model out, find some dirt with a few hills and see how much fun the new F 800 GS is, that’s what we did.