f700gs for adv touring

[Joseph42s]

Any reason to take a f700gs and build out an off road touring bike? ITs cheaper and lighter then the 800. The sertao looks terrible.

Just looking at my options to unify my bikes. Currently I have a 03 Dakar and 11 Husky TE 310.

[damasovi]

why not?? I just saw this bike and I like it, add the must haves for you and go! Some will tell you it is better to just buy the 800 or even the 1200 but, why do you like it? I guess you have a reason.

I would go the 700 way instead of the 800 simply because it fits me better and that no spec sheet will tell you.

just my 2 cents

Damasovi

[roundtripping]

Originally Posted by Joseph42s

Any reason to take a f700gs and build out an off road touring bike? ITs cheaper and lighter then the 800. The sertao looks terrible.

Just looking at my options to unify my bikes. Currently I have a 03 Dakar and 11 Husky TE 310.

If you're looking to do offroading beyond fire roads and well behaved two track, turning a 700GS into a more capable offroader can quickly get very expensive.

[Wolfgang55]

Buy a 4-5 yr KLR & do the up grades for less than 2k. The RTW.

[modeselector]

Originally Posted by Joseph42s

Any reason to take a f700gs and build out an off road touring bike? ITs cheaper and lighter then the 800. The sertao looks terrible.

The 800 is not any better of a platform to build upon-I say go for it!

[greer]

Instead of Thumpers, go to GSpot, then Parallel Universe to read all about the F700/800.

Good luck with the shopping, and welcome to the forum!

Sarah

[roundtripping]

Don't get me wrong, I ride and own a BMW but it's going to be quicker, cheaper and a whole lot less head ache to just buy a KTM 990 (or 690 if one lung is your cup of tea) than to make the 700 as offroad capable as either of those bikes.

[Joseph42s]

I think the KTM's are uglier then anything else on the road. No offense. I think KTM's in general rock. Just the adventure bikes look terrible.

My thoughts on the 700 was that it was cheaper and if you are going to put a few k$'s into it why not start with a cheaper platform and build exactly what you need, or just piece meal. Plus its 50lbs lighter. After pushing my 03 Dakar up hill the other day I was thinking that 800 would be pretty hard to push up this hill. The battery died (I think), But that is another story all together.

KLR is an option. For this reason. I mean how do you argue with this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?featur...&v=Zibj7KnjClk

[jon_l]

Originally Posted by Joseph42s

My thoughts on the 700 was that it was cheaper and if you are going to put a few k$'s into it why not start with a cheaper platform and build exactly what you need, or just piece meal. Plus its 50lbs lighter. After pushing my 03 Dakar up hill the other day I was thinking that 800 would be pretty hard to push up this hill. The battery died (I think), But that is another story all together.

According to http://www.bmwmotorcycles.com/us/en/index.html the 800 is 5 kg heavier (214 vs 209). That is 11 lbs. not 50