BMW F800GS

[Nigel]

A couple of the 'gents' I ride with use the 800s and they find them top bits of kit but you'd certainly be advised to invest in some crash bars. However, during our trip to Italy last year one of them managed to throw his 800 at the scenery on a tricky, steep uphill section (which I bottled out of!) and bent the crash bar so badly it went through the engine case!

......a bit of liquid metal and gaffer tape sorted it out for the rest of the trip....so I reckon they could cope with most of what is asked of them!

Haven`t ridden mine off road yet, need crashbars and bash plate but fitting crashbars worries me as they screw into engine casing and the crankcase could be damaged. Heard of a guy who needed warranty work on his engine and he had non BMW crashbars fitted and one of the threads in the crankcase stripped on removal of the bars so he had to pay for a thread repair.
Bash plate,definetly, oil filter very exposed! in fact I managed to get a dent in one on my F800S and that`s just riding on the road!

All in all a brilliant bike, my last tank of fuel I averaged 67 mpg! stick to speed limits in built up areas, cruise at 80 on open road.80 to 85 on a motorway and it will average 55 mpg.
Haven`t ridden it off road yet but some of the fen roads around here are like tracks anyway, if someone on a sports bike tried to stay with my GS on my favourite fen road they would end up in a dyke (no not that sort of dyke!)

[herman]

BMW off road skills were not fitting crash bars to their 800s when I went for the very reasons mentioned. Si said they were fine for normal use but not heavy off road crashing. Don't know if that is still the case as I went when the 800 was launched.

[Marco46]

Good choice Kiteboy...stick on an Arrows can on it (oh and remove the baffle) and listen to it pop and growel...Oh yes

[Kiteboy]

Good choice Kiteboy...stick on an Arrows can on it (oh and remove the baffle) and listen to it pop and growel...Oh yes

Well I've made a few additions and think I'm nearly done, they are Akrapovic (from eBay) baffles out of course. Adventure spec crash bars. Adv spec sump guard, MRA screen had to modify it with a dremmel. They don't fit with BMW hand guards. Perspex headlight protector and a set off Stahlkoffers. Getting some TKC 80's on at the end of this month. Reckon I'm ready for the Stella then with a little greenlane practice. Loving the bike and can't wait to do some big trips with it.

[africajim]

One quicky on the TKC80's mate, you'll need more than one set for the stella!

I get 2000 miles from a rear so if you fit them now you'll need a new rear minimum for July!!

Here we go, another tyre debate! Never mind, just thought I'd share my view on TKC's mate. I'll see you at the Stella, I'll be the one on the Tiger 800XC! Tyrewise? Well, I'm running stock battlewings just now, acceptable for road to run the bike in, but for Euro trip including the Stella I think I'll be planning on changing over to Anakee 2's. I get around 6000 miles from Anakees and they're aggressive enough for mild hard track offroad. The front tends to wash out a bit so you have to be prepared for that but on the tar sections they'll stick till the pegs touch down!
Like the mods to your bike, I've similar on the Tiger, crashbars, alloy belly pan, no luggage yet though, need to get this fixed soon! Stahlkoffer do a set for the Tiger but I'm not sure they're what I want.
Enjoy the trip mate and we'll see you there!

[Marco46]

Gonna put a new set of booties on my F800gs..Got 7242mils out of the Bridgestones (not bad!!)..Going for either Anakee II, or Distanzia's:unsure: :unsure:

[Paul Neate]

Gonna put a new set of booties on my F800gs..Got 7242mils out of the Bridgestones (not bad!!)..Going for either Anakee II, or Distanzia's:unsure: :unsure:

I just changed the original Bridgestones (after 11,000 miles!) for a set of Anakee IIs, and I am delighted with them. Excellent grip and handling on the road (once I got used to a non-square profile again) and good grip on moderate trails. Not tried them in mud or sand, but I doubt they would do well on either, but nothing short of a full-on knobbly is going to.

Only possible down side is that they have stiff carcass which would be murder with tyre irons, so could be difficult if you have to fix a puncture out in the wilds.

[Nigel]

Mine came fitted with Anakees 2 and they are brillant on the road, no chicken strips and I couldn`t believe you can lean a bike over so far on trail tyres! (used to sports bikes)
No problems in the wet and I ran over a patch of loose chippings that Norfolk council decided to deposit on the road with no warning, was leant over and on the gas and just had a slight twitch!
Done 6000 miles on them and probably 2000 left in the rear.

[Ceri JC]

Had a look on the BMW off road school and they give the impression its harder to get on with off road than the 1200GS for a Newbie rider. Anyone got aftermarket crash bars etc they'd reccomend. Going to the Stella first time this year and fresh out the box so good chance I'll drop it.
Thanks

Firstly, I would strongly recommend the Adventure Spec crash bars. I have "tested them extensively", ahem.

As you would expect from the spec sheets, the F800GS is more competent in the the dirt than the 1200 (I've ridden both offroad).

I think perhaps the OP is being slightly confused by the BMW ORS' classification of the bike. They aren't saying the F800GS is worse in the dirt by saying it's only for more experienced/confident riders. They are reluctant to have you out on a G450X, unless you've done some sort of training with them before or have lots of prior experience of Enduro bikes. This is despite it being far and away the most competent offroad bike they have that you can choose. Same goes for the HP2, back when they used to have a couple of those. The reason for this isn't that they're some sort of sadists who like to watch the n00bs crash the bikes that are hardest to ride offroad (although they certainly seem amused watching me getting flung off their bikes), it's that the more competent bikes get taken on the more gnarly stuff.

So, if you pick the GS12 for your first course with them, they'll take you on less tricky stuff than if you'd picked an F800GS.

NB: Yes, I know the instructors usually ride GSAs unless they're with a group on G450Xs and even on them can run rings around people on the G650X, never mind the F8, but they're not mere mortals like the rest of us.

[carlobar999]

I fitted mine with Metalmule crashbars, they do bolt into the engine & I did drop the bike this week & they did the job, by drop I do mean drop, total loss of balance at at heady 1mph, I was more worried someone saw me than anythingelse, also got GS handguards which seem ok.
As for off road, I have had a 1200, 650 dakar & now the 800, personally I felt better on the 650, it's just a little bit easier, the only downside to the 800 I think is the throttle response is very very quick, but It's probably something to get used too, I'm just a bit to familiar with big singles as opposed to twins, anyway enjoy the bike.
Maybe see you at the Stella, I'm getting there on the saturday night but being soft & booked hotel.