F650 GS, any good?

[Steve1200S]

Has any one had an injection F650?

My Mrs (who is very short) keeps talking about getting a bike, and an F650 or funduro has always been top of the list.

Motorworks have a 2000 model for just £1700 with FSH, -

http://www.motorworks.co.uk/vlive/Shop/BikesForSale.php?id=200

So I'm considering getting the whole family to chip in and get it her it for her birthday.

Any input on them would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Steve.

[Ruffy]

They do have a good reputation steve,a test ride will give you the best choice of wether its the best bike for her or not? tim.

[brookes745]

I ran one of these for a couple of years as a commuter bike and I can highly recommend one. Very easy to ride, incredible economy (60mpg!!) but also good fun. You can get a super low seat option if she needs it. They seem to stand up to road salt in the winter with only minimal washing.

Have fun

Ian

[Bikerhoss]

I got one as a loaner, Admittedly I only had it for two days, but I was well impressed,
Even for my considerable bulk, it had plenty poke up to 60mph, pretty breathless after that, but not less than you'd expect from that engine. I did an hour or so on the dual-carriageway at 75mph, and I had a bit of a sore neck, the fly screen did feck all, but I'm 6'1".
It's very flickable, not too softy sprung, and the switchgear seemed solid enough, An old acquaintance had a fairly aged model, and it looked like it coped well with year round use, corrosion wise.
I didn't use it in the dark, so can't comment on the lights, But the heated grips on the one I had were roasting! It had a fairly low seat, so ideal for your wife too
If I had beer tokens to spare for a second bike, I would seriously consider the F650 as a town/commuter/winter bike

[slparry]

I have a funduro, the second I've owned as I really regretted selling the first one. The original ones where built for BMW by Aprilia in Italy, they're' the same as the Aprilia Pegaso except the Pegaso has a 5 valve head and BMW changed the head design to 4 valve. They feature twin Mikuni carbs, twin plugs and twin exhausts. The later GS's did away initially with the twin plugs I think but returned to them later. Switchgear is the same as some Hondas, as are a lot of the ancillary electrics.

The engines are Austrian Rotax units and the bikes design was by a British guy Martin Longmore.

I believe the GS range were all from when production was moved to Berlin. The later G650's I think maybe built in China.

Mine bops along happily enough at 75mph around 5k rpm or so. You can add an extra tooth to the front sprocket if you're likely to do more motorway work, it calms things down, at the expense of some flexibilty in city traffic.

Many who use them in traffic drop the gearing down a tooth to aid the flexibility.

The very early ones (with the indicators as part of the fairing) had a bit of a design gaff in that the front sprocket was only held in place by a circlip. There are a few tales of the circlip popping of and the chain doing all sorts of damage. Never happened to my first one, but I did always ensure I put a new circlip and stuck it down with silicon goo.

The new Funduro has a normal nut on the sprocket, as does the more road orientated version the ST which has lower suspension and a smaller front wheel.

They don't like being laboured and will get quite snatchy if under 3k rpm, however, keep them spinning and all's good.

Mine never gets less than 57 mpg, I understand the injected ones can achieve up to 80 mpg on the motorway! The injected ones are the GS and belt drive CS models. There's a variant of the GS, the Dakar, that has a 21" front wheel in keeping with its more off road stance.

Known issues are the head bearings go off largely because with the oil being in the frame the headstock gets warm and they were originally installed with margarine not high quality grease Voltage regulator/rectifiers can fail, there are pattern parts to replace and the intake stubs can crack with age I think that's about it really.

Handling is really good on them, all in all a brilliant cheap to run first bike/commuter/all rounder.

[Gromit]

Bloody hell Steve - stop it with the really useful info ok? Folk will start taking us seriously.



I had a 650 Scarver as a loan bike once (same motor as the F650) and despite me thinking 'oh great' (in a bad way) once I'd spent some time riding it that day it proved to be a total hoot. Great little engine, really liked to be spun up which contradicted all my prejudices regaring large singles.

[David_S_Walker]

Hello,

I have an 2005 F650GS Dakar which I bought a year ago with just 3,250 miles on it as a stop gap after my K1300S was stolen. Initially I didn't want anyone to know I had one and only went out in the dark or with a heavy disguise.

