BMW F800GT. Non-standard balance

BMW F800GT. Non-standard balance

Despite the GT prefix, this BMW is far from a Gran Turismo, but quite a compact, lightweight and not burdened with excessive comfort and all sorts of technological bells and whistles, like its older brothers, the K1600GT and R1200RT tourers. But it turned out to be even better

Natalya Umnova
Despite the GT prefix, this BMW is far from a Gran Turismo, but quite a compact, lightweight and not burdened with excessive comfort and all sorts of technological bells and whistles, like its older brothers-tourers K1600GT and R1200RT. And it turned out to be even better

BMW F800GT. Price: from 549,000 rub. On sale: since 2013

Photo by Alexey Voznyuk

In terms of roads and distances, the United States of America is associated with smooth straight lines going nowhere. And when you think about the motorcycles most suitable for such terrain, cruisers and tourers come to mind, with small sports tourers like the BMW F800GT being considered one of the last places. However, the reality, both geographical and technical, turned out to be different from the standards. For 3.5 thousand km in California, we drove straight for only 500 kilometers, everything else was inclined along serpentines of greater or lesser severity. It would be much more difficult to move a huge tourer on them than a light and rather short F800GT.

In these same endless turns, tilts and acceleration-braking, you especially begin to appreciate the belt drive, which ensures smooth and continuous transmission of torque (max 86 Nm) to the rear wheel without delays or jerking. Compared to the nervous chain naked F800R (“5th wheel” No. 9, 2012), which has the same engine, the difference is quite noticeable. In addition, the belt is more convenient when traveling because it does not need to be lubricated and tightened.

The in-line “two” under the extensive fairings shows not outstanding, but sufficient dynamics, and in any gear, so that at speeds above cruising (~140 km/h) you don’t always even need to shift down to overtake. Of the six gears, three are the most popular: second-third for driving around the city and sixth for highways. There is an indicator on the dashboard that the “speed” is on, so you won’t get confused where and how much to click.

The side panniers stick out beyond the dimensions of the mirrors - you need to watch them carefully, otherwise you might not be able to get out of the gate or hit the next car

BMW engineers have found the optimal wheelbase length for the F800GT: it's compact enough to weave through lanes in traffic and generally not be a nuisance in the city, but long enough to maintain a stable course at high speeds. This is also helped by the steering damper that comes as standard. The rigid chassis allows you to fearlessly roll the motorcycle into turns, and on the straights it keeps the device from shifting on the longitudinal seams and markings - you don’t notice them at all.

The trunks don't fit one person's luggage for a two-week trip, much less two people.

While the “jitishka” fork is not adjustable in any way, the spring of its rear shock absorber is clamped manually, and to change the rebound force there is an electronic ESA system: with a button on the steering wheel you can change the mode from Comfort to Normal or Sport. At “comfort”, the suspension logically becomes softer, so that small bumps and roughness of the road become less noticeable. In sports mode, all the pebbles are acutely felt, but control over the motorcycle in general and the behavior of the wheels in particular increases. A “normal” shutdown is something in between. It must be said that the noticeable difference in the behavior of the F800GT in different modes is directly proportional to the difference in the quality of the surface and changes in the track format. If you drive all the time on an equally flat, slightly winding road, then there is no point in touching the ESA button, unless out of boredom. But if the landscape often changes from straight lines to steep serpentines, or you drove from your dacha through the city to the race track, and along the way you regularly came across long pieces of torn off asphalt, then ESA will help make your trip safer and more comfortable.

You can tighten the shock absorber manually

By the way, about comfort. The riding position on the F800GT is standard for this type of motorcycle and will suit a variety of riders. The seat is of medium softness and width, its comfort is enough for 2-3 hours of driving, and then the butt or back still gets numb, depending on what. The ability to fidget back and forth helps a little if you are driving without a passenger, whose seat is almost more comfortable than the driver’s. Although after a couple of full days on horseback, your butt takes on the shape of a saddle, and you stop paying attention to it. During a long drive, your shoulders and legs don’t become numb, your arms don’t get very tired, only at speeds above 120 km/h does a small rattling sound begin on the steering wheel, which then causes your hands to shake slightly, and sometimes your fingers to go numb while driving. In this regard, the super-efficient engine - 3.5-4 liters per 100 km at a speed of 100-120 km/h (with increasing speed, consumption also increases) - plays against riders, because “justified” stops for refueling rarely happen, once every 3- 4 hours: I would like motorcycle trips to be as balanced as the BMW F800GT.

