I was at my dealer the other day and speaking with Sheldon, the informative and more than a sales guy we buy our ADV bikes from…and he was telling more about his father who bought the F800 ADV model. Sheldon tells me and I have heard this from other owners, that the ADV F8 is certainly worth the extra coin. If Cheryl and I were going to buy again, and if this version was out we would have bought it over the standard GS. Why? The extra’s BMW have added to this bike as well as the larger tank seem to actually work…such as the almost upright touring shield. I hear that it actually works for many riders of all sizes and has a great mounting location for your GPS.
Larger foot pegs for off road, lower crash bars and the BMW LED aux lights which I actually love how they look, function and how they are integrated versus an after thought.
Add up the extras I think makes it worth the price out the door. I mean we have added to our F8’s wider pivot pegz, touring shields, hand guards, crash plate, crash guards and we have yet to install aux lights because we are waiting on AltRider to release their upper crash bars which is where we will mount our lights. In the end it’s all about getting more bang for our buck. I used to think some of the BMW farkles were cheesy not so functional. Having said this it appears adding the Adventure into the F800 from the factory BMW is indeed using a rider mentality and adding features that many of us have in mind.
This video at the end of this post, I think is a simple yet good review of this bike. After sitting on one at Pacific Motosports here in Richmond, BC, talking to Sheldon about real life reviews, this would have been the bike of our choice if we knew it was coming out when we got our 2013 F8’s. The seat is the BMW version of their comfort seat. I may have to forgo that nicely looking and apparatnly comfy seat for something lower because of the height yet again…
What I would LOVE and stress LOVE to see is BMW be even more motivated to take that stock seat, split into two pieces like the 1200 make is adjustable for the vertically challeneged and then you have near perfection.
So, if you are in the market for a BMW F800GS, I would take a good hard look at this model, maybe dig a little deeper into your wallet, you will anyway when it comes to kitting out your own bike and go out and enjoy….Oh, and don’t miss understand me…we actually love our F800’s.
It was a great move up from the 650GS bikes we owned previously. We are not shopping now, but every 2.5 years we do…so, we are over a year into owning our 2013 F8’s and as usual will always be keeping an eye out for our next bikes. It’s just what I do…inherited the car and bike gene from my dad. 😉
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Advgrrl Motorcycle Adventures & More 
Thanks for bringing up this new bike. I have always been a big fan of factory equipped bikes as it saves a ton of time and money going this route.
Looks like the perfect bike save for a few niggles to make it perfect for me
needs upper crash bars
yes about the factory lower seat-WTF is everyone who rides happy with being 35 inches off the ground. Even taller “older” riders like being able to flat foot. Plus being lower lets you spread your legs out so the foot pegs don’t bang your shin. Makes the center of gravity lower when you ride also. I always advise to NOT lower your suspension, ever.
rant continues, BMW would sell a lot more bikes going to a 28″ seat height on the smaller bikes
For high speed road riding the shield should be able to tilt or adjust somehow. The quick fix might be for a Madstad shield-they adjust for height, distance and angle. A most brilliant design and worth checking out for the Advgrrrrrrrrrrrrrls
I really like this ADV bike. I wish it was available when we bought our regular GS’s. Yep tall is the way it seems for these bikes but I am not afraid. LOL Bring it on!