Two weeks ago, I sold my 2022 BMW G310GS. I am the first owner, and it was nearing its first oil change when I drove it to the wonderful scrap yard in the sky (New Jersey) to pass it on to the next caretaker. Mechanically, functionally, it’s perfect — I just want something than. More power, more cylinders, more ground clearance.
Two days later, I took the train north out of Manhattan for a few hours to meet the seller of this: A 2013 BMW F800GS. Of course, the meeting was just paperwork – I bought the bike. based on a single fuzzy FaceTime call. that plan works great on my Miatawhy not try again?
Personally, the bike was mostly responsive to that video call. The military green vinyl wrap wears a little worse than expected, but it’s a possibility anyway – the factory blue paint underneath is much more to my liking. Tires are also stiffer than expected. Not only are they mismatched, with the front having a much more aggressive off-road track than the back, but they’re also very old in terms of tires – 2017 for the front and 2013 for the rear.
The bike has a warning light on the dashboard for a burnt out light, but all seems to be working properly. The seller mentioned upgrading to LED bulbs, so I’m assuming the problem has to do with impedance differences between the factory lights and more modern upgrades. I will ignore that for now.
In every way, the F800GS is an upgrade over my old G310. That noisy single was replaced by a giant single two cylinder, producing a total capacity of 85 horsepower. The front wheel on my new GS is a full 21 inches, which helps the bike roll over rocks, logs, and curbs better than the old bike, and it carries fuel underneath the saddle — fancy to lower the center of gravity.
Are not that thing low, however, as I discovered when I immediately dropped the bike in the seller’s driveway. The question “Did I just indirectly kill this person?” It was not polite to look him in the eye as he helped me rebuild my bike during my two-hour ride home. For my part, I blamed the cold weather and his oddly steep driving path for the fall.
On the way home, however, things weren’t much better – in fact, my new GS ran a lot worse than it looked. Honestly, this bike is sketchy, almost intimidating to turn, and it needs to be fairly refinished before I do any more long rides. Luckily for you all, that means one thing: A series of heartbreaking blogs, starting with a compilation of all the bugs I’ve discovered on my new bike. Stay tuned for that list coming soon.
