Where to look for info...

[krashdragon]

...On 2008 BMW F800ST's... I need to read!

I know a lot of folks here either have or did have BMW's...

Got my Softail Deuce up for sale, sold my Triumph Speedmaster, now it's down to the BMW or a Victory Low Vegas...

Two totally different styles, I need to take those two and a Triumph Sprint for a test ride..

The BMW and the Vic fit me perfectly, no need to adjust anything. The Sprint would need lowered, not sure I want to go thru that again.

So...where is good forum or two to really learn about BMW's...without just getting the "everybody loves Raymond" syndrome?

Here, you guys love your bikes, but don't hesitate to say if something wrong... any other BMW or touring forums even close to this one?

Thanks

Mary

 

[Ignacio]

Ummmm....I'm going to go out on a limb......call me crazy.....but there's this new website I just heard about. It's supposed to be pretty cool for finding stuff.

It's called Google.

Rumor has it they might go public.

 

[Bearly Flying]

Or possibly, She might be looking for opinions of well respected Forum Members, that She has a certain level of Trust in their opinions.

Which Google may not provide, even though they have gone Public.

Maybe try searching for THAT Iggy.

 

[stormrider]

Mary,

try

www.bmwrt.com

 

[beemerdons]

Or possibly, She might be looking for opinions of well respected Forum Members, that She has a certain level of Trust in their opinions.
Which Google may not provide, even though they have gone Public.

Maybe try searching for THAT Iggy.

krashdragon: Bearly Flying was absolutely correct, using Google was completely worthless in its first five pages of providing resources that I as a forty year Beemer owner would recommend! The very best source of information is the website of the BMW Motorcycle Owners of America. The membership number is now at 156,000 and I am MOA Club Member #24810.

https://www.bmwmoa.org has a specific section for F & G bikes and there are countless pages of info on the BMW F800ST.

My eleven year old son Seth and I are leaving for New Zealand in a few hours, I was just checking e-mails before heading to the airport; not looking forward to a thirteen hour flight to Auckland and another two hour flight to Christchurch, but that is what it takes when you fly to Kiwiland: The Land of the Long White Cloud. Have a Harley-Davidson Sportster 1200 rented.

However, when I return in two weeks please feel free to contact me at my personal e-mail of [email protected] or feel free to call me at my home number of 480-917-3863. I am the Director of the largest BMW Club in Arizona: AZ Beemers.

I can post your specific questions to my Club's website https://www.azbeemers.org/forum and I will also post to MOA for you.

I had a deposit down on the F800GS, but got my money back when BMW announced this machine won't arrive until 2009.

The third weekend of May, for the last thirty years, AZ Beemers puts on our Roadrunner Rally in the cool pines of Heber, AZ. Many of the regulars you see here such as SkooterG and vectervp1 attend this fun event. We welcome all makes of motorcycles and their riders and it's the best three days for forty bucks that you can spend! All of the info is on our website.

It's an easy ride from Texas to our Rally, while there you'll be able to coax info and probably a test ride from AZ Beemers.

I can guarantee you will not find "everbody loves Raymond" on www.bmwmoa.org because the cheapest part on a BMW is the owner! Leading Beemer riders is like herding cats, except it is much easier to organize cats! Even though they have been my riding friends for forty years and I am a long time "BMW Rally Rat" you will not find a more critical group of Roundel marque bashers! If a BMW owner has to open his/her wallet to fix a factory defect, they'll squeal like a stuck pig!

The Rotax engines and transmissions on the F800ST are bulletproof; with no final drive problems, a real Achilles heel of the Oilhead/Hexhead/Modern K bikes. Rotax is Austrian. Do you know the definition of an Austrian? An Austrian is a Perfect German. I return to Deutschland every two years to ride the Alps, I was stationed in Augsburg, Bavaria for 1969-1970.

I was at the BMW Motorrad Factory in Munchen last May and put 3,000 kilometers on Alpine passes in seven days, and I was amazed at how many of the new F800's the Europeans had bought and were out riding; particularly the BMW F800S.

