2014 -16 BMW F800GT Commuter review, comparison & road test
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 ส.ค. 2024
- Possibly my next bike? GT still means Grandpa Touring. Pros, cons, observations.
COMMUTER REVIEW TEST PARAMETERS:
In commuting the following maneuvers are performed regularly:
- U-turns at walking pace
- pushing, parking, reversing the bike
- 1st gear full acceleration for merging
- 1st-2nd gear lane changes, avoidance path maneuvers
- shoulder checks, mirror checks throughout the entire rpm range
Bike is further evaluated to assess its:
- possible interaction with corrosive road salting in winter
- weather protection for winter riding
- rider ergonomics, vibration, noise, visibility and ease of operation of controls
- carrying capability (e.g. a lunchbox)
- ease of access for maintenance items (chain/belt, oil, brakes)
That`s how a bike is ridden, that`s how it`s assessed. The above list excludes wheelies, circus stunts, riding at speeds over speed limits, aggressive lean angle cornering.
If a bike does not fit the description, so be it. If a model does not work out for commuter purpose, I`ll say so. My findings on how a bike performs are posted, irrelevant to manufacturer`s gift-wrapped sales pitch. I`m not a motorcycle journalist, I`m not paid to say nice things, kind things or things that increase sales. I just post what I find out. Facts.
Thanks for watching.
![[LIVE] : ONE ลุมพินี 76 | คู่เอก "ผึ้งหลวง vs สมิงดำ"](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/9SBshmGQOIM/mqdefault.jpg)
Grandad here (73-years old). One unmentioned advantage is the under-seat fuel tank with its fuel pump. Take the breather pipe from the tank and thread down into an auxiliary 13-litre tank strapped to the seat. The result is a range, driven with modest care, of around 400 miles. I've covered Corsia to home in the middle of England (980 miles) non-stop with just two fuel stops. The bike has 450 bhp per ton, Lamborghini territory, so not really slow at all .... and 16,000 miles in two years.
I recently bought one of these and it is WAY better than this review makes it seem. Best to test ride yourself as one person's view on things could vary greatly, and maybe even the bike too. My bike shifts really well, not hard to find neutral for example. Clutch pull is nice and light. It is excellent in twisty back roads (doesn't look like this test ride got there). And the comment about not responsive in 4th/5th/6th? Not sure what rpm level he was at, but for this class of bike I think the motor and power are wonderful. Again, bottom line, test ride one and see. My impression varies drastically from this review.
I concur
I enjoyed the depth in which you reviewed the bike. You talked about many aspects I would have never even considered. Thank you for your thorough efforts.
You Sir, have no idea how to ride this bike. it's the smoothest you will ever ride,
My first bike, after a dirt-bike for a brief while in Africa with the Peace Corps, was a BMW R-69-US. Hiatus. Then a Suzuki GN-400, street-thumper, nice engine, frame bent when I got it. Then Iraq with National Guard, pocket full of money, ten years on a BMW F-650CS, amazingly good performance/durability until a guy "cut me off" last December and yet here I am. The people in my motorcycle club and I aspired to get me on the K75-RT of 1995, now four thousand miles on that, chug, chug, chug, on top of the 59K already there. The Suzuki taught me that there is no all-purpose motorcycle, such as an off-on road. Lots of people ride BMW GS's who never go cross-country in the sense of riding from here in a straight line to Alaska, say, Maine to Alaska in a perfectly straight line, detours for bridges over rivers allowed. So the F800 street bikes, what are they designed for: slow-motion rice-rockets, right? Not happy unless they're at 5K RPM, but what does that do after three hours or after ten years? Maybe "you're not supposed to" think like that. Compare to K75 "flying brick": it'll keep flying for year after year, never anything but a brick, whether or not it was thrown together, design-wise, out of a car engine with one cylinder chopped off for smoothness. So I think back to the R-69-US. I read recently that it was designed as a high-performance