2007 BMW F650GS
How I acquired this bike
After about 10 years of riding single-track dirt and still a few road miles, I wanted something that was both street and dirt worthy. Of course, I knew a motorcycle that was large enough to be street worthy wouldn’t be good for single track After seeing and sitting on a BMW F650 at the International Motorcycle Show in Seattle I wanted one.
My friend, Barry, happened to have a ’99 F650 he wasn’t really using and offered to sell it to me. I flew to TX and rode the bike home. By the time I got home I totally loved the bike.
In Early 2007 after adding about 40,000 miles to that bike I heard that BMW was going to discontinue the F650s and Barry presented an idea. He suggested since I would be getting a new F650 within the next few years I better get one while they were still be made. His plan was for me to buy it from a dealership near him in Shreveport, LA, I could have the items I wanted to be added to the bike sent to him and he would install them for me. I would then fly to TX and we would ride to Daytona, FL for bike week.
The plan came together well. I took care of purchasing the bike over the phone and had the dealership send the seat to Rich’s Custom Seats in Seattle. At Rich’s the foam was removed, replaced with a gel pad and sent back to the dealership. Having the seat cut down was so I could touch the ground with the balls of my feet.
Engine guards, top box, and jesses boxes were added to the motorcycle and it was ready to go. After flying to TX Barry and I were on our bikes and riding to FL.
Adventure bikes weren’t common in FL yet and we were both on Adventure bikes. When we went to the Supercross Races we attracted a crowd in the midst of the sea of Harleys in the parking lot. So many questions were asked.
The plan worked great but it was too early for me to ride it home with the snow and ice on the roads in the northern states. The fix for that was for me to fly home and in a few months, Barry would ride the bike to WA state and then fly home to TX.
It all worked out well, we had a terrific time and I have enjoyed many miles on it since.
About the bike
The BMW F650GS is a Single-cylinder 650cc, liquid-cooled motorcycle produced from 2000 to 2007 in Germany as a dual-sport/enduro motorcycle. From 2004 it had several advanced technology features with computer-controlled Fuel Injection, catalytic converter, ABS, high compression ratio, and twin spark plugs.
To create a lower center of gravity the fuel tank is under the seat. The false tank (where a conventional fuel tank would be) houses the remote oil reservoir, the airbox, and the battery. The bodywork was redesigned making it sleeker with a more dirt bike type of look.
This bike has a 4.6-gallon fuel tank and with my style of riding, I get 70-75 mpg. I can go a distance before needing to fuel up, which is important to me.
A few other specifications that are important to me: Seat Height 30.7” (before it was cut down), Claimed Dry Weight: 388 lbs, and with a lot of these bikes sold, there is a large variety of aftermarket accessories available.
For me, this bike is very adequate on dirt or gravel roads but a little big for actual trails although two-track is OK as long as it’s not technical. For a larger, much more aggressive rider the suspension probably wouldn’t be good enough with only 6” of soft travel. It’s comfortable for long-distance travel and the Jesse boxes I added gives me lots of luggage room.
It didn’t take me long riding this bike to realize this F650 wasn’t as comfortable on the pavement as the ’99 F650. The ’99 had a bigger windshield, which accounts for the difference in comfort level. With wanting to ride more dirt with the 2007 I didn’t want too big of a windshield. The 2007 might be less comfortable than the ’99 but it is better on the dirt. There are always trade-offs with motorcycles like this and I enjoy this bike a lot.
Even though BMW discontinues the F650GS in 2007 they reintroduced the single cylinder in 2008 as a G750GS and introduced a twin cylinder as an F650. Presently there isn’t a BMW 650 but there are 750ccs and up.