 

[beemerdons]

https://www.bmwmoa.org/forum/showthread.php...3405&page=2

 

[BobG]

This is an old joke. But has a lot of truth to it.

How are BMW and Porcupines different. The Porcupines have the pricks on the outside.

I would look at any bike other than BMW, they are relying on an old reputation.

Yamaha, Honda, Suzuki, and others have surpassed them in quality and Value.

 

[MikeYork5]

Ummmm....I'm going to go out on a limb......call me crazy.....but there's this new website I just heard about. It's supposed to be pretty cool for finding stuff.
It's called Google.

Rumor has it they might go public.

If they go public I want in on the IPO. Just think if you could buy it for around $50 and in a couple of years it went up to $500! Wouldn't that be the 'cats meow'?

 

[krashdragon]

Ummmm....I'm going to go out on a limb......call me crazy.....but there's this new website I just heard about. It's supposed to be pretty cool for finding stuff.
It's called Google.

Rumor has it they might go public.

You funny!

Google is ok, but I usually use Alta Vista...<G>

mary

 

[krashdragon]

Or possibly, She might be looking for opinions of well respected Forum Members, that She has a certain level of Trust in their opinions.
Which Google may not provide, even though they have gone Public.

Maybe try searching for THAT Iggy.

You got it!

After all, a forum full of guys that get soggy eyed over real life **** is good!

Hey, the Harley forum and Triumph forums guys act the same way...

All those big bad a**ed bikers are a real bunch of softies!

Mary

 

[krashdragon]

Mary,
try

www.bmwrt.com

Thank you, I will do that....I want a bike I can ride for the next 10 years... so I need lots of info.

We aint' getting any younger! <BG>

Mary

 

[HotRodZilla]

...On 2008 BMW F800ST's... I need to read!I know a lot of folks here either have or did have BMW's...

Got my Softail Deuce up for sale, sold my Triumph Speedmaster, now it's down to the BMW or a Victory Low Vegas...

Two totally different styles, I need to take those two and a Triumph Sprint for a test ride..

The BMW and the Vic fit me perfectly, no need to adjust anything. The Sprint would need lowered, not sure I want to go thru that again.

So...where is good forum or two to really learn about BMW's...without just getting the "everybody loves Raymond" syndrome?

Here, you guys love your bikes, but don't hesitate to say if something wrong... any other BMW or touring forums even close to this one?

Thanks

Mary

Mary,

I know that the BMW bashing on this site is pretty common, but since the sales manager at our local BMW shop is a hellavua nice guy, I get to ride his bikes all the time. Part of the reason for this is that my best friend traded in his Triumph Sprint for a 1200RT.

It was my ride on the Sprint that convinced me to start looking for a capable ST. The sprint is a little rocket. It is not as fast as an FJR, but much more nimble. Since you weren't looking for comparasons, I will stick with how the bike rode. Again, pretty fast, and that inline 3 cylinder is smooth with good torque for a 1050. The factory riding position was pretty aggressive and I thought it was a littel cramped which was why I looked elsewhere. My friend put 1.25 inch Heeley risers on the bike which helped significantly. He put the risers on after I bought my FJR. If had known they made such a difference, I may have bought one instead of the FJR. Brakes were great, luggage was easy to operate, and over-all, it was a great bike. It could have used a bigger windshield, but that's an easy fix.

Since I get to ride Dean's Beemers, the other day I actually had an F800ST. I was interested in picking it up for my wife. She's 5'1" and she is not comfortable on the tall ST's. This 800 was brand new (257miles) had a remus exhaust, a V-stream shield, and was lowered. It was a FUN bike. The parallel twin had some vibration to it, but the heated grips and tire pressure sensors were cool. It cornered great and the brakes grabbed really well. I nearly put it into a stoppie, but thought better of it since it wasn't my bike. If your gonna ride it fast, you are gonna find yourself near red-line a lot getting to speed, but it will hit 80 quickly. I rode it pretty hard and it was averaging over 50mpg. The bags on that bike are not standard, so you have to pay extra for them, but depending on your riding style, it is a very capable bike. The MSRP was about 10.5K. Again though, a little cramped for my size.