sport machine, compared to the previous motorraden, which all, including the R-69-US, seem to me to have been designed to carry the postman while he delivered the mail to rural addresses. So I end up where I was until I woke up in the hospital last December, on an F-650CS like in the ads on the internet watched while I was in Iraq (we had plenty of gourmet food (Halliburton charged the government 23 dollars a person a meal) and internet services, can't have us getting bored and grumpy): it was advertised as a city bike, an urban bike, a youth/yuppie bike, nothing aggressive, nothing California about it, maybe I could say a woman's bike. That's me in the photo, on the right, 5'10", 150 lbs. I could handle the F650CS, I kind of negotiate with the K75 (RT), 150 additional pounds, enough additional HP to compensate, supposedly. The big thing the K75 adds is the gyroscope stability of the drive shaft and crank shaft, you feel you could ride out to California. The F650CS, you felt like you'd gone to the other coast when you just rode up to southern Canada, which I did once, and back in one day, 350 miles, very dramatic, looked at the Lac Megantic rail crash site three months later, ate at the McDonalds, talked to a retired school teacher about being French in Canada. I guess that sort of pilgrimage is behind me now, the K75 is indeed, like in the Jimmy Buffet song, my pick-up truck I go chugging along in while chewing Juicy-Fruit. Thanks for your work here. Motorcycling is too dangerous to turn it into a fantasy sport, but that's what a lot of riders are after, and the manufacturers know that. What do you call it, role-playing. Still and all, there's a camaraderie in it, ironically, considering you're usually all by yourself. I guess that solitude gives you lots to talk about when you stop.
Has to be corrected...lovely slick gearbox....
im in.love with this bike now
Thank you. I found your review very informative. I am looking for commuter at the moment.
Excellent and useful review. I seriously considered this bike while shopping last year. I sat on it at the Cleveland Motorcycle show in January and loved it but never took it for a ride. In the end I bought a 2007 Honda VFR800 with a little over 7k miles for an excellent price. I would be very interested in your comparison of the F800GT with the VFR. Overall I'm very happy with the VFR, especially its wonderful engine and gearbox, though I might like a slightly more upright seating position better (that I can at least partially change with Heli-bars).
Thanks.
Like a Vstrom, huh?
Sadly I just traded in my 2013 Vstrom which I had from new.
It was a BIG mistake.
The brand new Yamaha Tmax 530 DX I have just bought (to save left hand ache by avoiding clutch use) is a great disappointment (as noisy as a broken washing machine or a beginner trying to learn didgeridoo playing).
Thinking about one of these, but you comment about the clutch being hard work is a BIG negative point, although I commute on a small Honda PCX150 and not on a bigger bike. The bigger one is for weekend use in the mountains etc.
Thanks again.
Tenho uma BMW F800S 2007, igual a essa, preciso comprar o escapamento original, as setas dianteira e traseira e também a lanterna traseira originais, alguém pode me indicar onde comprar ou um site que eu possa comprar.
Obrigado
Ok, I find this an honest and good review, better than the so called experts trying to impress with there knowledge , I have come to the same opinion and will buy one tomorrow, Thank you , ( 60 year old ex pro racer and motorcycle collector) so I do know my shit ,
Thanks for watching. I`m planning the same ...
shifting to neutral is user error, same as not stopping at stop signs
Thanks. A useful nuts and bolts review.
Thanks for this video!
My pleasure!
i changed the handlebars mounts 28 millimeters
Windpipe hit windshield? No seatbelt then?
Wow, great review. Best I have seen. One question tho, how tall are you for the wind noise?Shame you can´t hear what you are saying at higher speeds.
Thanks, 182 (6ft)
Thanks! How do you find wind etc at higher speeds? Whats your inseam?
Air flow over the helmet is turbulent making huge violent vortices. Height 182 (6ft), inseam 79 (31in).
So do you think it´s too high or low for you?
