SuperBike Magazine

I've downsized a little this year in terms of long term test bikes. Rather than go for some full-blown mega-power superbike, I've opted for something a little less frantic. Since the majority of my riding time is spent in and around London, I've borrowed BMW's new lightweight naked roadster, the F800R. I picked it up from Vines in Guildford in early May, and it's been painlessly carting me about with zero effort since.
There's a gallery of images here too.

August 10th
A week's holiday and a busy spell in the office means I've not got too much to report. But the new Metzeler rubber is impressive so far. There does seem to be a little more grip from the rear, although I've still had one minor slide, so I reckon it's more to do with the chassis geometry and long wheelbase than the tyres alone. More soon.

July 31st
Well, the F800's had a good run out now, taking me home from a trip to Bruntingthorpe in a proper hurry. It was a horrendous day, and the rain even squeezed inside my fabby new Streetguard 3 BMW Goretex suit. I'd left the storm collar off, and the rain was so intense it was coming over the top of the main zip and down my front. Yuk. However, the Metzelers are now well and truly scrubbed in, and ready for action...

July 28th
God bless my chums at Big CC Racing. Lynn and Sean helped me out this week, both with a nice dyno run on the F800R and fitting my new Metzeler tyres. First up is the dyno: we have a not-at-all-shabby 87bhp at the tyre from the little Beemer: more than I expected to be fair. There's little difference with the Akrapovic race can on: there's maybe one extra bhp at the top end, but the biggest change is simply more noise and 2kg less mass.
The Metzelers slipped onto the BM's rims a treat, and while I haven't ridden on them yet (having vaned the bike to Woking), I'm expecting cool things.

July 26th
I was puzzled as to how I'd sort the puncture, until I remembered the old puncture repair kit I had in the car. I bought it in the US, at Sears or Wal-Mart, years ago, but have never used it, and I didn't have great hopes. But bugger me if if it wasn't 'a cinch' as our colonial cousins are wont to say. Pull the nail out, ream the hole out with the T-bar raspy thing, then use the special tool to push one of the rubberised plugs in place with an enormous smearing of rubber cement. It took a bit of elbow grease, but we got there in the end. Five minutes with my small 12v compressor and I had a steady 32psi in the back tyre. Ace.

July 25th
The Sportec M3s are here, and they sure do look purty. And it's doubley just as well they're here, since I picked up a proper three-inch nail in the back Bridgestone yesterday. First I knew was a flashing yellow light, followed by a flashing red light, as the onboard TPS tyre pressure system noticed the falling psi out back. Classic misery, but luckily I was only a few miles from home, and made it back with 1.4 bar remaining out back...

July 21
Well, I've been speaking to the fine folks at Metzeler UK, and they recommend the trying out of some of the firm's Sportec M3 rubber. To my mind, a set of German tyres on a German bike is the way to go, and Metzeler's Steffen Baum agrees. A brace of M3s are in the post, which is just as well as I've noticed the rear Bridgestone is taking on a most rectangular aspect...

July 17
Not too much to report on the F800R. I've mostly been out and about, putting down the miles, and getting to know the bike's foibles. I've marked the tyres down for some attention actually. The Bridgestone BT014s the bike came on are genuinely okay, and I've had no complaints about stability or grip at the front. But I'm not so pleased about the back tyre. Perhaps it's due to the F800R's long wheelbase (1,520mm), but it's not hard to get to the limits of grip out back. Once when cold, and a couple of times in the wet, the rear has let go and spun up under acceleration. Now the 800 is a torquey little engine for what it is, but it's surprising that the back hoop can let go under such modest pressure. I'm having a think about what rubber to try next...

July 14
Can you think of a better way to start a Tuesday than to go and pick up your fixed bike from the dealer? Me neither. Although, honestly, since I had another F800R as a courtesy bike, it's maybe not as exciting as it could be. Nevertheless, I'm happy to have my satnav back again, and the Akrapovic slip-on can is also very welcome. All I have to do now is sort my life out, get the bike down to Big CC Racing, and see what difference the can has made on the dyno...

July 13
Too busy in the office to get the bike, duh...

July 10
Well, god bless the insurance companies (you don't hear that very often do you?) Vines has finished fixing the wee F800R, and I'll pick it up Monday...

