As close to perfect as I may get
Written: Apr 24 '07
|
Product Rating:
|
|
| Reliability: |
 |
|
| Comfort: |
 |
|
| Handling And Control: |
|
|
| Quality and Craftsmanship: |
|
|
|
Pros: Gas mileage, handling, usable (not overwhelming) power, practicality, low speed maneuvering.
Cons: Vibrations, lack of wind protection, must keep RPMs above 3k
The Bottom Line: For me, it's everything I could have asked for in a motorcycle. This is a great all around bike, you can use it for just about everything.
|
|
|
| funkdaddysmack's Full Review: 2004 BMW F650 GS |
Other motorcycle reviews:
As I'm bound to refer to both of these bikes in my review, here are my reviews.
Kawasaki Ninja 250
Suzuki Savage 650
Why I wanted an F650
Coming from my most recent bike, a Kawasaki Ninja 250, there were a few reasons why I wanted another motorcycle, my requirements were as follows:
- Good for long distance riding
- Low enough seat for my short legs (30" inseam, optimistic)
- Fuel injection
- Heated grips
- Economical
I eventually came across the F650 being discussed on the Adventure Rider forums (ADVrider.com) and after a bit of research, I found it's exactly what I was looking for with the bonus of being able to handle some light offroad duty.
Done Deal
I got an e-mail from the closest dealer that had exactly what I was looking for, (very) low miles, heated grips, abs, and the OEM hard luggage. It took me a day of pondering to decide that I was going check it out that weekend, I ended up riding it home.
First Impressions
The first thing I remember was how glad I was when I realized I could sit on it and at least have one foot flat on the ground. Many of the other similar bikes (KLR 650, for instance) have higher seat heights and would not suit me nearly as well.
The upright, wide bars are not what I was used to. The switches and controls all have a great engineered, positive feeling. The clutch pull is light and easy to modulate.
The engine/exhaust is very quiet, one of the rear 'cans' is not functional (at least on my '06 model), I believe for emission and noise reasons.
While the bike is a thumper, it doesn't have the immense thumper torque right off of idle. Anything below 3k RPM is going to bog the engine. My roomate's Savage 650 is a 650 thumper and has great torque down low, but no where near the overall pull of the F650. The F650 pulls all the way to it's 7500 RPM redline, anything over 3000RPM and you're going to be fine loaded up, with a passenger, or riding solo.
The wide bars make it super easy to lean the bike over in the corners. With the 'hybrid' on/off road tires that come with the bike it still handles quite well, with some street-only sticky tires you could really have some fun and embarrass some sportbike riders. The low center of gravity makes it feel nice and stable in the corners and low-speed maneuvering really could not be easier.
On the highway the engine gets a little buzzy, the tach reads about 5k RPM around 70-75 mph. It doesn't vibrate as much as I thought it would, but it's still noticeable. Some heavier bar ends may help. Wind protection is non existent. Luckily there are quite a few aftermarket companies offering windscreen solutions. The past few windy days we've had I was being blown around quite a bit more than I would have expected for a bike without fairings. I'm guessing since it sits fairly high it catches more wind.
While many people use these bikes to eat up the miles, you're not going to want to do it on the stock saddle. After about an hour my butt starts to get sore, Airhawk makes a neat looking air pad to virtually eliminate seat fatigue, I hope to get one sometime down the road.
Really, I couldn't be much happier with the bike. I'm afraid to take it offroad, I want to have it paid off before I do anything crazy! Riding two up is great, as long as you keep the RPM above 3k you're going to have enough grunt to get yourself around. I'm not sure how accurate the speedometer is but I've seen 110 indicated mph out of curiosity before I ran out of road, much more respectable than the 95 I ever saw on the Ninja.
The heated grips work well on a chilly day, but you really need hand guards and good winter gloves if you want to ride in seriously chilly weather. They make riding in the 40s doable with normal gloves, but your fingers will still get numb from the air.
Fuel mileage is fantastic, my last two tanks I've gotten right around 65mpg with some spirited running through the gears, riding to work, and riding 2up. This is where the fuel injection really sticks it to Mr. Carburetor.
Lastly, this bike gets a lot of attention. I've been stopped many times in the parking lot by people of all ages (surprisingly mostly younger guys) asking questions about the bike. Riding something other people like is not one of my priorities, but I love talking about the bike so it's really a no brainer.
Recommended:
Yes
Amount Paid (US$): 7000
Condition: Used
Model Year: 2005
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
funkdaddysmack
|
|
Member: Dan Dreese
Location: Williamsport, PA
Reviews written: 49
Trusted by: 10 members
About Me:
24 years old, Database administration
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.