Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/128142
BMWF650CS By months ago), BMW has done rather more than simply stick short-travel suspension and a pair of 0207 Dunlops on the GS and call it a roadbike, which is essentially what they did the first time around with its F650ST predecessor, back in the 1990s. This time, BMW has created what is essentially an all-new motorcycle, whose only common ground with its GS sister is its basic frame design and liquid-cooled 100 x 83mm single-cylinder engine with its five-speed gearbox and gear-driven counter-balancer (producing the same 50 horsepower as the GS, but 300 revs higher ALAN CATHCART PHOTOS BY KYOICHI NAKAMURA ~ MW has a deserved reputation for ~ original thought in motorcycle design (Boxer twin and Flying Brick four engine formats, EFI, Telelever front suspension, ABS, shaft drive and Paralever rear end - need I go on?), but in the case of the new F650CS, this capacity for originality has been focused on the packaging and styling rather than the engineering. In concocting the totally tarmac version of its street enduro single (the F650GS, which was introduced 18 24 FEBRUARY 20, 2002' cue • _ n __ s The F650ST features a Ilquld-eooled, slngle-eyllnder motor, which teeds It's power through a belt tlnal drive. at 6800 rpm, with the fierce-action rev-limiter 500 revs higher, at 7500 rpm). This reflects the only mechanical differences between the two, which in the case of the CS are a flatter airbox and different exhaust system incorporating a three-way catalyst neatly packaged into the unexpectedly good-looking stainlesssteel silencer, as well as altered mapping for the Bosch EFI. However, peak torque is also increased, from 46 footpounds at 5500 rpm, compared to 6000 rpm on the GS, and more than 37 foot-pounds is consistently available between 3500 and 7000 rpm. You'd expect that the bike's sister model, which has at least nominal off-road pretensions, would benefit more from a long, flat torque curve, and yet that curve is both longer and flatter on the CS - or SC, as you might have expected the German firm to dub it, given its decision to use the moniker Scarver (as in "Street Carver") everywhere except in Englishspeaking markets. Not only is this a silly euro-name, but it also completely belies the nature of the beast. For this is very far from being a lean, mean, sporting machine that carves its way through streets like a Supermono on steroids, even if it's worth noting that road racers powered by tuned versions of the BMW F650 motor have for the past two years dominated the Sound of Singles class all around the world. But such sporting credentials as the F650CS has are subsumed within its unthreatening, user-friendly, goodie-two-shoes, soft-edged street style - this is a motorcycle that thinks it's a scooter, not a Superbike. Still, it's one that manages to convey more than enough of the dynamic fun and sensory appeal of real-world motorcycling (as opposed to twist-'n'go transportation) to stand a decent chance of preaching successfully to the unconverted, which its pricing strategy at around 10-percent less than a Yamaha TMax and 15-percent more than a 250 Majesty, will aid in achieving. By its character, equipment and performance level, BMW is posi· tioning the CS as an entry-level model to the rest of its range - not only for first-time bikers, but also as the motorcycle option to trading-up scooteristi. In the process, the F650CS has a good shot at teaching these folks that riding a machine that requires you to straddle the seat with the engine between your legs (and work not only a throttle and brakes, but also a clutch lever and shift lever) is not only more enjoyable and ultimately more fulfilling than sitting perched on a bench above the engine, it's also no less safe to do so. Quite the reverse - for apart from having decent rubber and proper suspension, the BMW not-a-Scarver I had for a sur-