NEW AND RIDDEN: BMWF900R
As you’d expect, it’s a great bike. But that price…?
Take one fresh BMW F850GS, chop off its beak and pluck away the knobbles. Stir in a selection of crisp new parts until the mixture starts to resemble a Yamaha Tracer 900, sprinkle generously with S1000XR seasoning and a dash of Honda NC750X, then garnish with attractive price. Serve immediately.
It’s hard not to fall for the new F900XR. The recipe sounds straightforward – remodel the proven F850GS adventure bike into a smaller version of the S1000XR, the bike that defines the modern high-rise sports tourer, and use it to steal sales off the hugely popular Tracer (the third best-selling bike in Europe). Yet there’s no sense of reworking or re-purposing about the F900XR – it doesn’t ever feel like a derivative or a make-do model. It’s a gloriously well-rounded motorcycle in its own right.
This becomes strikingly apparent within about 30 seconds on the first encounter. Riding the F900XR is like hearing a new song yet swearing blind that you’ve heard it before. Everything feels natural and familiar. This sensation is helped tenfold by the bike being so manageable and easy to ride. Cast an eye over the spec sheet and the XR’S geometry suggests a ponderous dynamic – the 29.5° steering head
angle is as lazy as a Harley-davidson 883 and at 1518mm the BMW’S wheelbase is longer than the cruiser, too. Yet the 900 rolls smoothly and effortlessly through junctions and miniroundabouts, with that between-your-ankles pivoting thing that Honda are so good at. It’s an adventure-like stance, yes, but there’s no tall-bike vagueness with the trim, slim XR.
We’re riding around Almeria in southern Spain. BMW have picked the location to launch the new bike as it’s the driest part of Europe, and so obviously it’s cold, gloomy and raining. Roads vary from grippy and new to polished and tired, and from dry to drenched. Which is good: it’s like riding in Yorkshire in the springtime.
The F900XR gives enormous confidence, the easy handling at low speed just as apparent when blasting up and across the mountains. Front suspension is by unadjustable 43mm fork, with a rear shock featuring preload and rebound adjustment; electronic suspension (ESA) is an option for the rear and fitted to the test bikes. The ride is a good compromise between comfort, feel and control, and the XR is agile, accurate and effortless. Yet it’s also totally composed: the chassis is sure-footed and secure, inspiring massive faith regardless of weather conditions, surface, severity of turn or wayward goats. I’m sure the sucked-down grip of Michelin’s Pilot Road 5 GT tyres is helping, but there’s no doubting the BMW’S handling. These sort of switching mountain routes are exactly like we don’t have in Blighty, but if the XR isn’t light-footed, accurate and yet totally steadfast on typical crumbling As and Bs then I’ll be flabbergasted. Wheel travel isn’t adventure bike-long but is still generous for a pure road bike, and shoddy surface repairs are swallowed easily.
With ESA there’s the option of the default Road setting or the sportier Dynamic. The difference isn’t huge, but Dynamic definitely makes the XR a tad tauter. The overall performance is more pleasing in Road, however.
As standard the F900XR has two riding modes – Rain and Road – which affect torque, response, ABS and traction control (ASC). Tick the box for Riding Modes Pro and you get Dynamic and Dynamic Pro as well, plus cornering ABS and swankier traction control. Throttle response and power delivery are fluffy and soft in Rain, and the engine feels more natural in Road; there’s a very small off-on fuelling step, but you forget about it soon enough. Dynamic makes things crisper still, but it’s not worth it for the snatchiness introduced to the throttle.
For rolling on and off the gas through never-ending corners Road mode is the obvious choice, and the paralleltwin engine a willing accomplice. Swiped from the GS it has a larger bore, with fatter forged pistons taking capacity from 853 to 895cc. There’s a fettled cylinder head too, and compression climbs to a heady 13:1. Peak torque remains at 68 lb.ft, as per the GS but there’s a thicker spread of shunt across the rev range. It makes for flexible thrust: third gear stretches from below 20mph to the naughty side of 80mph, and with plenty of engine braking the XR scampers across the convoluted Spanish landscape like a cross between a supermoto and rev ‘n’ rip maxi-scoot. Well, kinda. I’m sure you get the picture.
DYNAMICPACKAGE Headlight Pro (daytime running light, cornering lights), Shift Assistant Pro (two-way quickshifter)
ACTIVEPACKAGE Riding Modes Pro (fancy traction, cornering ABS, dynamic brake control, engine drag torque control), heated grips…
COMFORTPACKAGE Dynamic ESA (electric suspension, shock only), keyless ride, centrestand
TOURINGPACKAGE Prepped for sat-nav and cruise control