Both bikes were tons of fun and I wouldn't mind having either as a 'second' bike. The Sprint was smoother but the 800 handled quicker. All said, I would perfer the Sprint just for comfort, but was dissapointed that the 800 was still too tall for my wife causing us to decided against it. Another plus for BMW is that when you take your bike in for service, they will give you another bike to ride until yours is done. Triupmh and our beloved Yamaha take no such risk. I guess it's all in the details.

 

[krashdragon]

Thanks...you wont' read this till you get back... I hope you guys have a wonderful trip...

One of my fantasies is to visit the Land of the Long White Cloud! <G>

I'll email you later...

Many thanks

mary

 

[krashdragon]

...On 2008 BMW F800ST's... I need to read!I know a lot of folks here either have or did have BMW's...

Got my Softail Deuce up for sale, sold my Triumph Speedmaster, now it's down to the BMW or a Victory Low Vegas...

Two totally different styles, I need to take those two and a Triumph Sprint for a test ride..

The BMW and the Vic fit me perfectly, no need to adjust anything. The Sprint would need lowered, not sure I want to go thru that again.

So...where is good forum or two to really learn about BMW's...without just getting the "everybody loves Raymond" syndrome?

Here, you guys love your bikes, but don't hesitate to say if something wrong... any other BMW or touring forums even close to this one?

Thanks

Mary

Mary,

I know that the BMW bashing on this site is pretty common, but since the sales manager at our local BMW shop is a hellavua nice guy, I get to ride his bikes all the time. Part of the reason for this is that my best friend traded in his Triumph Sprint for a 1200RT.

It was my ride on the Sprint that convinced me to start looking for a capable ST. The sprint is a little rocket. It is not as fast as an FJR, but much more nimble. Since you weren't looking for comparasons, I will stick with how the bike rode. Again, pretty fast, and that inline 3 cylinder is smooth with good torque for a 1050. The factory riding position was pretty aggressive and I thought it was a littel cramped which was why I looked elsewhere. My friend put 1.25 inch Heeley risers on the bike which helped significantly. He put the risers on after I bought my FJR. If had known they made such a difference, I may have bought one instead of the FJR. Brakes were great, luggage was easy to operate, and over-all, it was a great bike. It could have used a bigger windshield, but that's an easy fix.

Since I get to ride Dean's Beemers, the other day I actually had an F800ST. I was interested in picking it up for my wife. She's 5'1" and she is not comfortable on the tall ST's. This 800 was brand new (257miles) had a remus exhaust, a V-stream shield, and was lowered. It was a FUN bike. The parallel twin had some vibration to it, but the heated grips and tire pressure sensors were cool. It cornered great and the brakes grabbed really well. I nearly put it into a stoppie, but thought better of it since it wasn't my bike. If your gonna ride it fast, you are gonna find yourself near red-line a lot getting to speed, but it will hit 80 quickly. I rode it pretty hard and it was averaging over 50mpg. The bags on that bike are not standard, so you have to pay extra for them, but depending on your riding style, it is a very capable bike. The MSRP was about 10.5K. Again though, a little cramped for my size.

Both bikes were tons of fun and I wouldn't mind having either as a 'second' bike. The Sprint was smoother but the 800 handled quicker. All said, I would perfer the Sprint just for comfort, but was dissapointed that the 800 was still too tall for my wife causing us to decided against it. Another plus for BMW is that when you take your bike in for service, they will give you another bike to ride until yours is done. Triupmh and our beloved Yamaha take no such risk. I guess it's all in the details.

Thanks!

got your PM...

The Sprint is a bit tall for me... the 800 fits perfectly..

Oh yeah... how fast is "get up to speed"? The speedo goes way up there..how fast will that bike actually go? I like to cruise about 80-85 on the Harley and the FJR (ok, faster on that one!), but the Triumph Speedmaster feels so much lighter, that 70-75 felt about right... ok, after break in, the only really long trip I took on the Speedy had winds of about 35-40 all day... I got blown around a bit on I 90 close to Buffalo....

