Any one experienced these? As a commuter and 50-100 mile work trips (carrying some stuff).

I’m beyond / too old / too sore(!) for the race bike style and riding so looking for comfort, an easy smile on my face, bit of character.

Thoughts?

Buy British and get a Triumph Tiger. The Beemer is nice but I don’t think its as comfy of smooth as the Trumpet – parallel twin vs triple.

My dad has a 650gs as his run about bike and can’t praise it enough. Hugely economical (74mpg taking it easy)and would have it over the tiger any day. On the other hand the BMs are as reliable as the reputation let’s you believe although most issues should be sorted by now if you are looking at a newer one. Its not his only bike so the lower power engine isn’t an issue, 800 prob better for anyone under 60 and who hasn’t got other bikess.

His mate with a tiger 800 disagrees.

Tiger 1050 here.

I prefer the looks of the tiger 800. Go test ride em i would think.

I’ve ridden the 650GS. It’s a lovely bike, handles beautifully. Go for it.

the new Tigers, esp the 800 & 1050 look fantastic and that’d be my first choice … but out of budget. Just don’t find the older Tigers appealing. The 650GS would fit the bill for me a lot of the time, but just wonder how comfy / smooth on a hour’s motorway trip vs. the F800.

Speed’s not important to me now, and reckon any of the above would be fast enough for me. Comfort is key!

I’ve had a Tiger 1050 and lately a Sprint 1050 GT. Don’t ignore a more normal focused bike as uncomfortable. Did 100 miles a day every day last year, and I’ve been riding 30 years, so not a ‘spring-chicken’…

And test both BMW and Triumph, and also look at costs – neither will be cheap to run, although both should be good on fuel (+55mpg for the 1050 Triumphs).

Ah, just seen you’re latest post – not sure about old stuff, but a 1050 Tiger should be obtainable reasonably cheaply, sorry out-of-touch with s/h.

Always, always wanted a Triumph. The older Tigers look good value s/h but not overly keen on their bulbous looks! Seen a couple of Sprints (2002 vintage) in lovely condition and good value. The newish Tigers (800 and 1050) look great, but just £££

On the other hand the BMs are as reliable as the reputation let’s you believe

Err. No. They aren’t. A year or so ago even Ducati were recalling less bikes. BMW quality has taken a serious nosedive in the last few years. The 1200gs especially. All sorts of problems.

I think that’s a typo, he seems to be saying that BMW are NOT as reliable as people think.

Just to upset the consensus, go test ride a KTM 990 SMT.
It’s like comparing a Giant mtb to a Santa Cruz carbon custom mtb.

Since BMW have taken control of Husqvarna, I bet my bottom dollar they are investing more into that brand than on their own bike tech/R&D
as they have just come out with a Nuda 900.

There’s also a Kawasaki Versy on the cheap end of the scale, but can’t remember what engine capacity they come in.

Having recently done Manchesterish to Ardrossan , on A roads (240 miles) as I’m still on L plates carrying enough kit for a 5 day solo walk around Jura, I can tell you that a CBF125 is all the bike you need 🙂

Versy are 650, with a new damn ugly 1000, also migjt be worth testing a vee strom 650..

I test rode an 800gs a couple of weeks ago and if youre wanting something fun and slim and dead easy to ride then yep it’s great. Smooth it wasn’t, vibey like a Ann summers product and the seat was as mcn described reet up me chuff. It was the first bike I’ve ridden on road for fifteen years and is still something I’m considering but with a comfort seat. It was so easy to ride, tall enough to see over traffic and light and slender for commuting. I’m also looking at the tigers, big and little but part of me still hangers after a 1200gs…….. I like girders I does.
Test ride em all.

I have one, owned from new, only problem I have had was a dodgy immobiliser (warranty job). doing 80miles per day over the top of the M62, averaging 68 to the gallon @ 65-70mph, good service intervals, and on conti trail attack tyres 19000miles per pair!

F800ST makes more sense to me… Ended up buying neither but the GS800 gained rugged offroad looks in exchange for being a much worse road bike, IMO.

brother has the 850gs

he test rode one of the 800’s and decided to keep the 850

850gs?

