Talk to me about the 650GS...

[marc11]

What are its strong and weak points?  How is the power in the real world?  Is it easy to sport tour on and does it handle your garden variety fire and gravel roads well?

Reliable?  Easy to maintain?  The usual stuff.

[Boxerdawg]

The motor is pretty much bulletproof if a little under-powered.  It's good to go all day on the highway 75-80mph [I had street biased tires].  50+ MPG.  The curb-weight is kind of high, especially if your wanting to play in the dirt.  I does handle fire roads well.  The BMW cases are excellent for touring.  

[cbsnbiker]

I've owned two of them.

Sounds impressive, doesn't it? Well, I owned the first one for about a week and a half, put about 1,500 miles on it, then it was totaled when I was rear-ended. The story is here:

http://www.sport-touring.net/forums/index.php/topic,15373.0.html

I've owned the second one for a brief time. Considering the recent weather -- lots of snow -- it's been parked.

So, take my input in that context.

It's a 650cc thumper with 50 HP. Don't expect a sportbike. Its power is more than adequate, but nobody will accuse it of being fast. When I went for a ride with two STNers, they could make quick passes that my bike couldn't muster.

The tradeoff is that it gets 65-70 MPG with regular gas.  

As thumpers go, it's quite smooth. Smoothness is important to me.

Handling is decent -- again, not a sportbike, but light and agile, with lots of cornering clearance. Upgrades are available if street handling is a high priority.

There are many farkles available, both OEM and aftermarket. You can equip it bare bones for local road riding, or loaded for traveling across African deserts or South American rain forests. Farkling for sport-touring is easily done.

It's fairly reliable. A gross generalization: the newer ones are more reliable than the first model year or two. There are known weak areas. The water pump comes immediately to mind. Other parts of the bike are durable. The only major problem my bike experienced was a moving SUV.    A minor problem was a leaky top box. I chose not to order one for my new bike; I'll probably go with an aftermarket item, probably a Caribou/Pelican. http://www.adventure-motorcycle.com/store/?name=Home

How much off-road riding do you want to do? The standard version is reputed to be okay for easy off-road riding. If you want to do hard core off-road riding, you might want to buy the Dakar version. It's taller with a 21" front wheel (instead of 19").

ABS is a Good Thing.

The best resource for all F650 info, especially performing your own maintenance and repairs, is: http://www.f650.com

Let me know if you have any more questions.

[R Doug]

Great thread marc11.  I'm really drawn to the new 800GS but... 1)  don't know if I'll have the $$$ for it and 2)  believe the 650 thumper is all I really need for what I'm looking to do w/ it.  

I'll be watching this w/ great interest.  

[Biker Boop]

I just started riding this summer and moved up from a 250 Rebel to an 06 F650 GS, so expert I'm not, but can tell you I am having a blast on this bike!!!!   I am 5' 1" and there are not too many bikes I can get my feet firmly on the ground, but I have had no problems...... I get about 72 MPG on the highway.  I ordered a bunch of goodies (farkles) and they did not get to me until after our riding season was over, but am really looking forward to some very long rides next summer.  I have done a little gravel road riding and the bike handled great.  Would recommend the ABS & heated grips.  Two thumbs up for 650 GS    

[katego]

Be sure to head over to the Chaingang to get the lowdown on the F650GS. http://f650.com .

-k

[marc11]

Appreciate the input, I will head over the the f650 site and poke around a bit.  Are there any must do upgrade to this bike?  My plan would for it to be a 70/30 bike, street biased, and the dirt would be gravel and dirt roads.  I have the KLX for single track duty.

[cbsnbiker]

Appreciate the input, I will head over the the f650 site and poke around a bit.  Are there any must do upgrade to this bike?  My plan would for it to be a 70/30 bike, street biased, and the dirt would be gravel and dirt roads.  I have the KLX for single track duty.

The F650 site will give you gobs of information. First check the FAQs -- if you don't, that's what they'll tell you to do.  

There are gazillions of farkles and upgrades for the F650GS, both OEM and aftermarket. Think about what you'd like to do with the bike -- that should help guide you in the farkling department.

As I wrote earlier, ABS is a worthy option. I strongly recommend it. In the last few years, most ABS-equipped F650GS bikes also come equipped with heated grips, four-way flashers, and a centerstand -- the Premium Package. This is a Good Thing.

The OEM tires are generally considered to be 90/10. If you're interested in 70/30, you'll probably want knobbier tires. I haven't investigated this area yet, so I can't give much advice. The FAQs at f650.com can supply more info. Read it, then ask on f650.com if you have more questions.

If you can find a demo bike, take it for a test ride. I hope you like it.  

[cricketmrs]

  I love mine!  Moved up from my son's Ninja 250, which was also fun.  Had to choose one of my own bikes when our daughter took over 'my' back seat on the GT.  I "tried on" several different bikes and just kept coming back to the one my husband originally recommended, the 650GS.  Though I got caught in a recent recall and am awaiting parts, it's still a great ride.  I took the bike on a 300+ mile trip to Eureka (CSTN) (over 800 round trip) in Sep and was very happy with its performance!  

A little buzzy at 70+, but not so bad that I had to stop constantly.  Remember, I'm a very new rider, so 300 mile-day on a new bike and I was still ready to get back on says a lot.  I had/have low speed turning concerns and this bike cuts through them so smoothly I have confidence I didn't even have on the 250.  I also am vertically challenged, so I have the factory lowered frame to help me out.  My much taller spouse loves it so much he wants to get its big brother the 800.  Now I can't keep my son off of my bike; guess they call that payback...  Now I just need BMW to hurry up my parts so I can get it back on the road!  

[bahwolf]

Love my Dakar. I'd even go so far as to say if I could only keep one of my bikes, the Dakar'd be the one I'd keep because it is so versatile. I run knobbies year-round (Dunlop 606's) and pretty much go wherever I want on the bike. Averages 62 mpg. Cruises at 80 on the interstate, no problem (even with the 606's, though they can be a bit noisey) and can be pushed to 95 without redlining. 18,000 miles on my '05 so far without any mechanical issues. Stock battery was crap -- boiled over and acid-etched the top of my engine. That's been my only problem. Reasonably comfortable in stock trim; I've done 600-700 mile days on it, but 400-500 is more the norm. Maintenance is a no-brainer because everything you could ever want to know is spelled out at the Chain Gang website (only bike I own for which I'll never bother buying the service manual).



Lots of ride reports at my website, http://bahwolf.com, including the Copper Canyon trip pictured above.