My Suzuki Bandit felt more planted, even tho it weighs the same as the Triumph.

I'm 5'6" and shrinking (getting old sucks big time), so I was wondering how the 800 handles wind... My Deuce is great, but it weights 670+ luggage and sits fairly low. The 800 would weigh about 500 loaded, how does it handle sidewinds? Already wore the rear flat on the Deuce riding cross country in wind. After riding in Hawaii for 4 years, it seems most of my riding on the mainland involves rain, wind, cold and sometimes snow... Guess I need to ride in the summer more!

Thanks for the info.

One of my friends has a BMW650GS (I think).. Froggie's had the bike lowered, I think she's about 5'2 or 3, it fits her really well. She does not ride very agressively, tho...

Maybe I should take a Sprint for a ride...it can be lowered..<BG>

mary

Oh yeah..;.; yo're talkinga bout vibration when I have a Harley! <BG>

Even if it's a Twincam balanced Softail! <LOL>

 

[HotRodZilla]

Thanks!got your PM...

The Sprint is a bit tall for me... the 800 fits perfectly..

Oh yeah... how fast is "get up to speed"? The speedo goes way up there..how fast will that bike actually go? I like to cruise about 80-85 on the Harley and the FJR (ok, faster on that one!), but the Triumph Speedmaster feels so much lighter, that 70-75 felt about right... ok, after break in, the only really long trip I took on the Speedy had winds of about 35-40 all day... I got blown around a bit on I 90 close to Buffalo....

My Suzuki Bandit felt more planted, even tho it weighs the same as the Triumph.

I'm 5'6" and shrinking (getting old sucks big time), so I was wondering how the 800 handles wind... My Deuce is great, but it weights 670+ luggage and sits fairly low. The 800 would weigh about 500 loaded, how does it handle sidewinds? Already wore the rear flat on the Deuce riding cross country in wind. After riding in Hawaii for 4 years, it seems most of my riding on the mainland involves rain, wind, cold and sometimes snow... Guess I need to ride in the summer more!

Thanks for the info.

One of my friends has a BMW650GS (I think).. Froggie's had the bike lowered, I think she's about 5'2 or 3, it fits her really well. She does not ride very agressively, tho...

Maybe I should take a Sprint for a ride...it can be lowered..<BG>

mary

Oh yeah..;.; yo're talkinga bout vibration when I have a Harley! <BG>

Even if it's a Twincam balanced Softail! <LOL>

I guess "up to speed" would differ on the person and how fast they wanna get there, but it got to 80 pretty quickly. Getting to 90 took more work. I don't think I had the bike over about 110, so I have no idea where it would top out, although I would wager 130 +/-. The weather here was beautiful, so I have no idea how it will handle in the wind. It has a small profile which will help, but it doesn't weigh much so it might be a trade off. I would not dare make a decision about how a bike handles without riding it in the twisties. In the afternoon, I took a ride to Tijeras canyon which is east of Albuquerque. Traffic was light and the temp bottomed out at 41 degrees according to the bikes thermometer. It handled well. It didn't take nearly as much muscle to move as my FJR, but I attribute that to the lighter weight. I also held the rpm's higher so I could throttle out of the turns. It never missed a beat and as much as I tried, I never drug a peg. The bike was wearing Michelin PR2's which had the bikes 275 miles on them and stuck to the road hard. The V-stream windshiled was great at keeping the wind off and with my postion on the bike and the bigger shield, the wind protection was better than the stock shield on my FJR in the lowered postion. Hope that helps.

 

[SockMonkey]

Best site F800 site. Period. https://f800riders.org/forum/index.php

 

[krashdragon]

Thanks!got your PM...

The Sprint is a bit tall for me... the 800 fits perfectly..

Oh yeah... how fast is "get up to speed"? The speedo goes way up there..how fast will that bike actually go? I like to cruise about 80-85 on the Harley and the FJR (ok, faster on that one!), but the Triumph Speedmaster feels so much lighter, that 70-75 felt about right... ok, after break in, the only really long trip I took on the Speedy had winds of about 35-40 all day... I got blown around a bit on I 90 close to Buffalo....

