I tried a 2014 spec F800R and compared it to 'Captain Black'
Posted: Thu May 28, 2015 1:24 pm
'Captain Black' was in for an MOT/recall/tyres and John Clark's loaned me an F800R. It was nippy, flicky, and accelerated beautifully. The ride was fun, reminding me of my old F650 Strada, but with loads more power.
I had been feeling that 'Captain Black' was too heavy to manhandle, and had been wondering about trading down to an F800R. Although I enjoyed my ride on the loan bike, two important factors stopped me.
Firstly, the layout of the controls on the l/h bar. I have a slightly arthritic ball-of-thumb, and there is a big stretch both to the clutch lever and to the indicator switch. Although the F800R's clutch is lighter than the R1200S's, it was a strain reaching for the lever. As for the indicator switch, I had to pull my hand right back until I only had the tips of my fingers curled round the grip; and then flicking the switch either way, or indeed off, hurt the bad joint like mad. On 'Captain Black', however, I use my left thumb less than half as much, because the right flicker and the cancel button are on the right. I'm told that one can get sports levers for the F800R, which lie closer to the grip, but that bloody indicator switch would still make it hard work for me - I got back home with a pain up my left forearm. My fault for getting old, of course.
Secondly - and this is the important but silly reason - I turn heads on 'Captain Black', whereas I wouldn't on the F800R.
I had been feeling that 'Captain Black' was too heavy to manhandle, and had been wondering about trading down to an F800R. Although I enjoyed my ride on the loan bike, two important factors stopped me.
Firstly, the layout of the controls on the l/h bar. I have a slightly arthritic ball-of-thumb, and there is a big stretch both to the clutch lever and to the indicator switch. Although the F800R's clutch is lighter than the R1200S's, it was a strain reaching for the lever. As for the indicator switch, I had to pull my hand right back until I only had the tips of my fingers curled round the grip; and then flicking the switch either way, or indeed off, hurt the bad joint like mad. On 'Captain Black', however, I use my left thumb less than half as much, because the right flicker and the cancel button are on the right. I'm told that one can get sports levers for the F800R, which lie closer to the grip, but that bloody indicator switch would still make it hard work for me - I got back home with a pain up my left forearm. My fault for getting old, of course.
Secondly - and this is the important but silly reason - I turn heads on 'Captain Black', whereas I wouldn't on the F800R.