Just right
I always appreciate your very thorough reviews. Perhaps you've addressed this, but how would you rate the BMW F800GT against a Yamaha FJ-09? I believe my next bike will be one of these two. Thanks again!
My FJ-09 review: th-cam.com/users/edit?o=U&video_id=aj3DlEqHq8w
(I choose FJ-09)
How about wind protection? I rode one with an aftermarket taller windshield and felt very strong wind on my upper torso and helmet, but I have a long torso?
I`m 6 feet tall (181 cm), buffety over 120 km/h around the helmet. Torso great.
Have a look at MRA Vario screens
Have you had a chance to ride the Honda VFR800 and compare it with this F800GT?
Yes, video is being edited. Coming soon.
it's really hard to make it to the end of that review. sorry man better prepare next time
Who says one MUST make it to the end? This is not sex with your partner or your mother's dinner that you're expected to finish.
Too much wind noise to be an enjoyable video
Did you buy one? I enjoyed the review and don't think I would like this bike. It looks ok but I wouldn't trust the build quality and it sounds like a tractor
Not yet. I`m not sold on the technology front. I want a commuter with levels of traction control and cornering ABS for all the bad weather I have to go through. Cornering ABS needs a 3-axis IMU and 3 accelerometers, just being built into 1000cc bikes. Technology is cheap, available to all manufacturers. Waiting for more models to be made with it.
theoverengineer what type of motorcycle did you end up purchasing?
What was the temperature during that day? I heat a common problem with it is heat coming from the left side which heats up your leg
Had no problems with heat management, was about 20 - 22 C (= 68 - 72 F, see pedestrians, nobody wears shorts, tank tops & flip flops)
It is a problem in this bike if you live in a place with warm weather, it could be a deal breaker. Trust me, I added another bike to my garage because my F 800 GT (bought new July 2015) is too hot in the summer in the south of Spain ;-)
Last summer I test rode a NineT Scrambler and the next day I tried the G 310 R... and bought the smaller one!. The 310 is a completely COLD bike, no heat coming from the engine at all and lots of fun with just 158.5 Kg with a filled tank and ready to go. My F800GT and my G310R are very different (around 70 Kg of weight difference for starts, faired vs naked, 90hp vs 34hp, 2 cylinders vs 1 cylinder...) but they fit so well to fullfill all my needs that i took that route instead of getting a new R1200RS or something similar to replace my GT.
its the turning diameter not radius, right?! Otherwise it would need a 10m diameter, which is alot...
Oooops, it is DIAMETER, my apologies.
theoverengineer thank you! No problem
Do you know why they don't have dynamic ESA on this one?
Budget cuts on entry-level bikes/marketing schemes to channel buyers towards the top of the line models. Every manufacturer does it.
Wonder if you can fit it on the F800 custom? Is the dynamic ESA the only feature it lacks to the 1200RS or some of their flagship tourers? (Minus the radio and fairings etc)
Carmelo Santini All ESA does on this is change the rebound damping.
Worst review iv'e seen, you might as well have done it in a car park the speed you was doing, even a pick-up passed you, ok, in a built up area, but get out of town and do a test next time.
Hence the title "COMMUTER review" and description of test parameters in text box
lol
Heavy clutch, bad in low speed - that doesn't describe a good commuter to me. It sounds like it was designed for open road long distance, so definitely a GT bike. The fuel gauge only shows when your tank is below 50% so a degree of anxiety on long distances as to whether you'll have enough fuel to make the next gas station if you suddenly see it drop below 50 when you thought you had much more. Luggage is expensive if you buy BMW and I'd wager the service is expensive as well. The Honda VFR800 Interceptor would make a better tourer and looks like it was made this century and the NC750 would make a better commuter because it uses the front space for storage. Many bikes would be viable commuters once fitted with extras like heated grips and luggage and touring screens etc. etc... for much less than the premium price of the BMW,
What a load of bollocks
Tragic if your self esteem is tied to your beliefs