My Suzuki Bandit felt more planted, even tho it weighs the same as the Triumph.

I'm 5'6" and shrinking (getting old sucks big time), so I was wondering how the 800 handles wind... My Deuce is great, but it weights 670+ luggage and sits fairly low. The 800 would weigh about 500 loaded, how does it handle sidewinds? Already wore the rear flat on the Deuce riding cross country in wind. After riding in Hawaii for 4 years, it seems most of my riding on the mainland involves rain, wind, cold and sometimes snow... Guess I need to ride in the summer more!

Thanks for the info.

One of my friends has a BMW650GS (I think).. Froggie's had the bike lowered, I think she's about 5'2 or 3, it fits her really well. She does not ride very agressively, tho...

Maybe I should take a Sprint for a ride...it can be lowered..<BG>

mary

Oh yeah..;.; yo're talkinga bout vibration when I have a Harley! <BG>

Even if it's a Twincam balanced Softail! <LOL>

I guess "up to speed" would differ on the person and how fast they wanna get there, but it got to 80 pretty quickly. Getting to 90 took more work. I don't think I had the bike over about 110, so I have no idea where it would top out, although I would wager 130 +/-. The weather here was beautiful, so I have no idea how it will handle in the wind. It has a small profile which will help, but it doesn't weigh much so it might be a trade off. I would not dare make a decision about how a bike handles without riding it in the twisties. In the afternoon, I took a ride to Tijeras canyon which is east of Albuquerque. Traffic was light and the temp bottomed out at 41 degrees according to the bikes thermometer. It handled well. It didn't take nearly as much muscle to move as my FJR, but I attribute that to the lighter weight. I also held the rpm's higher so I could throttle out of the turns. It never missed a beat and as much as I tried, I never drug a peg. The bike was wearing Michelin PR2's which had the bikes 275 miles on them and stuck to the road hard. The V-stream windshiled was great at keeping the wind off and with my postion on the bike and the bigger shield, the wind protection was better than the stock shield on my FJR in the lowered postion. Hope that helps.

Thanks!

Good writeup... only problem with the Sprint is the height... but there's easy ways to lower it. Just was hoping not to.

Oh well... time to think a bit...

Thanks

Mary

Best site F800 site. Period. https://f800riders.org/forum/index.php

Thanks...I'll check it out!

mary

 

[beemerdons]

Thanks...you wont' read this till you get back... I hope you guys have a wonderful trip...One of my fantasies is to visit the Land of the Long White Cloud! <G>

I'll email you later...

Many thanks

mary

Hello Mary, While on the long Air New Zealand flight from Los Angeles to Auckland, I remembered I had just recently seen a Road Test in Motorcycle Consumer News on the BMW F800ST. So, when I returned to Chandler I looked in my huge stack of MCN and in the Volume 38 Number 9 September 2007 issue was a four page Test Report from Gary Prickett.

A picture of the bike was on the cover under the banner headline "BMW's Exceptional F800ST - The Perfect Middleweight."

On the last Cycle Stats page they said this about the powertrain: "A superb real-world engine, with plenty of torque, a fine sound and a very linear power delivery that makes using it a pleasure. The clever engine balancing scheme works very effectively and does so without the usual clatter of counterbalancers." Under Test Notes: Picks - Excellent power delivery, smooth-shifting transmission; Light, nimble and stable steering; A brand new accessorized touring BMW under $15,000.

If you would like me to copy and mail this article to you just e-mail me at [email protected] or call me at 480-917-3863.

 

[dragonchef]

mmmm I have been lusting after the new F800GS for some time....would be a perfect companion to the Feej...

and for those who have never seen it, the BMW ON (BMW owners news) is one of the best motorcycle magazines going. Great writing, interesting articles and a wealth of info....and oh yeah, the F800GS graces the January '08 cover...

I'm lucky my bud at work passes them along to me...