Cycle News - Archive Issues - 2000's

frr+f;rm h, 2006 BMW i8005/F800ST = ll_ ll- E I ( il cent lndian Ocean coastline, to flat-out runs that explored the bikes' speed (which topped out at an indicated 138 mph) along strai8ht bUI rugged roads leading inland toward the semi-desert, Klein Karoo. It'5 hard after a ride like tfiis not to con- clude that BMW is clever to fashion a unique product for an under-populated, but growinE sectgr of the market, by cre- ating a dedicated range of models rather than detuned or downsized versions ofbig- ger bikes. The 800s are perfectly cagable of nurturinS a customer's developing skills as a rider, from the inexperienced novice all the way to accomplished expert. many of whom will be moving on to their lirst bi8 bike after outgrowinS somethanS smaller. Apart from the less powerful Suzuki SV650 and Kawasaki EX650, there's nothing else out there quite like these two new BMW models, and it's only after riding them you can't help ask yourself - why not? The feel and performance of the F800 duo, is frankly, finer than you have any rea- son to expect with the very comPetitive $l 1,000 price tag for the F800S - the ST coss an extra $900 or so, for which you get a higher-set one-piece handlebar rather than the split'barr ofthe 5 bike. The ST's 'bars deliver a lower stance, a taller screen. a three-quaner instead of the half fairing. a luggaSe rack (but no passenger grab handles like the S has), and spons- tourinE tires mounted on Dynamic wheels derived from rhe R|2OOSI as oPposed to the spons rubber fitted to the S-model's Speed wheels sourced from the Kl2005, Oh, and the front fender is color matched to the ST's bodytvork, instead of being left a plain black, as it is on the S model. Otherwise, the two bikes are mechanically identical, iust targeted at a marginally different kind of custome.. But both have the same impressive build quali- ty for such a reasonably priced product. And no cornerc were cut in delivering the bikes' relined-seeminS performance with immediate yet smooth throttle response, after you've used BMW's annoy- ingly idiosFcratac switchgear to fire up the engine, and savored the subdued, but dis- rinctive, engine beat through the sinSle exhaust. fThe silencer is mounted on the left, which is recognizably similar to one of its Boxer cousint, but still all its own.) Clutch and brake levers are both adiustable, and the clutch action is light and completely predictable - powerin8 off the mark is easy and sarisfying. thank to the unexpected level of pedormance from the paralleltwin motor with its distinctive, articulated counterbalancer (see Twin Topics, page 44). BMW claims a brisk zero- to 52-mph launch time ot 3.5 seconds, and I wouldn't doubt that - though it's the F800S' roll-on performance that's perhaps most imPres- sive - and satisfying - for bikes of this tyPe. Thank to a broad spread of power that stans at 3000 rpm and builds in comPlete- ly linear mode to its 8000-rpm peak, and a correspondingly ultraflat torque curve that varies only by l6Nm beween 1000 and 8500 rpm, this is an extremely easy and invigoraring bike to ride. lt's responsive and torquey by middleweiSht standards. You have no business ever findin8 the 9500-rpm revJimiter, because the sweet- t\ ) BY Aux CarHcARr PHoros BY Ars:nro Mlrnl{u says BMW Motorrad president Dr. Herben Diess, the man who's overseeing the brand's remarkable flow of new mod- els fuelled by its impressive ohEoins growth, with 100,000 bikes set to be built lor the first time in its Spandau fadory in Berlin in 2006. "We wanted to provide a range of bikes one step beyond the entD/ level, which newly qualified riders could enlarge their horizons on." he continues. 'iAnd we also wanted to provide something that retumee riders who've been away from motorcy- cling for a while, and are now coming back to it again, as mary of them are - could enioy and feel comfortable with." So. other venions of the F800 hmily will follow before very long, includin8 both a Naked-R spinoff and Enduro-GS model, but at the press launch held up in the hill country of South Africa's Cape Province, ia was the F8005T touring version and its sponier half-faired F800S sister that lspent a 190-mile day riding on South Africa. The ropoSraphy that we rode on featured eveD/ variely of terrain and tarmac, from ti8ht, rwisty stretches along the magnifi- l rwin-cvlinder BMW that isn't ,t a Boxer is a bit like a Ducatr rr'..,.. -r,v6.6rihn. - +'. - I \"T;"_:l'd;"J:;ilt: new BMW F800S and F800ST, there is now a pair of twins of parallel-twins bear- ing the Bavarian brand's blue-and-white badge making their way to dealerships around fie world. What's next - a Ducati that isn't a desmo? ln crelting these twins different from the others, gMW managemerr is exPloit- ing a gap in the ma.keqlace that they've astutely identified as worthy of cteating an all-new fourth family of modeh - alongside its existing F650 single, R-series Boxer aod K-model four-cylinder products. ''Our aim is to provide a range of bikes which are fun ro ride and have a good level of performance, but aren't as challenging to lers-experienced rideB as our more Pow- erful Boxer-twin or four-cylinder models," I Tha Blrtw lwin lwinsr The fSOOS ond F8oOSI ore BMW twins thql oren'l Boxeri. The 5 is rhe stondord version, while the ST gets q lh.ee.quqrler foiring, o luggoge ro4? (. t t)l 7l 1f I - ? \ \ a) \ I L -t E F liliHi;.i rilir....i.-. .. . \ ll

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