THE new BMW F 800 R is a tough-looking versatile middleweight which should attract riders who wouldn't have considered a BMW in the past. Its combination of attractive pricing, great rideability and the BMW name should put the F 800 R high on the wish-list of riders looking for a versatile, easy to ride mount.

The F 800 R joins the F 800 ST sports tourer and F 800 GS in the BMW range of mid-capacity twins, and the K 1200 R and R 1200 R in the naked/urban line-up BMW is currently offering. It also fills a gap in the BMW range when the F 800 S was dropped around the start of the year, the half-faired version not proving popular when the fully-faired version could be had for just $500 more.
That's all changed with the F 800 R, the new machine coming in at $13,900 before you start going the the options and accessories catalogues. The F 800 ST is $15,800, so there's a considerable saving for going sans-fairing.
You might lose a fairing, but not too much else. The new machine isn't just a stripped ST - changes include a switch from belt drive to chain, a double sided swingarm rather than single and lots more.

Naked and loving it

With the temperature pushing over 35-degrees, a fairing wasn't something I missed while riding the 800 R. In place of the acres of bodywork featuring on most bikes these days, BMW had fitted a neat optional cowl around the instruments, which is more for looks than anything else. But it colour-matches the rest of the bike, which is available in orange, silver or white.

The tough appearance comes from the aggressive front-end styling, from the unique-to-BMW headlight to the black wheels (from the 'S' model) to the all-black engine and beam frame to the chunky tail. It fits in well with the other R-models, and certainly gets its styling cues more from the K 1300 R than any of the other parallel twins.

The riding position suits urban blasting. There's a slight lean to the flat-ish one-piece handlebars, the 'pegs sit underneath and only slightly rearset. Indeed, I stood up on occasion to relieve the pressure on the nether regions.
Not that the seat is bad - just on the day of the launch was my third big day of riding in the previous four, so the bum pad would always have its work cut out for it. I tried two different seats - the stock unit and the optional taller unit - and found the taller much more to my liking. It's more comfortable and changes the riding position slightly, and for the better if you're quite tall. Unless you really struggle with the higher seat, I'd recommend you go fit it over the stocker. Being a naked, you cop the wind blast and on this hot Brisbane day it wasn't a problem until we were cruising at high speeds, when it simply becomes tiring. This is the nature of the beast though, nearly all nakeds suffer this malady, and it's one of the reasons fairings were invented. But around town, a fairing is more hinderance than help. Horses for courses. What you won't find available with most mid-range machine are the range of options (usually factory fitted) and accessories (usually fitted by your dealer).

Standard equipment includes heated handgrips, the on-board and LED indicators. I was disappointed to note the taillight isn't LED, but a standard globe.
Options are many and varied, the most prominent being ABS. BMW's anti-lock braking system these days is awesome; you'd never even know it was there until it kicks in, and if it does you'll be very pleased it's there, 'cause it's probably saved you a bunch of grief.
Other options or accessories include different seats, sports windshield, tyre pressure monitoring (which came on during the launch when a bike picked up a nail and the rear tyre started to leak) and lots, lots more.

The ride

In brief, the F 800 R is powered by a liquid-cooled 798cc parallel twin cylinder four-stroke. There's four valves per cylinder and double overhead cams, and it's all canted forward in the chassis 30 degrees. More interesting than the bare specifications is the fitting of a balance shaft between the pots to balance out the vibrations of the pistons as they rise and fall together – it's an interesting take on how to make a twin smooth, and it works pretty well, with the few vibes which do make it through to the rider not being intrusive or annoying. In the R-model BMW has altered the gearing in the top three cogs of the gearbox to better suit the urban lifestyle most F 800 Rs are likely to live. Final drive is by chain, a departure from the belt of the ST, and fitted for familiarity and cost reasons. Chain drive is ubiquitous in motorcycling, and BMW has been using them on many of its models since the F 650 GS in the early 1990s. Chain life is good these days and on a bike like the F 800 R the standard chain should last for years. Another departure is the twin-sided swingarm. Again, familiar and simple, a change from single-sided for cost and weight reasons. It works.

As a package the powerplant, transmission and chassis play well together. There's no nasty surprises waiting for young players. Power delivery is excellent. There's only 87 horsepower on tap, nothing spectacular and easily beaten by the current crop of mid-range multi-cylinder machinery out there today. The F 800 R, however, produces its power broadly and effectively, not needing to be revved toward five figures before it gets going. Go on, try a higher gear: it'll pull well through the bends even if you're a gear too high. Finding the top speed of a modern naked bike is harder than finding the limits of what most rider are comfortable with, so all I'll say here is the bike is more than happy to cruise way above any speed limit you're likely to encounter, and is very comfortable around 100km/h.

Flicking around

The F 800 R is easy to ride, whether it's through countryside bends or carving up peak-hour traffic. The steering is effortlessly light, it just goes where you look, requiring minimum input from the rider. There's no need to hang off a mile either, just a gentle countersteer will have the machine powering through the bends quickly, and giving heaps of confidence to the rider.

The suspension - non-adjustable forks up front and single rear shock with adjustable preload and rebound damping - is good - very good, in fact, for a European bike in this price bracket, but it does get fazed by poor road surfaces. On smooth roads it's good, the forks coping well unless you start throwing really late braking at them, and the rear shock is fine until the bumps get so bad they would never be found on a European road.
If you keep in mind this bike is a comfortable all-rounder, not a supersport machine, you won't be disappointed in the suspension. From a comfort perspective the suspension does a good job of isolating the rider from the road shocks, which means you'll be keen to cover much longer distances than your mate on their supersport machine.

Conclusion

If you're looking for a bike which offers a high-quality build, comfort and versatility you could do a lot worse than the F 800 R. It's tough-looking, fast enough and will be a great comrade during the urban warfare of Australian cities but still be a good friend when the big smoke is fading in the mirrors. Decked out as tested, at over $15K it couldn't be described as cheap, but it does come with a great two-year warranty and roadside assistance package, and there are not too many mid-range bikes out there with ABS, heated handgrips, full instrumentation and lots more at any price. Being able to tailor-build a bike to suit your style and requirements has got to be a good thing.

If you're coming off a LAMS machine or just like the idea of an easy to ride, versatile bike, the F 800 R would be great choice.