Jon Urry fires back first pics and initial thoughts on BMW's long-awaited middleweights
The 14-hour flight left Urry looking rather pasty
|
DURBAN, South Africa: We're getting ready to ride BMW’s latest middleweights, the F800GS and F650GS. Both bikes use the same parallel twin 800 engine as in the F800ST models, but, according to BMW, they have very different characteristics.
The F800GS is a mini-1200GS. A road bike with proper round the world off-road potential. It has beefier forks, twin discs and a 21-inch front wheel compared to the F650GS’ more road-inspired 19-inch front. The 800 engine makes 85bhp and is tuned for a more aggressive, punchy response. The F650GS, on the other hand, aims to take over from where the F650GS left off. Confused? Well despite its name the new F650GS is actually an 800, it’s just called a 650 to distinguish it from the 800GS and so people aren’t scared off by its bigger capacity. The engine has been tuned for more mid-range at the expense of 14bhp peak power and it’s all together more road-orientated.
I’m riding the F800GS and the F650GS the day after, I’ll keep you posted.
Cheers
Jon
