BMW F650GS & F800GS “Twins” Thread Index & Links

[Wildman]

Originally Posted by the venturer

Great thread. Thanks a lot, but wanna a bit more with F650GS.
Subscribed.
Ride safe and sound, you all...

You create it, I'll link it!

[the venturer]

Originally Posted by Wildman

You create it, I'll link it!

Hey!!Other fellows, you hear me? Wildman calling you, asking for your setup...
So lazy I am Wildman:)
Cheers.

[skiandbike4fun]

I'm about to buy a 650 GS, but I'm just wondering is ABS worth it? $900 is almost 10% of the price... I'm pretty darn confident in my braking abilities and am having serious thoughts on whether the "Standard" ABS package is worth it at that price... On one hand, I spent that much on avalanche gear for skiing, not that I expected to use it, but that one time where EVERYTHING goes wrong, yet on the other hand, I've spent hours upon hours horsing around on dirtbikes and making tires skid out with over braking and therefore feel quite confident... Is it more of a gimmick, or is it worth all that money and the dealer "talk up"? Any suggestions on what to do? $900 would be a heck of a lot of money to spend on sweet accessories

[the venturer]

Originally Posted by skiandbike4fun

I'm about to buy a 650 GS, but I'm just wondering is ABS worth it? $900 is almost 10% of the price... I'm pretty darn confident in my braking abilities and am having serious thoughts on whether the "Standard" ABS package is worth it at that price... On one hand, I spent that much on avalanche gear for skiing, not that I expected to use it, but that one time where EVERYTHING goes wrong, yet on the other hand, I've spent hours upon hours horsing around on dirtbikes and making tires skid out with over braking and therefore feel quite confident... Is it more of a gimmick, or is it worth all that money and the dealer "talk up"? Any suggestions on what to do? $900 would be a heck of a lot of money to spend on sweet accessories

If you are asking for my advice, I would never ride a bike w/o ABS.
It's such an advantage, on road especially. Your life is far more expensive than 900 Bucks.

[Sutherngintelmen]

Originally Posted by skiandbike4fun

Is it more of a gimmick, or is it worth all that money and the dealer "talk up"? Any suggestions on what to do? $900 would be a heck of a lot of money to spend on sweet accessories

I don't have stats but bet most 650/800 are sold with abs. Look at it as a place to park some money for a while. You'll get something back on resell and perhaps it does save you an incident.

[skiandbike4fun]

Thanks! Atleast with ABS I won't have to wait 7-10 weeks for a special order so I can spend more time dreaming and staring at the bike in the garage before spring comes!

[Catskill]

Just want to say THANK YOU for this Thread. It's a great resource. I still haven't made it 100% through all the links but I'm about to purchase a F800gs. Right now I'm in between a 2010 and 2009 and now I have a list of concerns to bring to the dealers attention about the 2009 recalls so I can ride away care free.

[dirtbound4Max]

Originally Posted by skiandbike4fun

I'm about to buy a 650 GS, but I'm just wondering is ABS worth it? $900 is almost 10% of the price... I'm pretty darn confident in my braking abilities and am having serious thoughts on whether the "Standard" ABS package is worth it at that price... On one hand, I spent that much on avalanche gear for skiing, not that I expected to use it, but that one time where EVERYTHING goes wrong, yet on the other hand, I've spent hours upon hours horsing around on dirtbikes and making tires skid out with over braking and therefore feel quite confident... Is it more of a gimmick, or is it worth all that money and the dealer "talk up"? Any suggestions on what to do? $900 would be a heck of a lot of money to spend on sweet accessories

SkiandBike4Fun,
I know that a few people have already weighed in this but, coming from a guy who's been riding for over 30 years (on every kind of bike, on every type of surface, in every type of weather, AND on over 5 different continents), the cons of having ABS on your bike outweigh the pros and here's why I say that........

