BMW F 850 GS First Ride Review

2019 BMW F 850 GS First Ride Review

Spurgeon takes BMW's new F 850 GS out for a ride to explore the merits and limits of this brand-new machine. BMW's GS line is legendary in the adventure community, but how does the new model stack up against its predecessors? Follow along with Spurg on his first ride review of this hotly-anticipated adventurer.

[khakimzhanmiras]

Same old cheap suspension, cheaper to manufacture frame, Chinese engine, gained 20 kilos, lost a litre of fuel capacity, lost the badass underseat tank. All that cost cutting and still priced close to 1290r or an adventure sports. BMW, you feeling okay?

[jaronard]

If this was priced in line with the Triumph Tiger 800 xca, I think most of the gripes would melt away. BUT, if you look at what KTM is doing with the 790, the only thing BMW has over it is the dealer network.

[paul.vanhout]

Considered this but ended up with the KTM 1090 R. Not much weight difference and the 1090 proven off-road and so far a good traveler. Lacks some of the gizmos but has the essentials.

[cxbkpmf]

Spurgeon is in his element doing bike reviews on the road (or off). Excellent knowledge-share, gorgeously produced, and quite a useful video for someone wanting to know what the new 850 is all about. And no ads? Yes please! BIG thumbs up all the way around!

[musyoka]

"I'm missing a mirror here, we've already had some fun." I love that statement.

[joecool]

Thats a huge price tag...the 800gs is not $5000 less capable. I paid 12 for mine (demo bike) in 2016

[joevidya]

$17k? Yeah OK BMW, do whatever u want. I would rather buy a 2 year old F800 for half the price.

[emacemacii]

It's 2018, anything with BMW badge ensure tons of internet hatred. As a youngish person, I like the improvement on this bike. The F800 with its gas tank tail looks hideously bulbous, I will happily lose 1 quart of gasoline for looks, especially with that new trip computer F850 has. But by far the best improvement is the engine. I have no beef with my phone, my playstation or my Mercedes C-class engine built in China, it's just globalization. But I have real beef with F800 engine's horrible vibration(just google it), anemic sound and power, plus the lack of cruise control. I do agree the F850 front fork would be nice to have some adjustability, but in the Good Ol' USA of base Corolla and Civic costing $20, 000+, the MSRP of this F850 at $17K doesn't surprise me. The Keyless Ride, The nice TFT dash, the LED headlights, the Triumph Thruxton sounding engine, the cruise control, with a bit of typical BMW dealer discount in a year or two, I will happily own this bike.

[PatYouells]

When that Nighthawk 650 rounded the corner that really spoke volumes to the reality of "Adventure" motorcycles current offerings. Here is a $17, 000 BMW that has no adjustable front suspension and is doing the same fire roads that a $1000 30 year old bike is doing. Manufacturers are making road bikes that are often too expensive and heavy to push to the limit on difficult trails. They want to sell you "adventure" but you're really just buying a tall road bike with knobbies. Im not saying these bikes don't have their place, but for f*** sake 17K for a MIDDLEWEIGHT ADV bike is ridiculous. Why on earth would anybody ever buy this when the Africa twin and 1090 are 4-5K cheaper and just as capable offroad?

[progste]

When you think you're doing offroad and a wild nighthawk appears...

[disekjoumoer]

Thanks for the quick review and the little wipe out to make it more authentic, Spurg😜 I have to say that I honestly don't understand some of BMW's decisions these days. The lack of adjustable forks on the 750GS I can sort of understand, even though I can't understand why they purposefully hobble it 10 kw (14 hp) down, but on a bike that is supposed to be able to do off-road in high-tec style, I find almost an insult. Well that and the price tag. The KTM 790 Adventure R is available for pre-order here in Switzerland, and the price is around $15000. I think BMW truly screwed the pooch, jumped the shark etc with this one.

[hillkiran]

@RevZilla I see you riding beside an Africa Twin.
How to those two bikes compare? As far as an Adventure Bike?
I am kind of torn between the two.
I hear the Africa Twin is better on the road, but the 850 is better off road.

(Mitigating factor, I am 5'9" with 30" inseam.)

[spiritrider-]

Really nice, informative review, excellent ride and ride by footage as well, really a nice sense of your ride and the bike - thanks so much for the presentation!

[orangelion]

Will be curious how the V85TT Adventure will stack up in the class. Fully loaded with cases and guards, heated grips, etc.; same weight and similar power, but for $13000. The base model is $12000.

[MDHenry]

So how does the higher center of gravity, with the new old school tank location, feel? Does it have a steering stabilizer?

[dama]

Nice review Spurg. Your offroad bike experience shows and made me wanna ride in Utah and Colorado too. Great job! But if I would already pay south of 15k I would rather go with the R1250GS and hand over the extra $$$. Other that I wanna see you reviewing the Triumph Scrambler 1200 XC or XE down the trails as a long term test bike. Maybe a review against the 850 BMW instead of the R1250GS would make sense considering the offroad capability of the new Triumph. Always like yall's reviews but missed the gear intro for this test.

[maxmmpower]

dirt market seems to be on fire, beemer makes their signature middleweight more, um, pavement capable?! i love that my 800gs feels like a bigger version of my crf250l...

[Vracktal]

Does the rear shock upper mount still bend if you take it off a jump ...

[gerardomusano]

Is this the one with the Chinese engine or is it the 750 ?

[sickunit]

Here’s the question..or request.. F850 wheels mounted on an F800? Tubes 🙄