July 1
Woohoo! The insurance wonks have agreed that Vines can get on with sorting the F800. So hopefully I'll be back on my loud, Akrapoviced silver dream machine again...

June 29
I'm just getting on getting on with the F800. Round town, I'm pretty much sold on it: the riding position, power delivery and handling are all near-perfect. My only quibble is the handlebars, which are a little bit wide for hardcore filtering. And while you could always use more power, the F800 is better than you think. I had a few days on a GSX-R750 this week, and while the Suzuki is a superb bike on track, it's less so around track. Euro emissions and the search for higher peak power outputs means the GSX-R makes a lot of revs for its power. So where the F800 is just opening and going, you're left waiting for the engine to make its weary way up past 6,000rpm on the GSX-R before you get strong drive. On the open road that's fine, but in town it's not so good. Neither is the riding position: the GSX-R is by no means an extreme example, but it still puts too much weight on your wrists and keeps your head down. By contrast, the F800 has you right in command, like a dirt bike.

June 24
Well, I've had the estimate in from Vines. My advice is, don't crash into things if you can help it: the total estimate comes to over £2,300. That includes both bent fork legs, a front wheel, fork brace, and some cosmetics. Add in a few hours labour, a check on the frame straightness machine, and there you go. On the plus side, I've got another F800R as a stopgap though: it's white, which is a nicer colour if I'm honest, but it is missing the Akrapovic pipe, and Garmin satnav of my usual steed.

June 18
Well, things aren't looking so good on the 800R front now. I was riding into work last week, when a car suddenly pulled out of its drive, into the road in front of me. Ahaha! As the driver said "it was just like that advert...".

The brakes went on, hard, and I nearly, nearly stopped. The car had totally blocked the road so there was nowhere to go except into the rear driver's side quarter. Erk. I'd so nearly stopped that I didn't even really fall over, but my thumb took a proper wrench as the bars jerked around.

Details were exchanged with the rather shocked lady (I assured her I was okay, having done this before...), and I set off to work, thinking the damage was minimal. Indeed, it was only a couple of days later that JP and Bon pointed out that the forks were bent – quite badly as it happens. Double erk!

So the bike's gone off to Vines for a checkup and insurance estimate. In the meantime, the lady's insurers, Elephant have been on the dog and bone, eager to tell me it's all their fault, and asking if I need anything. Which is nice of them, but the cynic in me says they're just trying to minimise their costs...

June 4 2009
Well, I've had a few weeks with the F800R now, and it's definitely growing on me. Part of that is, of course, down to me getting used to its middleweight roadster ways, but I do think there's a very good wee bike in there.

First up, the engine. Now initially I thought it was a bit short on 'snap'. But I've adopted a coping strategy that involves a bit more use of the clutch. At low revs and speeds round town, just pinging the clutch a little now and then gives the motor its head, and improves the dynamism a treat. Once you're moving at normal speeds, there's enough torque to keep you moving along at a decent pace. I've got my Akrapovic race can fitted now, and that's improved the punch a little, although I've not had the 800 dynoed yet.

The chassis is also working away nicely. I was out on the open road with Simon Roots and his fancy Ducati 1198 last week, and on some fast, bumpy sweeping bends near Oxford, we got close to the 800R's limits. At full chat and with some bumps on the roads, the little BM starts moving around a lot: not disconcerting necessarily, but a novel experience these days. It reminded me a little of something like an old Fazer 600: the basic chassis allowed a bit of wallow and weave and flex, none of which was ever dangerous or unpleasant, but did let you feel you were getting closer to the limits of the bike. The brakes are good, and the ABS is much better than some more basic competitors: even going over bumps while hard on the stoppers doesn't bother the F800 as much as some.

As well as the Akrapovic can, I've also had some BMW Motorrad crash bars fitted. These have already proved their worth, saving me from injury and the bike from worse damage when a car pulled out on me this week. The hefty steel bars aren't pretty, but they kept the 800R pristine while almost writing off the mini people carrier thing I ploughed into. Erk.


12th May 2009
Initial impressions back up what Kenny said from the launch - this is a capable machine, but it's a little short on character at the moment. I'm hoping a slip-on race can and some different tyres will sharpen things up a bit. In the meantime, I'm adapting to its 87bhp twin-cylinder ways very nicely thanks...