I'm Rob, 54 Years old and I live in Holland [Doetinchem], Europe.

Got this one 3th Aug 2010 [2nd after crash] it's almost 1 year old. It's the 30 Years Anniversary version.
From first moment on I love the bike more than others I owned [2006 F800ST, 2000 R1150GS, R1100R].
Must admit that I drove the 1200GSA for some days and this one is a bit more comfortable because of its seat and wind-protection, but when using a cycling shorts [underneath my trousers] I've no problem anymore commuting longer distances.
The wind protection with standard screen is OK, but I made a small correction in positioning of the screen, so it's leaning a bit more backwards. No buffeting anymore ;-).

On this moment I drove 23400 km [14625 mls] with the F800GS, with no problem at all. Think the chain is quite OK, it's just corrected 3 times!.

Actually I'm not using it for off-road, but I love it's performance onroad even with the 21 inch frontwheel.

What is custom;
** BOS Exhaust;
** Hyperpro springs in front and spring/ damper kit in the rear;
** UNI foam airfilter;
** NGK Iridium sparks;
** Engine oil; Castrol Racing RS 5W40 [full-synth];

Must say that with this oil and Iridium sparks, the engine runs very smoothly, at 4500-6000 tmp, I've no excessive vibration, which was a bit noticeable before!

So, I'm so happy with my bike that I like to ride with as much as possible. Quite a lot home/work commuting.
End of september 2011 i'm going to the Dolomites [Italy] and I think it will be a tour of about 2400 mls.

+ For
** Good looks;
** Much tork, so quite fast;
** Sitting position - I never get tired of it;
** Very good mileage - home/work 1:26 kms [3,8 liter on 100kms] > 71 mileage [UK];
** Trouble-free
** Very trust-worthy and quite comfortable onroad [I pressume offroad as well ;-)]
** Very trust-worthy with panniers installed and duo-passenger seated!

- Against
** buffeting with standard screen; [made a change in screen-postion - now buffeting free - I'm 1,78m = 5'10]
** front wheel wobbeling around 25/35 miles a hour [gone with Hyperpro spring kit]

Lot is written about the 'SEAT' - it's not only a F800GS problem.

I have the 08 yellow black i did 10,000 the first year and only a 2-3000 since,I love this bike,with a new seat this is the bike that can do almost anything.

Great all round bike, with lots of optional after market equitment available to modify it to your needs. Fantastic on fuel, but let down by BMW putting a cheap chocolate chain on it. The did replace it with sprockets after 13 thousand miles free of charge, however with another chocolate chain. Best spend £80 on a good DID chain. I went to the South of France last July and did 2000 miles in 4 days fully loaded u without any problems.

After 5 years with a 1200GS, touring much of Europe, I fancied a change. The KTM 990 Adv was top of my list but fell by the wayside following indifferent dealer experiences and poor fuel economy.
My 800GS is a year old and has covered 6000 varied miles. With the essential additions of an aftermarket screen and seat it makes a great long distance tourer, if a little low geared for extensive motorway miles. It also makes a great town bike, good for filtering and seeing over traffic, well balanced, but maybe too tall for those a short in the leg. Handling is fun and responsive, the large diameter front wheel soaks up potholes and bumpy roads and copes better off the tarmac than the 1200.
An aftermarket end can gives the engine a more satisfying bark than the standard muffled note, and the engine is responsive and incredibly economical. It has to be worked harder to make rapid progress than it's bigger brother, but relishes being pushed.
A very good 8.5/10 bike that with some after market goodies becomes a great 9.5/10 long term bet.

In 2009 I did the "Long Way Round" pretty much following Charlie and Ewan's route. The outfit running the "tour" recommended the 800 so I bought one in March 2009 and had 4000 miles on the clock before we left from the Ace Cafe on June 4th.
It came with the "accessory package" including "trip computer", ABS (essential to switch it off when off road) LED indicators which are small enough to avoid getting damaged when you come off - and you will! - and heated grips - not a lot of use in the Turkmenistan desert at 40C but bloody useful in the early mornings up in the Artic Circle in Canada.
Essential add-ons include a decent sump guard (the standard one is plastic and comes in the chocolate teapot category) crash bars and panniers all courtesy of Metal Mule. Their panniers are not cheap but they are immensly strong and even bouncing down the road at a ton in Canada after a disagreement with a low flying Canada goose and more offs in Mongolia in deepsand and gravel ruts than I can remember they are still in one piece and functioning perfectly.
Dont go on your travels without a centre stand which is not standard kit. Changing wheels and chains which on a 21,000 mile trek you will be doing a lot of is much easier with one fitted. The standard seat is a plank and about as comfortable. Fitting an Air Hawk is the answer. It does add more height to an already tall bike but you wont get arse ache. After a four month trip everything else aches but not your bum! Maaarvellous!
I also fitted Pivot Pegs which have a larger and more grippy surface area and do actually pivot when standing up (you will be doing a lot of this off road ie all od Mongolia and most of Siberia!) making it easier to change gear which latter function is further aided by fitting an extended gear lever courtesy of Touratech. Size 10 Alpinestar MotoX boots just wont fit under a standard lever.
If you going to be doing a lot of high speed touring then a bigger screen will help but for round the world the standard one is fine. In hot weather 30C plus the larger screen stops airflow over your body and you need to stand up to cool down!
There is no adjustment in the front forks and they can dive alarmingly, unlike the 1200's, but they soaked up most of the bumps and potholes without bottoming out ditto at the rear which can be adjusted for preload (essential with the extra weight carried) and damping although the latter didnt make any noticeable difference to handling.
For a bike with a big 21 inch front the handling on the road (even on Conti TKC80's) is remarkably good. We ran road tyres as far as Asghabat in Turkmenistan and then switched onto TKC's which were pretty much shot by the time we got to Vladivostok. Fuel consumption is awesome and 60mpg is easy to achieve but as the cruising speed rises much above 70mph it does start to come down quickly. I managed to run out of fuel at midday in the Turkmen desert with 263 miles on the clock. We had been trickling along at 50mph as we knew we might be close on fuel and that averages out at 74mpg!
The 800 engine is susceptible to an oil leak from the rocker cover and all 9 of the 800s on tour suffered to some extent. The cure is a tube of silicon gasket cement, which necessitates removing the air intake covers over the engine which look like the fuel tank which is in fact under the seat. Then the air filter and battery compartment comes out and you can get to the top of the engine.
We had some various fuelling problems which came and went but having run the bikes on fuel down to 80 grade in Mongolia and filling up with what looked like agricultural diesel in Siberia that is not really a surprise. Wheel bearings as standard are cheap and not very cheerful Chinese items and replacing with SKF or similar is well worth doing of you are going on a "Long" one. one of our team had one let go in Canada with about 25000 miles on the clock and mine were repalced under warranty by BMW when I got back at about the same mileage. Chains were not a problem probably because we lubed and adjusted them every day. We changed them (and sprockets ) in Canada after about 17,000 miles which is pretty good after the terrain they had covered.
I could go on and if anyone wants more info on the trip or help/advice with planning then visit my website and leave me a message www.clivesworldbiketour.com