Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

RIIIIRIEC:J EJ:{{~ BMW now builds the F650 entirel, in-house. Instrumentation is simple but very clean looking. Ih developing the revamped, new-millennium version of their Fu"duro street single range that the F650GS represents, BMW designers intervened so radically on both technical and styling fronts that it effectively represents an allnew model - one which, as David Robb - BMW Design Chief since 1993 - admits, has been restyled to be more. Duro whHe still Fun, emphasizing the bike's greater off-road potential compared to the previous model. Engine first, and while the Rotax-built water-cooled DOHC four-valve 652cc engine (which differs completely from the 650 Pegaso five-valve motor, which Aprilia commissioned from the same source) retains the same essential bottom-end design with gear-driven counterbalancer, fivespeed gearbox, oil-bath clutch (but with an extra pair of plates, to handle the slightly increased power and torque) and 100x83mm cylinder dimensions as on the old Funduro model, the latest engine has a completely new cylinder head derived from BMW's benchmark M3 four-wheeler performance model. This still employs chain-driven DOHC, though is no longer carbureted as before, btlt instead fitted with electronic fuel-injection like all BMW's other models, twins and fours, This isn't the first-ever customer single equipped as standard with EF1, as BMW would have you believe (the Ducati Supermono was, back in 1993), but it is the first volume production street single to boast fuel injection, with the added benefit of a three-way catalytic converter fitted as standard to the stainless steel exhaust - and that is indeed a ground-breaking feature for a single-cylinder four-stroke. - Cleaner and crisper as a result of all this, as well as 10 percent more economical than its carbie forebear, the F6500S engine now delivers a little more power (50 bhp at 6500 rpm, compared to 48 bhp before), plus a greater spread of torque, with 60 Nm (44 ft./lb.) provided at 5000 rpm - but an important side-benefit of fittting EFI, says Robb, is the way it makes the bike easier to control for inexperienced riders, in addition to being more responsive for seasoned ones. However, the high-compression (11.5:1 as delivered) dry-sump engine obviously has significant tuning potential - just as the old one did, delivering well over 80 blW reliably in Supermono road·race guise: Sainct's Dakar· 20 APRIL 26, 2000' cue I e 2001 BMW F650GS n e "'" winning desert sled produced 76 bhp, says BMW competitions manager Berti Hauser - though he was too modest to also remark that BMW had a 100 percent finishing record in the grueling rally (much more of a high-speed affair than in previous years), whereas their KTM rivals were decimated by mechanical ""isfortune, The F6500S chassis is all-new, with rectangular steel tubes linking the headstock directly to the swingarm pivot, and bolted-on lower and rear subframes, all to create maxi· mum stiffness at not much cost in weight, and in turn reflectjng the bike's competition heritage, by allowing the suspension to work at its best. T)1e 41 mm Showa forks (stiffened with a brace at the top of the sliders) offer 6.8 inches of travel, with 6.6 inches at the monoshock rear, which can easily be adjusted for preload via a 40-c1ick remote knob on the right of the engine cylinder. All this reflects the new model's increased focus on off-road capability, though for those customers intending to do it more often in the dirt, BMW also offers the limited-edition Dakar version of the F6500S. This isn't just a styling job, emphasizes David Robb, pointing to the 21-inch front wheel (standard is 19-inch, with a 17-inch rear on both versions, all of them with wire-laced rims rather than cast), enduro tires, longer 210mm suspension travel front and rear, taUer 870mm seat, high-rise screen and handlebar muffs as eviden~e of serious off-road intent. Total all· up weight, complete with a full 4.5-gallong tank of fuel, is 425 pounds., stopped by a single 300mm front brake disc gripped by a two-pot ~aJjper, with a 240mm rear, both of which can be fitted with A.BS as an option (again, the first time on a street single), though this can be turned off for offroad use, and isn't available at all on the Dakar version. BMW had certain design precepts for the new model, says Robb, most fundamental of which was a low center of gravity and in tum a low seat height - especially important, given one-third of the Funduro's customer base is female. This has been achieved with a 31 .2-inch high standard riding position, but with optional seats offering 30·inch or 32.8inch heights also available at no extra cost at the time of purchase (the lower one has to be fitted at the factory, though, since this entails some chassis changes) - but a key factor in the low-down weight distribution is the location of s the fuel tank now under the seal, made possible by the adoption of a fuel pump, thanks to the EFI. T"'is additionally delivers more stable handling, since it helps concentrate the center of mass close to the cee of gee, and also means that as the fuel. load gets used up, the handling characteristics change much less than if the fuel's parked on top of the engine. In fact, what looks like the fuel tank is in fact the shroud for the fuel injection throttle-body's sealed airbox, while Robb's team has made a design feature out of the tank location by positioning the remote filler on the right side of the bike, at the rear. The entire more aggressivelooking styling of the F650GS reflects Robb's desire to give "what is, after all, meant primarily to be a fun bike a Jight and sassy character," as weU as "a strong design solidarity with the twin-cylinder OS family, which now has a new, kid brother.» That solidarity means the new small OS model now has not only the technical sophistication of the bigger twins, but also a family resemblance in terms of looks - a fact echoed in the new Funduro's pronounced front mudguard, which however turns with the wheel, so the extra front hugger of the R11500S isn't needed. The new bike's very strong, swoopy yet solid-looking styling personality is a masterpiece of integrated design that even those of more tarmac bent will applaud - this is a motorcycle that was selfevidently conceived as a total package, rather than a collection of parts put together as best possible, and just as the Ducati Monster and Cagiva Raptor have made ongoing benchmark design statements in a very different market segment, so the BMW Funduro has set the design standard for others to follow in the street-enduro sector. Just look at the rear-end treatment, with the triple-purpose luggage rack/passenger grips/lockable storage area, the twin shrouded underseat catalyst silencers (whose removal from the sides of the bike make it narrower and less bul.l

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