Featured The Next Test Ride. Bmw F900xr

Well it took almost 10 days to arrange a test ride on BMW's new F900XR from my initial contact with them (as opposed to 20 minutes for Triumph to sort out a Tiger 900 for me). It was also raining. So Goretex gear instead of jeans and mesh jacket!



So here is the parallel twin F900XR in white (although it looks grey). It uses a bored out F850 engine with a 270 crank and apparently the same frame, so it's not a totally brand new bike like the 900 Tiger but a bit of a reworking. That said, it is a new model in the range and BMW make no secret of the fact that it is aimed squarely at the Tiger/Tracer 900 market.

It has no off-road pretence whatsoever, unlike the Tiger - there's no XC or Rally version, and only comes in road going form. There is a base model and the TE, which comes with a few more electronic goodies, although you can spec the bike up with BMW's usual array of "packages".

This one is in white (not for me) and you can get a sort of mucky yellow gold colour (definitely not for me) or a red one - that would have to be my colour of choice. It's not a bad looking bike, it's relatively uncluttered and has reasonably clean lines, although I prefer the look of the Tiger - really not sure about the tail tidy style rear end on this type of bike.

Dash display is as you would expect, a decent 6.5" TFT affair, which is very clear and the same as in on the R1250GS, together with the clickable multi-function thumb-wheel on the left bar. If you get the posh spec model or package, you can switch to a sport display, which includes braking performance and lean angle.



Well it sounds OK, with a reasonably deep rumble to it and you have three riding modes to play with if you get the top sec on the bike (Tiger has 6 options, just saying ). Rain mode was very smooth and road was fine but dynamic, despite being noticeably more pokey introduced a bit of snatchiness at times but nothing terrible.

The bike feels ergonomically right from the off and it's easy to ride and nicely balanced. It feels quite narrow and reasonably tall, giving you a good view but with the ability to get both feet flat down. I did a bit of slower town/village riding and the clutch is light and the throttle responsive so getting caught in traffic or slow riding won't be an issue for this bike.

How did it go? At first it all seems pretty punchy lower down the rev range. It has more BHP and similar torque to the Tiger but the Triumph felt quicker. The motor seems a bit lazy until you really open up the throttle, but it was smooth if not very exciting.

This bike had an up and down quickshifter but this felt stiff and slightly unwilling compared to the Tiger's so I found myself not bothering with it a few times - it seemed to like shifting down better than it did going up.



On a dual carriageway (the A3) I had the bike at a steady 70 mph and then wound on the throttle to see what an overtake might be like. I managed to get the throttle fully wound on before much occurred and then it all seems to happen at once in the last bit of twist-grip travel, shunting you forwards at a fair old pace. I suppose you might get used to it but I could see that in some cases you would need to back off the power almost as soon as it comes in.



Now the bad bit - it's too uncomfortable - the seat feels rock hard like a piece of wood (the RnineT Racer's seat is more comfortable - honest!) and there is no room to push yourself back as the pillion part of ther seat prevents you moving at all. It's a single piece seat unlike the Tiger and I just felt stuck between the pillion hump and the tank. I'm not a big bloke but it didn't feel right to me.





Niggle number two. The rear brake pedal - the position of it is poor, it just feels to be too low down and I found myself fumbling for it most times, whereas on the Tiger and every other bike I've ridden it's just there.

Would I buy one? No, it's simply not as good as the Tiger and I would say that I was even glad to get back on the old 800, which felt the quicker bike. By the time you've put every extra on the bike you can it exceeds the price of the 900 GT Pro and you still don't get heated seats, fog lights, electronically adjustable rear suspension, (well not one that's as good) all the rider modes and a couple of other bits. Tiger has the better quickshifter too and the better engine.

Mentioned the seat to the sales guy back at the dealers and he admitted that they all thought that when on the test launch in Spain. He then suggested that I could add a comfort seat to my growing list of extras! I figure if you are spending that much on a bike and it's not even comfortable to sit on from the off then you need to look at another bike. The screen was also sh*te. Just like the original screen on my 800 - pushes all the wind straight at your helmet, making it noisy and tiresome on a long trip. No way could you ride with your visor up at over 40 mph like you ca on the Tiger 900.

To add insult to injury, the red bike only comes with a smaller sport screen so you would have to pay extra for the touring screen to be fitted even though it's still crap!

 

The new VStrom 1050 is a bit of an acquired taste!

 

I know, how can you even consider a bike if you can't sit on it?

 

Next on the list mate!

 

True that, not exactly easy on the eye is it?