After riding the BMW 310GS for a year, I wanted more horse power(s) for long trips on the highway. I was pretty dead set on another adventure bike, so I had a look on craiglist, and found a 2014 f800gs that had been through a lot. This motorcycle has side bags for camping, which I also appreciate for grocery shopping. With cash in hand, and my sister helping to drive back the car, I rode the motorcycle home. It is nicknamed "the moose" by the previous owner, which I'm cool with.
Since then, I've ridden the moose to San diego, to the San francisco bay area, and back down again.
Since then, I've ridden the moose to San diego, to the San francisco bay area, and back down again.
Now for some pros and cons. The first con is that this bike is tall, maybe too tall. I'm around 5' 10", and the previous owner was around 6' 5". Good news is, I can pick up the motorcycle, and stand on both feet. But if I want my boots flat on the ground instead of on my toes, I have to lean on one leg. I can live with that. But it's also heavy, which means deep sand which there is a lot of in the desert, will kick around your tires and make you loose control.
Consider a smaller motorcycle, (almost 100 pounds lighter) the 310gs. It will struggle with high winds; so sometimes you have reduce speed to 55 mph and stay on the right lane of the highway. This can be dangerous if trucks are speeding above 70mph. The engine frequency of the 310gs at speeds above 65mph becomes uncomfortably buzzy, which fatigues your hands noticeable after a few hours of riding.
I absolutely love the freeway performance and comfort of this new motorcycle. I dont mind staying in the right lane at a safe 65 mph. The f800gs does that amazingly, and I maintain higher speeds comfortably if I need to pass or climb up hills. The increased weight of the f800gs provides stability in high winds, summing up the physics behind this:
Consider a smaller motorcycle, (almost 100 pounds lighter) the 310gs. It will struggle with high winds; so sometimes you have reduce speed to 55 mph and stay on the right lane of the highway. This can be dangerous if trucks are speeding above 70mph. The engine frequency of the 310gs at speeds above 65mph becomes uncomfortably buzzy, which fatigues your hands noticeable after a few hours of riding.
I absolutely love the freeway performance and comfort of this new motorcycle. I dont mind staying in the right lane at a safe 65 mph. The f800gs does that amazingly, and I maintain higher speeds comfortably if I need to pass or climb up hills. The increased weight of the f800gs provides stability in high winds, summing up the physics behind this:
the momentum of an motorcycle with higher mass will experience the same wind force as a lighter motorcycle with equal surface area. However, it will experience less change in velocity due to wind, therefore is more stable
The fact that the highway performance of the f800gs for long road trips is so comfortable and the stability feels safer, is the main reason why I will be sticking with the moose for a while.