1) The Cost!!!!! The same goes for the 800s (about 10% of bike's price!!)
2) The feeling you'll get in your gut when you're breaking hard into a corner or a stop (or behind some jackass cage driver that cuts you off at a stop light) and your ABS decides to do a .5 second chatter / pause because of some little bump (and I do mean TINY little bump) in the road. Yes, that's about .5 second that you could have been actually breaking and slowing down ~ too long! To go one step further, I've got an intersection near my house that has a 1/2 inch bump approximately 25 feet from the stop sign ~ WITHOUT FAIL, EVERY single time I approach that thing with the ABS on, it goes into the Pump / Chatter mode as soon as I hit the bump. To prove that it wasn't just my bike alone, I've tried it on two other bikes with ABS and it does the same damned thing. Also, to prove that the system is WAY OVER-REACTING to the bump, I turned the ABS off and approached the same stop sign at the same exact speed. No problems whatsoever! Imagine that..............
3) The extra weight and lack of user-friendly maintenence procedures
4) One more thing to go wrong when you're deep in the woods.
5) The FALSE "warm & fuzzy" feeling you get from knowing that you have ABS (ie, on slick, wet, icy, or sand covered pavement). The best thing to do is to adjust your riding speed and breaking techniques to the conditions that currently exist ~ not rocket science!
6) Oh yeah, let's not forget the fact that every time you transition from pavement to dirt, you have to stop and turn the damned system off. Forget to do it and the first slick corner you come to will be an eye-popping experience ~ Been there and done that!

On a positive note, it does save me about $60.00 per year on insurance premiums! At that rate, I'll have the money I spent on the ABS System recouped by the year 2022 ~ Sweet!!!!!!!!!!

Long Story Short ~ Do yourself a favor ~ Forego the ABS and spend your money on some REALLY NICE top-loading side cases!!!! : )

The Grain of Salt ~ The cons laid out above are simply the opinions of one rider ~ Mine. Use your best judgement and then be happy with your decision (because buyers remorse sucks!)

Keep'n it Real...................Sean

[mike45]

I chose not to get ABS. The bike I bought was a 09 off the show room floor. I had a ST800 with ABS before and the only times I got it to cut in was when I tried.

[skiandbike4fun]

So yeah, I ended up just pulling the trigger and got what was on the showroom floor which had ABS. I've taken the bike on a couple midwinter rides and so far I'm not so sure it was the best idea, other than the fact that I didn't have to wait another 2 months to special order the bike without ABS. Since I've never had anything with ABS, I'm going to keep it on while on the road, but I will also become proficient at turning it off. Rode it on a little bit of frozen dirtroad and the rear brake was essentially useless. But like Sean said, it does save you on insurance premiums!! On the other hand, maybe someday it'll save my skin and I'll be psyched about it!!!!

[Sutherngintelmen]

Originally Posted by skiandbike4fun

Rode it on a little bit of frozen dirtroad and the rear brake was essentially useless.

Yes - always disable abs when leaving tarmac.

[hookeniggy]

If it were my choice, i would get a bike without ABS, but thats my humble opinion, why?

its prone to break and give electronic malfunctions, if you don't want to.
It spoils true motorcycle riding experience.

But then again, its just my humble opinion

[robhar54]

Originally Posted by hookeniggy

If it were my choice, i would get a bike without ABS, but thats my humble opinion, why?

its prone to break and give electronic malfunctions, if you don't want to.
It spoils true motorcycle riding experience.

But then again, its just my humble opinion

Respectfully, guys, if you want to talk about pros and cons of ABS--which is a great subject, start a new thread. This is supposed to be the Index Thread, where people come to get links to other threads and topics related to the F-twins, only.

Rob in Seattle

[dirtbound4Max]

Wildman,
Thanks a MILLION for putting this thread together for us. I can't tell you how many times I've referred to it and come away happy (not to metion the number of times I've referred it!). Thanks again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Wildman]

Originally Posted by dirtbound4Max

Wildman,
Thanks a MILLION for putting this thread together for us. I can't tell you how many times I've referred to it and come away happy (not to metion the number of times I've referred it!). Thanks again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Je t'en prie! Good to know it's appreciated.