Guest Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 The day arrived to take the Strom to Granada (160kms/100 miles) for part exchange.......left at 10AM and it was a bit bloody nippy. Even had to wear a jumper! It was basically all motorway then getting round a city centre with a lot of traffic and a lot of people. Lot of Covid too! Not my ideal environment but it had to be done! Got there 11.45.......left at 12.30.....home by 2.30.So what's the G650GS like compared to the Strom because they're always classed in the same group for magazine reviews?The reality is they're poles apart. Apples and oranges! The Strom is a road bike with a very limited degree of offroad ability, while the GS is a Dualsport/Enduro......simple as that. Sure it's not a hardcore offroad machine because compromises have been made in order to make it useable on the road. And it certainly is......it really surprised me how competent it was.It's physically a lot smaller and about 70lbs lighter than the Strom, with a much lower centre of gravity due to the underseat tank. And you can feel the difference straight away. You can literally turn it on the spot it's just so easy to ride. I pulled away and it was like being back on XT's......but much, much more refined. Usual Beemer crunch going into first and second, but after that it was very slick. It really amazed me on the motorway.......because I thought it would be a bit of a slog. But it's not. I stuck it at 120kph and it was quite happy with it......took it up to 140kph......and it was quite happy with that as well.As usual with BMW the handling, brakes, and suspension were excellent. It was actually a much more comfortable ride home on it, than the earlier journey up on the Strom. Put it like this......I couldn't wait for the journey up there on the Strom to end! Coming back on the Beemer I didn't want the journey to end because I was enjoying it so much. And I got off much fresher than I expected. In fact I was ready for more!Obviously motorways are not really the perfect environment for it......but it handled it superbly! And returned over 70mpg! Seriously, if it's this good on the main roads, I'm interested to see how good it's going to be on the back roads and trails which is more it's natural environment.To sum up.....I absolutely love it! It feels to me so much like the XT's......but considerably more refined. It's still early days with it......but all I can say at the moment is this thing could well be the perfect fit for me!Here's a vid and some pics......including inside the dealer! And yes.....I know I'm going the wrong way up a one way street......and on the pavement. But I'm from Swansea......and I'm a Pensioner! So it's too late in the day now for rational thinking! Quote
WD-40 Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 Congratulations on the new bike. Hope it serves you well Quote
Guest Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 Congratulations on the new bike. Hope it serves you well Cheers!Got to give it a really good clean up this week.......try and get all the metal shining again.Lazy Dago obviously never kept on top of that element......cos polishing is too much like hard work for them. Quote
Bender Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 Did they do a re design of the front forks on them, I seem to recall some pretty nasty accidents with them snapping clean off. Quote
Six30 Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 Nice bike i prefer the look of it to the strom. Quote
Guest Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 Did they do a re design of the front forks on them, I seem to recall some pretty nasty accidents with them snapping clean off. That was the 2001 F650GS Bender.....this is a 2015 G650GS.Lot of things have changed since then but it still uses the 650 Rotax motor......though it has been tweaked to meet later EU emissions regs! Quote
Bender Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 I'm sure there was a 2011 with 60miles on it did the same. Quote
Guest Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 I'm sure there was a 2011 with 60miles on it did the same. No idea! But I did scan user groups for known issues and the only thing I found was a hot starting issue on 2012-13 models which had a recall done on them to update firmware or something like that. Quote
Bender Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 https://www.southbayriders.com/forums/threads/116878/ Quote
Guest Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 https://www.southbayriders.com/forums/threads/116878/ Some sort of manufacturing flaw there.......I don't see anything similar for later models. Quote
Bender Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 Just keep an eye out for cracks, not like your deserted roads are smooth. Quote
bonio Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 Nice one 'streme. Looks like you're going to be very happy together. Quote
skyrider Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 im really surprised you didnt get one sooner especially with some of the rides you go on, ENJOY Quote
rennie Posted October 5, 2020 Posted October 5, 2020 Looks good! Enjoy! K1600 in the dealer looked good too! Quote
Stu Posted October 6, 2020 Posted October 6, 2020 Looks good! Enjoy! K1600 in the dealer looked good too! Yeah I was drooling over the K16 too Quote
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