My bro has the 650gs and commutes through London on it. Loves it but wants the 1200

AA the 850gs was a smaller cc version of the 1100gs. Which was a boxer twin shaft drive with beaky front but rectangular headlight. Pre chewan round the world stylee asymmetric headlights. It was the first of the gs that got noticed for being odd but brilliant.
I’m old enough to remember getting insurance quotes on one. Must buy a bike, must buy a bike, must buy a bike. Note to self, buy a bike.

Cool I want one!

http://www.bikez.com/motorcycles/bmw_r_850_gs_1999.php

Always handy in these kinda threads if you put the budget in the first post, rather than later…

Thanks all. Done a bit of trying and looking. Budget ideally is £3-4.5K. If budget no issue, I’d go for a Tiger 800. The older 955 Tiger’s are in budget but look rather unwieldy to me and just found their bulk not commuter friendly. The 1050 Tiger looks and feels better, but a stretch on the budget. The BMW 650 GS (800cc version) is the one I’m going for … slightly more road orientated than the F800GS, within budget, good resale value. So it’ll hopefully tied me over for a few years until Tiger 800 s/h prices fall!

So any comments on the 650GS (800cc) bike welcome!

Well my idea of having you hooked on a KTM sunk then 😆

I’m not sure I’m gung ho enough for the KTM. My buddy got one, a week later his arm was being rebuilt after fall prey to hooligan instincts on it! Pass me my slippers!

Not had a recent BM, but I used to own a 1100GS and the quality of finish was very poor – spoke nipples rusted after one year of use. All the bolts (eg brake callipers) rusted. Compared to a Honda, it was very badly finished.

This is my 800…it’s a lot of fun to ride and is brilliant with fuel. 58mpg is pretty common even when giving it some grief. It is a very tall bike so unless you’re 6 foot plus it could be a stretch. The seat is also uncomfy, but after riding a mountain bike it isn’t that bad. The comfort seat BMW do is horrid, doesn’t fix the problem of being pushed onto your laughing tackle by the seat!

By the way often do long work trips on it and it gets some looks when you pull up for meetings, but I like it and with a full set of tins on it, it really can carry a lot of gear.

Let this guy help make your mind up aye Aus 😉
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=btRvVLA0KzM

I did mean the bmws arent as reliable as everyone thinks but they arent unreliable either. My dad thinks his 650 is great and it was cracking value. Meant to be a bit smoother than the 800gs state of tune to.
Make sure the water pump hose has had the latest rework, they work off over time even with the updated clip.

On another note my iminent emigration means that a custom painted 07 plate 1050 tiger with abs will be up for sale shortly just in budget. Although my neighbour who had it from new before me has first refusal.

Ivante – drop me a few pics and second refusal pls! Southbankaus AT aol Dot COM

footflaps – Member

Not had a recent BM, but I used to own a 1100GS and the quality of finish was very poor – spoke nipples rusted after one year of use. All the bolts (eg brake callipers) rusted. Compared to a Honda, it was very badly finished.

A colleague at my old office bought a 1200GS, and banged on at huge length about BMW build quality vs my scabby Suzuki. And to be fair, I never doubted him for a second, but a year later you could tell where he parked every day because all the engine paint had fallen off and marked his territory Another year, all-round riding, and it looked in worse nick than my 10-year-old SV650. Crazy stuff. Mind you I think he neglected it a bit, assuming that it was well enough made not to need TLC.

For the budget of 3-4.5K I’d look at trying to find a nice R1150GS or R1150R. Both are really good all round bikes. Nowt wrong with the 800GS though, great fuel economy but no shaft drive. Some newer BMW seem to have consistency problems with the finish as folk have said here, but as with anything, if you look after it there’s less chance of it turning into a pile of shite. I’d avoid the KTM SMT as they can be a bit harder on tyres. mt mate has a KTM Adventure and loves it, its a wee bit heavy on fuel though. You could look at the usual jap offerings, bandit, fazer etc. The Triumps look and ride great but are again let down by finish, just got to a Triumph dealer and look at a demo bike mid winter. An older Speed Trifle could be worth a look. What about a Transalp or a VFR800? If I were you I’d spend a few days test piloting a bunch of bikes, even stuff you haven’t concidered. A low milage R1150R wouldn’t be too bad though, here’s a link to one I seen on Biketrader. (not my, or anyone I know’s bike)

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201216465664658/sort/pricedesc/usedbikes/price-from/3000/price-to/4000/cc-from/700cc/page/3/postcode/eh345dn/radius/1501?logcode=p

Mike