My First Ride on the BMW '04 F650GS

Finally, after a 2year long wait. I've got my hands on the '04 BMW F650GS. One of the best all rounder and best tourer.
Why, F650GS

1) It has a lowest seat height among the BMWs... I'm only 1.57m...
2) maintenence is cheaper (almost half) than my old super 4, mineral oil and 2 spark plugs.. compared to fully syn oil and 4 plugs.
3) Rugged Styling... at least its rugged enuff for me. I loved the scrambler feel.
4) Fuel consumption.. I got a big grin when i topped up the bike. The same amount of money paid compare to my little phantom. This bike doesnt need a super high grade petrol so i get to save on petrol topups.


My First Ride:
The bike roars after starting the engine, wow!! maybe its been 2 years since i last own a class 2 bike.. its kinda loud for me.. You dont have to warm up the bike that long cos of the mineral engine oil. The engine warms faster. Moving off is a little "tocky" which is common for the F650. After 4000rpm is super smooth and less vibration. Pickup is good.. but if you are comparing to the sportsbike.. it does feel a little under power.

The bike is easy to operate and easy to manuver. my smile goes from left to right while riding.. i felt secured and stable on the new ride.

Low CG bike but it doesnt really help if the suspension is set to soft. Its quite dangerous when you are doing a big bend. I've initially set suspension to almost softest due to my height but set it back to original after the scary bends along AYE.
The most scary part for me will be the uturns especially those 2 lane turns.. As i'm tiptoeing to my max and some phobias on uturns.. will try my best not to do uturns until i get my lowering kit. Have cutted my seat by 2cm.. so i assume my seat height is ard 770mm.. need another inch off to settle my phobia.. well at least i know i wont drop my bike.

Heat: All big bike sure heat up easily, same for the F650GS. But I would say its a lot better than my previous ride Yamaha R6 '05 model. As long as i'm not on heavy traffic jam i wont feel the heat even if i'm at low speed for long distance.

Cons of the bike: zero under seat space. not even for a raincoat. but who cares.. I got 3 boxes. good enuff for short trips but i need a bigger top box if i remove the sides for daily riding... Squeezing between cars is doable but i have to proceed with extra cautions.. not very used to such wide bike between cars and i cant afford a fall, repair will be hell for me.

Pros of the bike: Fuel consumption of cos. The first thing i will check on when i've interest in any bike. Still monitoring but reviews shows 100km/3.5liter which is ard 28km/litre at 90km/h constant but as long as i can get 24km/l on highways i'm happy. The lowest grade petrol for the bike is 87. Cant find this grade in singapore thou but 92 at $1.817/litre is cheap enuff.. I pumped at least a 95 at $1.849/litre and occassionally a 98 on my Super 4 which is ard $1.919/litre. Can you imagine how much i save on trips? =]