BMW has been plugging its mid-size adventure bikes for a good few years now and it would be fair to say that they have always played second fiddle to the R 1200 and R 1250 GSs in the public’s perception. It’s not that they were inferior products but the mantra, in SA at least, has always been ‘bigger is better’, even if the owners had neither the skill nor inclination to use all the ability of the large BMW adventure bikes.
The original 2008 F 800 GS was improved hugely by the adoption of a new parallel twin engine in 2018, with offset crankpins, giving a 270° firing order compared to the 360° crank of the original. This change gave the engine so much more character and power delivery more akin to a V-Twin.
But, from the beginning, the F-series of BMW parallel twin-engined adventure bikes were convincing arguments that bigger was certainly not always better when it came to serious off-road ability, while comfort and wind protection has never been an issue.
Fast forward to 2024 and the F-series has been updated yet again, with the adoption of the 895cc parallel twin engine as found in the F 900 R/XR. The steel tube chassis is all-new, there’s more power and less weight, coupled with typical BMW attention to detail, good comfort and wind protection and excellent electronic systems.
There will still be those who will argue that a 246kg (wet), 104bhp adventure bike is still too large but, in reality, it feels commendably compact, if not exactly small. It’s still a bona fide GS, so you need have no worries on that score, just a bit smaller and more manageable than its boxer-engined stablemates.
There’s a lot of competition in this segment, much of it very good and worthy competitors for your money. Really, what it comes down to is what badge you want on your petrol tank. The likes of the Honda Africa Twin and Transalp, Husqvarna Norden 901, KTM 890 Adventure, Suzuki V-Strom 800 DE, Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro and not forgetting the very off-road-focussed Yamaha T7.
What the F 900 GS Adventure has in common with the previous F 850 GS is excellent comfort and near-perfect road manners, albeit in a rather neutral manner; if you’re expecting fireworks, then you’ll be disappointed but, then again, that’s exactly what many riders want – or don’t want, in terms of butt-clenching dynamics.
Even with the 21” front wheel, the steering feels neutral and the bike is stable and inspires confidence when cornering, something it has in common with all GS models, irrespective of the engine size. The best you could say about the handling is its predictability, although that leads to a sense that the rider is slightly detached from what the bike is doing. It’s perfectly competent but just not terribly exciting.
Even though the non-Adventure F 900 GS model has lost 14kg over the previous F 850 GS, the 2024 F 900 GS Adventure is little changed, weight-wise, from the 2021 F 850 GS Adventure (I know, confusing, right?) but there is a 14bhp power-hike so it should feel faster and it probably is but it’s so well behaved and the power delivery so linear and without fuss that it doesn’t feel that fast, until you look at the speedo. Perhaps the word is, benign?
Generally, you’ll have no issues with the build quality but it’s getting more and more noticeable how much plastic is being used on the modern BMW. The shrouds around the tank, and forming part of the fairing, protecting the rider, feels a bit flimsy and not at all as if it would survive much of a spill to look rather second-hand.
There are absolutely no complaints about the switchgear, which remains some of the clearest and easiest-to-use in the segment and, no matter your thoughts about the inexorable rise of the TFT dash, that on the F 900 GS Adventure is clear and well laid out.
As with all BMWs, there’s a big difference between the basic F 900 GS Adventure and the one with all the extras you might need. The basic price is in the region of R250,000. If you want; cruise control, keyless ride, preparation for navigation systems, luggage holder, centre stand, LED auxiliary lights, Pro riding modes, quick-shifter and Dynamic ESA (electronic suspension adjustment), these are all bundled under the Ride Pro pack, which will add another R43,700 to the price.
And then, of course, you’ll have to add luggage – panniers and top box – which could easily add another R20,000. There are lots of other official BMW options to choose from so it will be easy to push the price over R300,000 and it doesn’t matter which way you look at that, it’s a lot of money.
And this is where the questions come in. With a lot of [very lightly] used adventure bikes on the market, often with luggage and other options thrown in, why would you buy new, especially if you can save hundreds of thousands of Rands? I would put it out there that there is not a lot of difference between the ability of a ten-year-old F-series adventure bike and the 2024 F 900 GS Adventure, no matter that you tell yourself your ability really needs the latest and greatest with all their technological advances.
Another question the F 900 GS poses, in line with all its direct rivals, is why would you want to buy anything bigger and even more expensive? Does the R 1300 GS really have that much more ability than the F 900 GS?
Longevity is another question; I mentioned earlier that the F 900 GS Adventure feels more plasticky than earlier models, especially around the tank/fairing construction. How well will this stand up to a crash or, at the least, how will it stand up to being really put through its paces off-road, along properly rough trails that will shake out the rider’s fillings? All that plastic is going to start rattling and squeaking at some point.
That all sounds rather negative, but they are relevant questions, especially those around cost, as more and more of us feel the pinch in the current economic climate.
The BMW F 900 GS Adventure isn’t a small bike, although it wears its size well and, with low-seat options, it would be perfectly manageable by shorter riders. It’s beautifully balanced, the engine has punch, character and smoothness to recommend it, and it’s comfortable and well-equipped.
Styling-wise, it isn’t terribly successful to my eyes; it looks as if different elements were designed by different teams, none of whom spoke to each other during the design process but I accept that this is a subjective topic. In an ideal world, it would be ability that would be the defining factor of any bike but, inevitably, looks come into the equation as being of equal importance.
On no front does the F 900 GS Adventure fall short against any of its rivals, but neither does it do anything measurably better than those same rivals. It really does come down to which badge you want on the tank and how much you are prepared to pay.
For more information on the bike featured in this article, click on the link below…
