Welcome to my maintenance blog. While I’m not trying to write a “how-to” blog, I will often document a task or provide a hint if I don’t think the topic is covered well elsewhere on the web. I suspect that the biggest contribution this blog will make to those of you working on a similar bike will be the quality pictures. I hope you’ll leave comments if you find some topic helpful, or have a question.
I’m the second owner of this very nice, near showroom condition F650GS. The bike has always been garaged, and I’m hard pressed to find any evidence that it’s every been ridden in the rain. When I buy a used motorcycle I like to go over it from one end to another before riding very far. Having bought this bike at the end of of the riding season I’ll have all winter make this eight year old bike look brand new. Then I’ll get it dirty.
The bike hasn’t had a lot of stuff added to it. The PO installed a taller windscreen, that’s about it. The bike came with BMW Vario side cases and top case. It also came with the premium package option which adds the mounts for the cases, trip computer, center stand, and heated hand grips.
While not a serious adventure rider, I do hope to ride a few unpaved roads. To that end I’m adding crash protection in the form of crash bars, hand guards and a bash plate. I’ve also got a Kaoko cruise control on order. This throttle lock should make the throttle less twitchy at slow speeds, and will save my wrists on longer runs. My large Crampbuster doesn’t appear to work with the stock grips; the grips are too small. Finally, based on what many others have reported in terms of seat comfort, or lack thereof, I’ll probably be upgrading the seat as well.
As you’ll find discussed in many corners of the web, this F650GS actually has an 800 cc engine — a detuned version of the engine used in the F800GS. I think it will have plenty of power, at least for my style of riding. The bike feels much quicker than my old R100/7.
I’ll be honest, I didn’t want to buy another BMW. I’ve found many things not to like about that company over the last few years. That said, there aren’t any other bikes like this one. The Africa Twin is really nice but it’s aimed at riders more adventurous than I. I thought very seriously about the Yamaha Super Ténéré, but in the end I really didn’t want a 600 lb top-heavy motorcycle. The Triumph 800XC, with its three cylinder engine is a bit too street oriented for me. I prefer low-end torque to high-end horsepower, plus, I’m not convinced a motorbike needs more cylinders than wheels. One other bike I considered was the Honda NC700X. It checked a lot of the boxes, however, lets be honest, with a 17″ front wheel it’s really just a commuter bike in adventure clothing. I never considered KTM’s. I guess I just don’t like the way they look. Nor did I seriously consider bikes smaller than 700cc — I do have to keep up with the bigger bikes.
I generally don’t like bikes that look like they’re the offspring of some alien insectoid, bat, or bird. Of all of the bikes with beaks that I’ve seen, I like this one the best. I think its the solid red color with a dark front fender that makes it work. I also like that the headlights on this bike look like, well, headlights. All-in-all it’s a good looking machine and, as others have said, red is the fastest color. Here’s the bike as it appeared in the the Craigslist posting.
Everything looked great on the bike when I bought it, except the front tire (click to enlarge).