ABS brakes are predictable and easy to see

SPECIFICATIONS

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Some of my comrades in Tyrnet really put me off, so I decided to write a review of the motorcycle, which, in my opinion, is one of the most underrated motorcycles in the BMW line, and indeed in its price category and class. For me, there has always been only one BMW motorcycle - the R nine T. I had my eye on it for a very long time, but when I finally managed to ride it during a test drive, there was no limit to disappointment - it turned out to be narrow and extremely uncomfortable. During the same test drive, the Germans let us ride in hefty tourist “suitcases,” sports cars, and plastic F-s. Last year I spent quite some time watching a colleague’s F800ST, and its disgusting exhaust (never install Two Brothers on an eight hundred BMW - it’s just terrible) always set me up against such a small cubic capacity. However, after riding the orange F800GT, I somehow immediately realized that this was the ideal all-around motorcycle.

Without thinking twice, I contacted my acquaintances in the States (when you have acquaintances in the Vladivostok customs, you forget about the European market and ordered myself a “clockwork orange” with hefty trunks.

The first ride turned out to be hot: not only was it 32 degrees outside, but the whole motorcycle felt like it was hot. As soon as I put it in the garage, I began to examine it, and immediately realized what the secret was: for some reason, the heated handles were set to maximum. Well, thank you, the previous owner was a friend.

As I tested the motorcycle, I never ceased to be amazed at how strange it was driving: if you change gears around 3.5-4k rpm, it is completely reluctant to pick up. I started trying to drive not like a cruiser and rev the engine normally and - lo and behold! – the devils came to life in the motorcycle.

More precisely, they came to life in me. As I later realized, the experience of driving large and heavy motorcycles leaves its mark, and when there is no such weight limit, and immortality is in the mind, then complete inadequacy begins. The worst thing is that the F800GT is equipped with a shitty cloud of electronics and familiar moments like the need to constantly think about braking style, monitoring the grip of the rear wheel on wet asphalt, are somehow immediately forgotten, instilling in you excessive confidence in your abilities.

G-Tiha allows you to do a lot: in sharp turns you can drag it like an obedient dog in crazy close proximity to the asphalt, open the trigger at a traffic light without fear of capsizing, take it with you on a long journey, and in an emergency, just hold the brakes and trust it to save your carcass.

Having driven a real touring race car as a passenger last year, I wasn't particularly impressed with the acceleration (the M90 ​​accelerates just as well, if not better, from any traffic light), but the brakes that make you hang on your seat belts every time - that's what What struck me the most about “touring” was this. Now I understand that BMW's excellent Brembo brakes with ABS are what all motorcycles without exception lack. For the first time in my entire life I felt COMPLETE confidence in the brakes.

No, of course, I rode Hayabusa and Fireblade, but they, like very obstinate bitches, always make it clear that you shouldn’t play with them, and “orange” allows everything. Moreover, the joy of braking (yes, this does happen) makes idiots like me brake at the last moment, and the later, the funnier. It sounds dangerous, but in fact, when braking, for example, from a comfortable 110 km/h in the city, the F800GT without straining stops at about 2/3 of that “interesting” braking distance, which my sick eye lays down.

A lot has been written on the internet about the fact that it doesn’t have a sharp pickup at the bottom, but, in my opinion, all this is some kind of very incomprehensible drive: this allows you to reduce the work of the clutch in the aisle to almost zero, plus it makes city driving incredible comfortable - you spin up to 3 thousand from a traffic light, don’t break away, drive extremely calmly, but the cars standing at the traffic light still end up far behind.

I thought for a long time why the Germans chose such a strange decision, until I remembered one episode: one day in April I was driving through the suburbs of Hannover by car. I drove in accordance with the limit of 60 km/h (being a one percenter in Germashka is very expensive). At a traffic light, a group of guys on sports cars stood behind me - three eradins and two S1000RRs. Everyone was in full gear, cheerful, joyful - clearly they were out for the first time this season. I left the traffic light very carefully, looking in the mirrors, pressed against the right side of the roadway - they are not overtaking, they are also driving 60. Two lanes began in the same direction, I changed lanes to the right - they are not overtaking (the same limit). This began to unravel me in a childish way: if I were them, I would already be folding the asphalt like an accordion under the rear wheel at the first cosmic speed, but they wouldn’t. Germans. They ride on super-strong vehicles and endure.

This is precisely the kind of nation that created this motorcycle: it can do everything, but prefers to behave docilely. The fan of this bike is just normal: you don’t have to constantly think about various pseudo-racing crap - it will go into a turn on its own, it will tell you when to switch, it will protect you from oncoming air flow at high speed, and in general it’s very cool to just ride on it. You choose a direction and go, being completely confident in the motorcycle.

It is not for those people who love catapult-like acceleration riding on a huge roaring direct-flow engine (I confess), and generally drive “on the edge”.

This is a motorcycle for riding. It rolls (90 “horses” is still no joke), it’s easy to drive, you can load it with a set of things for a couple of weeks of travel, but there are no bonuses of a “suitcase” for tourists, such as climate control and a huge trunk.

If anyone has read "Three Comrades", then the F800GT is the same Karl - inconspicuous at first, until you discover its true essence.

It’s just a pity that it will be most comfortable only for people up to 185 cm tall =(