New F800GS ADVENTURE!!!

It's curious....

The number of people who own a DR and an F800.

I think it's because there is no "one bike does it all" solution, and that when you get down to the basics of what you want from them they each do well what the other wont do.

Most people with a DR want more power and better handling, but not at the expense of off road ability.

Most people with the F800 want more off road ability but not at the expense of power and handling.


If you level the playing field, by doing what I did with the suspension upgrades, the 2 bikes are not so dissimilar.

Call me spoiled but I have both and I enjoy them. I wish I had more time to ride the DR400.

For the money 1 f-800 GSA, or a nicely modded brand new dr650 and a used 990 adventure. 18k can buy a lot of bikes.

For a guy who grew up riding in the dirt, the 800 would be a liability for me. If I was to buy a big adv bike, it would have to be able to handle serious offroad abuse and not bend shock bolts/frames. The big ktms are the only real option. For serious pavement riders,and smooth fire roads, I'm sure the BMW is fine.

When riding offroad, my dr650 is always ahead of the beemers.

Here we go.....

These threads....hey, if you want to land an airplane on the water, you need floats...if you want to land on glaciers, you might want to use skis, if you want to land on runways be sure to have tires...and so on. Everything becomes specialized at some point.

Comparing one bike to another is an exercise in futility because at this level, bikes are built for a purpose...mostly a single purpose, not like the "enduros" of old that you could ride down trails, strip the lights off to race and put them back on to go to school.

Comparing a F800 to a DR is silly, two different bikes built for two different applications.

If I'm taking a ride down to Mexico for a week or so, I'm taking the F800 because I can carry a lot of stuff with me and it goes just about everywhere I want it to within reason.

If my friends are going down to Mexico to do some single track and trail riding, am I going to take the F800...heck no...I'm taking the KTM 350 XCF-W....lightweight, nimble and a bike at the top of it's class for what's intended.

So what bike is better...well both and neither, just depends on what you're up to.

Been around a long time...Chevy vs Ford, Honda vs Yamaha, Smith and Wesson vs Colt, Coors vs Budweiser and this vs that. All have strengths, all have weaknesses and none are good in every situation.

In the end, who cares what you're riding, drinking, driving, shooting as long as you're out doing it and having fun.

Last night I read where the F800 GSA sucked because the new 6 gallon tank made its look too wide....stupid comment. I don't think you'd really care how wide your bike looks when you run out of fuel 100 miles from the nearest gas station.

So, before you by a bike, ask yourself what you really intend to do with it...be honest...and then find a single bike that best fits that category and don't badmouth all the other bikes that don't because it just might be that they were built for a different purpose.

Just to add to this, I had a F650 GS which I would push the bmw envelope along and point it up single tracks and was always was side by side with my mate on his DR.. So that sort of stuff just depends on the rider..

So the f800 would be better for it as I wouldnt have bottomed out the suspension as much or would of been able to jump it better etc.. but it still did it.. and it was a bit more tricky than my KLX 650 for eg: but if you want/need it to go through whatevers in front of you then, it will do it.. usually depending more on what tyres your running (but the tyre thread has been thrashed so lets not go there :) )

So XTZ750 and XRV750 were boat-plane with skies and tires? :huh

BTW if you were in the shops and took a look at the GSA you would notice it is wider not just looking wider and it is due to the larger radiator.

Couldn't be happier with my choice .

traded in the old bike(2012 with 1500miles:eek1) to many tickets. I lost my ass, but I think it was worth it


picking up the new




Its comfy, capable(with the stock scorpions not bad, but needs a knobbier tire), ESA cuts the highway vibes.

The windscreen is amazing, no buffeting or turbulence. But i guess going from a cbr to this any windscreens gonna feel better. It makes riding in the rain fun and the heated hand grips make it bearable.

The Bigger fuel tank adds range for sure, I go maybe a week or two without filling it up and Im on it everyday.

It in my opinion is probably the best mid on the market right now

And the fact that I can finally get my girl to ride, and that it changed her mind about motorcycles altogether...well

The number of people who have a DR and have asked me about the F800 would suggest the opposite. They want to do the same thing with both.

They see the GS as being the answer to what they don't like about the DR.

Maybe it is, and maybe it isn't. It depends which part about the DR you don't like.

But as I say, if you buy the GS because the DR only does 80% of what you want, you may lose a lot of the 80% chasing that 20%. It may not balance the scales to your liking.

Horses for courses. You'll never know for sure until you've owned both.

Nice One... so is the bike.. hehe

You chose to ride the bike? Jay-zus, you need help!

Happy trails to you and yours!

am i missing something ?

Funny reading this thread, if you want to blend the attributes of the f800 and the dr650 you should be thinking about the sertao. At 390 lbs and 50hp it's right there in the middle.

ahhhh this guy gets it i see what you did there

why they are comparing a 800cc with a 650cc i have no idea, you hit the nail on the head. you want to compare put the 650cc bikes together.

if you want a lighter more offroad bike then you would get one, but im guessing people would get the 800gsadv because they want the comforts it offers for long rides. but what would i know

obviously.. everyone is referring to you as being one lucky bloke as your mrs is hot

No, clearly you don't.

As discussed previously, a lot of people with the 650's want to UPGRADE - ie, take a step forward or upward, transcend to a new level of awesomeness, GET A BETTER BIKE.

In short, depending on WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITH IT, it may just be a heavy, poorly suspended bucket of shit.


Is that clear enough for you now? Do I need to break it on down some more?

If you were going to drop the coin on the F800GSA and get a bike that weighs as much as the 1200, but performs just like a 650 I think you'd be pretty disappointed.


I know I was. But clearly you GET IT, or you have a much lower expectation level.

They don't perform like a 650.. the twin doesn't feel like your riding a washing machine down the freeway, more like a bum massager..

Honestly though, the suspension is better than the G650 and has more upgrades available to make it great! Plus the power difference is heaps 31hp makes a difference..

still though, its short of 150hp ahem "KTM 1190 which weighs the same" cough.. lol

I did drop the coin on the f800GSA, Bikes f**king awesome.
and i like that fact that i can right now without a damn thing done to it take it around the world

not buy a 650 suzuki and them spend the time buying parts putting it together so you can go around the world

plus the bmw is a goodlooking bike and the suzuki dosn't do anything for me

but whatever gets your P*&&y wet

all i was saying you can't compare a f800 and a drz650 there different classes of bikes
but if you compared the gs650 with the drz650...get it

AH YES...but With great power comes great responsibility and a even bigger headache

lol spoken like a true man who chases the high maintenance ones...

BMW included..