BMW

BMW F900GS, F900GS Adventure and F800GS By Ben Purvis

The big news at BMW for 2024 is undoubtably the launch of the all-new R1300GS. It is likely to be a best-seller across the world, but the company hasn't ignored its smaller GS range - launching a trio of heavily revised machines to replace the old F850GS and F750GS.

For 2024 they become the F900GS, F900GS Adventure and F800GS. Those names alone reveal a key difference, because the old 853 cc engine has been replaced by the 895 cc version that was previously reserved for the F900R and F900XR. Even the F800GS has the 895 cc engine, just as the old F750GS was actually 853 cc, but with artificial restrictions to keep its power down.

The bigger engine has a 2 mm larger bore than the old version at 86 mm, with the same 77 mm stroke, with forged instead of cast alloy pistons and a raised compression ratio of 13.1:1 instead of 12.7:1. In the F900 models, that means a peak power of 77 kW (105 hp), which is enough to leapfrog some larger models - including Honda's 1084 cc Africa Twin - and matches the output of the KTM 890 Adventure. The F800GS peaks at 64 kW (87 hp), but it's very clearly another artificial restriction - the power curve mimics the F900's up to the 6750 rpm torque peak, but then plateaus while the F900s continue to rise towards their peaks nearly 2000 rpm higher. 

Of the three new models, the F900GS gets by far the most significant changes. The welded sheet steel frame remains the same as the old version, but there's new bodywork, new lights, a new plastic fuel tank and a completely different tail and subframe that help slice an impressive 14 kg from its weight, which is down to 219 kg including fuel. It also gets new 43 mm, fully-adjustable Showa forks that offer the same 230 mm travel as the Adventure version, as well as a matching monoshock, giving 215 mm of movement for the rear wheel. 

Both the GS and GS Adventure have 21-inch front, 17-inch rear tyres on wire wheels. The optional 'Enduro Pro' package gives even bigger 45 mm forks with titanium nitride coating and a more widely adjustable rear shock to the bike.

The F900GS Adventure looks more like last year's bike, but also gets the same new forks as the F900GS and some new side panels to mark it out from its predecessor. It's 2 kg heavier than last year's version at 246 kg wet. Both the Adventure and the less powerful F800GS can be optioned with BMW's ESA electronically adjustable suspension.

The 6.5-inch TFT dash is carried over from last year's F850 models, but now goes to the F800GS as well to replace the analogue and LCD combination of the old F750GS. On all models there's phone connectivity and turn-by-turn navigation with the help of BMW's own app.