This particular bike is the one that I have been most looking forward to ride. Since it came onto the market, it’s one that has always caught my eye and I’ve thought….hmmm I can see me on that (in white of course…lol). Other than the ride home of Saturday that’s all I managed to get in (sometimes life gets in the way). After a rather late night Sunday morning Karl & I headed out for a little squirt up the Old Pac. Not the nicest day, it had been raining and was still drizzling now and again but nothing serious, but hey you have to take the moment and make the most of it.
The F800FT has a very pleasing agronomic to it, so similar to Angel that it wasn’t funny, so I kinda felt at home from the get go (good start). The screen provides excellent protection, the levers and controls are all located in easy to operate locations. The gearbox I found to be tight, especially from 1st through to 3rd…it could just be one of those things but it didn’t put me off. Comes with heated grips standard, traction and ESA which I fiddled with, Comfort, Normal & Sport all reacted the same as it did on the F700GS – no complaints. Down the freeway, it quite happily sits above the limit and is smooth and comfortable.
BMW F800GT
Getting down to business though, from a standing start taking off it reminded me of riding my dads Burgmann 400 scooter. It had that same wind me up and pick up that it did, complete with the buzz sensation you get from the engine. Into the twisty bits and back into 2nd gear and you do have to get the engine above 4000 rpm to get it to wake up….it’s kinda like Sleepy of the 7 Dwarfs and there is nothing wrong with that if that’s what you’re after. It’s agile and the weight isn’t to dissimilar to the F700GS….as you’d expect. You had to work the gearbox on inclines, I mean you could’ve done it in 6th but it chugged, 4th gear seemed to be it’s happy place. What did surprise me though (and I was warned about this) was how warm/hot the frame where your knees, thighs touch it. Today wasn’t hot and it was drizzly and my legs were considerably warmed and dried….so I hate to think how hot it might get on a hot day, let alone in the middle of the outback in summer…. It handles well, is solid, stable and takes the varying surfaces fine and it would be more than happy to tour the country just ticking along.
F800GT
However, just fine and just ticking along isn’t what I’m looking for. I want a bit of excitement and this bike just didn’t give it to me. What amazed me though was how different two bikes with the same engine and slightly different gearing can be. The F700GS was a hoot and the 800GT was ho hum….go figure. Yes I know the suspension makes up a big part of that difference also but I suppose I wasn’t expecting such a huge difference. Horses for courses.
Watch this space for the final decision……..it might be a few months though (have to get a few ducks in a row first).
