BMW F900 XR Test Ride

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Kwacky
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BMW F900 XR Test Ride

Post by Kwacky »

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I got to take out the new for 2020 BMW F900XR. I went to BMW Wolverhampton to use their demo bike. This is the base model with a few extras (handguards, pannier mounts, sports screen).

No one else had booked it for the day so I was allowed to have it for 3 hours, which is more than enough time to get to know a bike. £250 insurance excess signed, licence handed over and then a quick run through the features.

This bike only has two modes: road or rain. You can switch between modes on the move without having to roll off, or clutch in. It's just a press of a button on the right side.

On the left is the thumb wheel for the various features, plus the hazard lights, menu button and ABS switch.

The screen is a large TFT. Very easy to read and to navigate through, You can connect to your phone using a BMW app which allows you to communicate, use SatNav or play music. Nice. I had the screen showing the rev range, with the top line for petrol use. Even when I was giving it some beans the consumption wasn't far below 50mpg, which is needed given that this bike has a small fuel tank. BMW reckon you can get 200 miles from the 15l tank.

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It's not the prettiest bike. BMW have this listed with their adventure bikes but I think it's more of an all-rounder. It's pretty small, it's upright, the seat is comfortable but slightly on the firm side. There's no off road pretence with this bike. It doesn't try to be a sports bike or a sports tourer. Personally I reckon it's probably too small for two up touring but it should be good enough for solo long distance adventures.

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Coming off the AT Adventure Sport the F900XR felt small, but that's like swinging your leg over Kylie after spending the night with Xena the Warrior Princess. The BMW is fairly narrow, helped no doubt by the small fuel tank. It's comfortable and one of those bikes where you feel settled in straight away. The 900cc twin is said be to be tuned to sound more like a V twin but to be honest the sound isn't that impressive. It's ok but the Honda takes some beating (now I've spat the baffled out) and even my little Versys 650 has a sweet howl to it when you're out having fun.

The throttle feels a little on/off at low speeds and shuts off pretty quickly. It's not a issue but it could be smoother. There's hardly any vibration at low revs but you do notice it get a bit vibey when you're giving it some beans.

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I had the bike for about 2 hours. During that time I played with the traffic to see what it's like as a commuter. Filtering is no problem at all. The mirrors are well placed, you've got a decent view from the seat and the bike is nicely balanced to allow you to scare a few dozing cagers.

BMW claim 104bhp at the crank so I was disappointed with the lack of urgency when I pulled away from stationary But the bike won my back over when I was going for overtakes and doing a few roll on tests. You can't call this a fast bike, but it's punchy enough to allow you to have fun on B roads and A roads alike. You can get up to 100mph pretty quickly but it starts to show the lack of power after that.

Handling is really good. The stock Michelin tyres really suit the bike and the well placed bars let you find and hold a line, even when the roads are covered in crap. There's a steering damper on the bike but I can't say what role that played on my test ride, which I guess is a good thing.

The Brembo brakes are pretty strong but the front forks dived a bit more than I would like but they came back up with more composure.

So overall it's a well priced every day bike with decent tech.

It certainly needs a wash :D

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Re: BMW F900 XR Test Ride

Post by C00kiemonster »

Neat. Would you buy one?
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Kwacky
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Re: BMW F900 XR Test Ride

Post by Kwacky »

Maybe but not at the moment. As expected it sits square between the versys and the Honda. But that means it's better than the versys but I don't think it's better than the Honda. I know the Africa Twin is a big bike and maybe not the most practical but its got a real presence about it and its actually fun to ride, in its own strange way.

On the flip side the Versys is also a giggle, but as its my cheap every day bike I really don't care about it. If I bought a new F900 I wouldn't have the same carefree attitude towards it.

So if I was in the market for a do it all bike I would consider one.
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Kwacky
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Re: BMW F900 XR Test Ride

Post by Kwacky »

I forgot to mention I had a call back from the dealer to see if I wanted one of these bikes.

He offered me £6800 for the Africa Twin.

We ended the call.
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Re: BMW F900 XR Test Ride

Post by Rossgo »

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Cracking review. Not my type of bike to be honest and don't tend to read these types of bike tests but Kwacky you do have a way of writing such reviews and i wanted to know what you thought about it. Nice to hear you would consider one if you was in the market but you have a brilliant set up at the moment with commuters to weekend blats

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