However, some 4,500 mile on I actually quite like it and certainly the handling is rather fun and has the capacity to embaress/irritate some some sports bikes in the twisties. Being a Dakar it is quite tall but I have to say that I am now quite a fan of it and now that I have an R1200S as well it has been subjected to light off-roading and has proved fairly capable if a tad on the heavy side. Don't fall off and trap your leg under it becasue you won't be able to lift it off yourself - Ask me how I know.

Cheap to run and now to insure as it is now added to my multi bike policy where the risk is taken by the R1200S. General Maintenance is fairly straightforward although when I got I did have it serviced at a BMW dealer so I could get one of their warranties which have proved (unfortunately) so essential on previous BMWs but that is another story for another topic.

Just my opinions of course but so far it has been a good investment.

Best regards,

David

[slparry]

Bloody hell Steve - stop it with the really useful info ok? Folk will start taking us seriously.



I had a 650 Scarver as a loan bike once (same motor as the F650) and despite me thinking 'oh great' (in a bad way) once I'd spent some time riding it that day it proved to be a total hoot. Great little engine, really liked to be spun up which contradicted all my prejudices regaring large singles.

Curtseys

The GSXR1300 Hayabusa owner on the A5104 recently got very upset when me and the mighty little Funduro kept overtaking him the other weekend. On the straights he murdered me, on the bends he was a bit pants and the chuckable Fundy went around the lardy hyperbike like a wasp irritating an athletic hippo

[Daveg2812]

I had a 650 Scarver as a loan bike once

Not a pretty thing though IIRC

[Gromit]

I had a 650 Scarver as a loan bike once

Not a pretty thing though IIRC

You're not wrong Dave - the word 'bogging' springs to mind.

[slparry]

If I had the spare cash I'd definately go for a Bimota SuperMono to play with though

F650 engined special that is pretty

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Bimota+SuperMono&hl=en&safe=off&rls=com.microsoft:en-gb&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=50rXT9C5H4js0gXQpK2kBA&ved=0CGIQsAQ&biw=1141&bih=638

[Daveg2812]

If I had the spare cash I'd definately go for a Bimota SuperMono to play with though

F650 engined special that is pretty

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Bimota+SuperMono&hl=en&safe=off&rls=com.microsoft:en-gb&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=50rXT9C5H4js0gXQpK2kBA&ved=0CGIQsAQ&biw=1141&bih=638

Different, kettle and fish are the three words that spring to mind

[slparry]

If I had the spare cash I'd definately go for a Bimota SuperMono to play with though

F650 engined special that is pretty

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Bimota+SuperMono&hl=en&safe=off&rls=com.microsoft:en-gb&prmd=imvns&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=50rXT9C5H4js0gXQpK2kBA&ved=0CGIQsAQ&biw=1141&bih=638

Different, kettle and fish are the three words that spring to mind

aren't they just

[nab 301]

I had a carbed one back in the 90's , all of the above + the water pump seal/ shaft can wear and leak , it did on mine and gets plenty of mention on forums still... and the oil drain plug threads in the crankcase are prone to strip but there is a repair kit availible.
The only other thing is that "modern" big singles in general incl the F650 have a very narrow power band and light flywheels , fine if you're a progressive rider but not to everyones liking if pottering around, in which case something like an ER6 /versys CB500 might be slightly better.

[Steve1200S]

All sounds good, seems like the right bike for a wee 5ft tall lass.

Spanner in the works though.... i've been looking how much direct access training is these days, anything between £900 and £1200!!! thats silly money.

So I've decided, as she is so small and even in her rocket ship Audi TT doesnt ever break the speed limit, I'm going down the 125 route. I know it's not as cool, but it's cheep and it'll get us out on the bikes together sooner.

So as she probably wont ride it all winter (so it wont have too much chance to rust to bits!) and second hand Honda/suzuki/yamaha 125s are silly money, I'm going to look into a chinese bike.

£900, 3 year warranty, 100MPG and only £100 and one day to get her trained (CBT) sound good to me. Plus if (when) she gets bored with it I havent wasted too much money!. Looking at maybe one of these -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SKYJET-125cc-Sj125-23-BRAND-NEW-BIKE-12-plate-/280886327644?pt=UK_Motorcycles&hash=item416621395c

I'm convined all the parts come from the same factory as the Honda CB125, probably just not as well finished.....