I was just getting the mail from the mail box when this guy rides up on his R11GS and we start to talk BMWs. He looks over my 1985 K100RS and makes me an offer on it. I refused, stating I needed $4000 before I,d consider selling. Next day he comes back to the house, counts off 40 $100 bills and rides away with my bike. What happened? I,m bikeless.
Next day I drive down to my friendly BMW dealer and buy a new, shiny, black F650. Two spark plugs, two carburetors, two exhaust headers, but only one little piston. A couple weeks later I return with the magic 600 showing on the odometer for the first check and I,m just about ready for the ,49er. But first I needed saddle bags. After a number of e-mail messages and a phone call with Givi USA, I,m given an 800 phone number for Road Rider, the west coast mail order house for Givi. Within a week or so my bags and mounts arrived and mounting was pretty straight forward. The charcoal canister had to go and the rear turn signal lights had to be relocated. A Supervista throttle control picked up from a Yamaha dealer and a little wiring got me an outlet for the electric gloves. Since there is only ten inches from the front of the gas tank to the saddle, most tank bags will not fit the F650. I,m using a Chase Harper 750 bag which seems to fit ok, but I,m not happy with the mounting system yet. By this time I was up to 900 miles on the odometer.
Packed up and ready, I,m off to the ,49er Rally. Cruising the back two lane roads, the F650 seems happy maintaining 65 to 70 mph. The saddle seems fine for the first 5 or 6 hours and I,m logging well over 50 mpg. All is well except for the sharp corners. After nearly 12 years on the big K-bike, trying to carve corners on the little 650 requires some new education. Being 150 pounds lighter with much quicker geometry, I tend to stuff myself into the ditch on the inside of the curve. Fortunately, the F650 takes to line changes quite readily, but I found that there is a lot of room for me to learn how to handle quick motorcycles.
Out on the Interstate, the F650 soon settles down to a comfortable pace of 75 to 80 mph indicated. Gas consumption goes up accordingly, now requiring gas stops every 185 miles or so. By the time I reach Route A21 into Westwood, the secret of cornering is beginning to show and the 45 mph corners are quite comfortable at 75 and the straights are steady at 85. I,ve never had a bike that was so quick handling in the corners and yet so rock steady at speed on the straights.
On the way back after the rally, we encountered several hundred miles of steady downpour. Riding at times with a R1100RS and a R100RT, the little thumper had no problems in passing or cruising with the big boys. Upon reaching home, I was drench, as was everything else on the bike, except for the contents of the Givi bags. Everything in these better constructed, yet less expensive, bags was bone dry. I,m glad I saved the $400+ by going with the good looking Givi bags.
Next rally was the Chief Joseph in Heppner. That northeast section of Oregon is loaded with skinny two lane country roads with little traffic and few straight stretches. Riding with two R1100s, the F650 had a hard time accelerating out of tight corners with the 1100's, particularly when faced with an uphill exit. However, it was not difficult to close the gap once we reached touring speed. At one point, the little thumper hit 95 indicated while passing a line of cars, not bad for a single loaded with all kinds of camping gear and one fat rider. Again, the F650 was burning just under 4 gallons for each 185 miles.
Today the odometer shows 4100 miles. The chain has not been adjusted since the bike left the factory and remains within spec. I have just lubed the chain for the third time since it was new. At 3000 miles I drained the break-in 10W40 oil and replaced it with 20W50, which is what the book calls for. Changing oil in a dry sump engine is something else again. Since BMW refuses to give you any hint as to how best to change oil in your new motorcycle, I had to learn the hard way. But now that I screwed up once, I should be able to keep most of the oil off the garage floor in the future. By the way, the bike has not consumed any oil to date.
The only BMW accessory I purchased was the hand protectors, they help keep the cold Northwet wind off my fingers. The side stand interlock was disconnected so that my engine won,t quit when I put down the side stand. My 29 inch inseam and the 32 inch saddle means I can,t put both feet flat on the ground. What,s new? Every BMW seems to be that way. While I have never really put my F650GS into real dirt, the gravel roads I have been on were ridden just as if they were pavement, no big deal. A few power slides in the corners worked out just fine. Do I like the thumper? Sure do. Light weight, easy handling, adequate power, and a transmission that the R-bikes would die for, snick-snick-snick, with or without the clutch.
I don,t recommend the F650 for extended two-up riding, after all, it is a 650 single. But for solo riding, including touring, this little bike will surprise you, all you have to do is use the excellent gear box to keep the engine up in the power band where it is the happiest.
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