my name is mwd

Yesterday I took for a test drive the BMW F800ST, thanks to SBW Motorrad. Here’s my test bike:

The bike rode very nice. I think I was slightly spoiled at first by my recent escapades on my Dad’s Ducati 996 – which is one of the top end sports bikes. The F800ST as a result at first felt a little sluggish, but then that’s to be expected.

Anyway, the F800ST turned out to be quite a nice bike. The first thing that struck me was how light it was compared to both my 907 and the 996. I guess the 907 is 14 years old and construction tech has come on a long way. The bike was so light it made cornering very easy, the bike just immediately responded to where I wanted it to be, where as with the Ducatis you need to put a bit of effort into moving it. For commuting and twisty country roads (I managed to find some :) it’s just the biscuit.

On main roads, it’ll buzz along quite fine. Unlike the 996, you won’t find yourself accidentally doing 90+ (I leave that as an exercise for the reader to decide if that’s a pro or a con…), but it’ll happily eat up road and pass most traffic on the A10. The ride position is infinitely more comfortable than the 996 :) Actually, in these terms it met my expectation – it’s easier to ride than the 907, but just as comfortable for eating up the miles. Given the mix of commuting and then heading out on trips I expect to do, the F800ST seems like a top choice.

Other nice touches: hard luggage system and read luggage tray, nice digital display for stuff like fuel (imagine, being able to see how much fuel you have!), and very pretty boot sequence :)

Very tempting, though SBW said it’d be 3 months after ordering currently before I’d see it – ouch!