BMW F 800 S / ST Review - MCNEWS.COM.AU

New twins born from the BMW stable
By, Trevor Hedge

BMW likes to do things a bit differently. From their Boxer engines through to their duolever and paralever suspension systems, the German manufacturer has never been content to follow the status quo, but instead like to come up with their own engineering developments on their motorcycles.

With single cylinder machines, large capacity boxer twins and four-cylinder machines already well established in the BMW range, the latest engine configuration to roll out of the Munich factory is an all new parallel twin dubbed the F 800.

The Bombardier-Rotax built 798cc engine provides good drive from 3000rpm right through to the 9000rpm redline. Unusually for a twin, the engine is also extremely smooth with very little of the shudders and shakes common to large capacity twins.

The engine uses a weighted third con-rod to help balance the engine and it certainly seems to work. Double overhead camshafts are driven by a toothed chain and operate four valves per cylinder via follower arms. Service intervals for the valve clearances are only necessary after 20,000km.

46mm throttle bodies look after the induction side of the equation and take their cues from a sophisticated BMS-K engine management system that includes an oxygen sensor in its armoury. A long duct at the front left of the machine feeds a large airbox that has plenty of room to move air thanks to the 16 litre fuel cell being situated under the seat.

The BMW F 800 I rode had less than 300km on the clock when I trundled out of Mangatangi (NZ). Early in the ride the engine was still very tight and its performance was a little underwhelming. After a couple of hundred kilometres into a fantastic lap of New Zealand’s Coromandel Peninsula, though, it really freed up and responded to the throttle with more instant urge.

Once it had a few hard ridden kilometres on it, the engine certainly felt as though it delivered every one of those claimed 85 ponies at 8000rpm. A claimed 86Nm of torque at 5800rpm also feels pretty close to the mark.

The F 800 donk is light-years ahead of the recent asthmatic 900cc air-cooled Ducati twins in the SS range. However, with a 200cc deficit the BMW does not offer quite as much pull as the latest 1000cc DS series Ducati twins. It still has plenty of go though and is capable of pushing the needle on the 240km/h speedometer most of the way around the dial.

The large two-into-one exhaust sings quite a reasonable note and if some wrist restraint is exercised a touring range of 280km can be achieved. When flogging the thing mercilessly in the hills, this can come back to around 200 kilometres.

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