By chance anyone have experience with a BMW f800 GT?

Kyle_E

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Neighbor is looking to get a bike after a few years without. He'd like something without a chain, and a reasonable seat height (hes around 5'6") hes ridden my S10 a bit, just a bit too tall for him to daily comfortable.

F800GT popped up on craigs list, seems like a decent bike. But thought I'd ask here in case someone has some first hand experience with one.
 

Spider

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I rode one two-up for a week in Spain last year. It was terrific. Pluses are that it is light, very flickable, smooth engine, feels and looks like a real quality bike. The seat is very low...your friend will be able to two foot it at a stop, maybe even flat foot depending on his boots. The belt drive was quiet and smooth, and doesn't require maintenance like a chain. It has a semi-sporty seating position (not an S10, but not an S1000RR either). I liked it enough that I thought about picking one up when I got home, and probably would have if the garage wasn't already too full.
 

Tenman

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There's is a forum for this bike. You can get some low down on them from owners. I went on the Honda AT forum and couldn't beleive the problems some of them were having. DCT problems and stalling.
 

Squibb

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I run a 2012 F650GS SE as a general hack. It has the same 360 degree 800 twin engine, in a slightly different state of tune to the GT. They don't have an exciting delivery, but are smooth & economical. Early bikes had a few minor issues, but these were soon sorted & mine has been pretty trouble free - just the clutch micro-switch. Check the forum ......... https://f800riders.org/forum/articles.php?c=202

Turning to the GT, I have chatted with several owners - the main gripe was the belt sprocket carrier failing. Easily fixed & I gather the part was later upgraded. All found the bike light & easy to handle, even taking 2-up touring with luggage. All saw the GT as a stepping stone on the way to something bigger & were thinking in terms of an RT next; it's that kind of bike I guess.
 

Kyle_E

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Went and looked at the bike last night. Seller was a jerk so we walked away.

What part of, please do not start the bike before we get there and let us see it start cold is hard to understand? Engine was so warm you couldn't touch it bare handed. And he lied about it. So no point in even looking at the bike.
 

2talltoo

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I had a 800 gas and the engine was sooooo hot on my left boot it was history fast. Loved it but I new I would hate it for the heat. Also the reason I've never gotten orange fever.

The Tenere breathes so well and does many things well that we never even think about.
 

EricV

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Went and looked at the bike last night. Seller was a jerk so we walked away.

What part of, please do not start the bike before we get there and let us see it start cold is hard to understand? Engine was so warm you couldn't touch it bare handed. And he lied about it. So no point in even looking at the bike.
Probably a smart decision. I've had the F800ST as a loaner, but we lived with an '11 F650GS twin for 110k miles or so. Same engine in both, as Squibb noted. The early years of that 800 motor had a tendency to burn out the stator around 40-50k miles. They upgraded it in '15, IIRC and finally let you order just a stator instead of a stator and flywheel package, which was around $1k when ours burned out.

The cooling systems are really marginal for that engine. The coolant reservoir cap just has a small hole in it, no overflow hose. So when the bike gets too hot, it sprays hot coolant out of that small hole. On the GS, that meant strait up in the air and back on the rider. Messy and not pleasant. Ours did not like triple digit riding. We lived in the desert too, (St Geroge, UT, service in Vegas).

With any BMW, it's important to be aware of where your nearest dealer is. Other shops won't work on it, and you need someone familiar with the BMW stupidity in terms of design and requirements for service.

Some bikes are better than others. Ours was a lemon and after the engine burned up and they built a new one from bare cases for us, under aftermarket warranty, it was much, much better.

Your neighbor might find bikes like the Yamaha FZ6/FZ1, MT series of naked standards or the Suzuki Bandits appealing. If he has a budget, get him to do some searches on cycle trader, with just price as a search and see what he finds interesting. Good of you to help him out.
 

Kyle_E

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..........

Your neighbor might find bikes like the Yamaha FZ6/FZ1, MT series of naked standards or the Suzuki Bandits appealing. If he has a budget, get him to do some searches on cycle trader, with just price as a search and see what he finds interesting. Good of you to help him out.
Interesting about the cooling system. Here that matters, glad we took a pass on it.
 
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