“It somehow fails to spark any curiosity”
Seat
There’s a choice of seats and heights. As it comes it’s higher than the R1200GS, the Triumph Tiger 800 XC, and the Honda Africa Twin’s standard setting. This gives you a good view over traffic, but makes it difficult to get your feet down if you’re stuck in a rut off road.
But the big thing about the F800GS’S seat is that it’s firm. It’s not comfortable – not like an armchair is comfortable – but it doesn’t get worse as the day goes on. And it’s in keeping with the bike’s straightforward, flab-free nature.
Luggage
The GS world is heavily populated with metal boxes. F800 owners are just as likely to attach panniers and top boxes to their bikes as R1200 owners. The advantages are many: they’re relatively secure and dry compared to soft luggage, and there’s a lot to be said for the convenience of being able to leave some of your gear in a pannier rather than having to unstrap everything and take it with you. And as the choice of hard luggage for adventure bikes broadens, the value for money seems to be improving.
But despite these practical advantages, I find I’m increasingly disinclined to attach hard luggage to bikes; indeed, I’m often the one taking it off and leaving it indoors, preferring instead to use whichever combination of tankbag, tail pack,
Screen
The standard screen is OK, but it’s very short. Powerbronze do a lot of screens for a lot of bikes – different heights, different tints – and this taller alternative for the GS proves the quality of their design and manufacturing skills. Simple to bolt on and highly effective in use, it’s just under £100 well spent. It takes a bit of wind pressure off your chest, meaning that on longer, faster rides you don’t need to use so much strength just to stay put. rucksack, rolltop drybag etc seems right for the occasion. I hate lugging around part-empty boxes, and don’t like the way they can compromise filtering and make parking unnecessarily tricky.
After some fiddling around with alternatives, I settled on my trusty old Wunderlich Elephant tankbag and BMW tail pack, which are big enough to be useful but compact enough to be unobtrusive.