Bike swat 1200 to 800

Not worth the change. I was in your same situation and now I regret it. 50# is not worth all what you give up in torque, comfort in the road, and all the good things your are used to.

So after two R1200GS's I swapped down to an F800GS when I started riding more aggressive offpavement/offroad stuffs. And that's the ONLY reason to switch. In my mind the two bikes are not really bigger/smaller, but tools that favor one kind of riding over another. If you're willing to trade offroad ease for onroad comfort, get the R12. If you're willing to trade onroad comfort for offroad ease, get the F8. Simple as that. There's a host of tradeoffs beyond that (gas mileage, height, electrical farkle power, etc.) but honestly that's the only reason I could come up with that actually made sense.

Figure out what kind of riding you really do, and then get the bike that makes that easiest. Then go out and ride it =)

Good answer, Its a perplexing question. My first Adventure Tourer was a 1968 CL350, so an F8 is definitely a Rolls Royce-Caddy compared to that bike !

LJRAT, absolutely. I'm frequently reminded by those familiar with the old ways that there was once no such thing as a road bike, or race bike, or street bike or dual sport...they were all just bikes, and people made do with what they had. My exwife's first "dual sport" was an Yamaha SRX250, which she took over hill and dale in New England without much problem at all...although when she finally got on an F650GS the experience was familiar yet shockingly easier. The new kit has made things easier...in specific and highly limited ways. This isn't a knock, just an observation. However, it does prompt questions like these, particularly for the GS which is such a utility bike, but isn't really awesome except when averaged (which you never end up doing with a bike...except in one's memory, or at the campfire, or when putting up an ad for the thing on ADVRider =)

+1. Ancillary stuff aside, looking at them both predominantly as "bikes" and the main differences in riding experience associated with them, this is my verdict too.

+10000
the 800 in the road is DOG and unstable compared to the 1200. I whish I had the $ to go back to the 12oo

For those who had ridden both F800GS and the R1200GS, one question please: Is the engine on the R1200GS smoother than the F800GS? The F800/650GS engine is pretty smooth to about 80mph and you can feel some buzzing, wonder if the R1200GS has the same buzziness.

Thanks

1200 is very smooth, 800 is somewhat buzzy at speed but tuning and gearing can all but eliminate MOST of the annoying bit.