F850GS
Moving up to the F850GS and we have
another personality change. While the
F750GS definitely feels more at home in
an urban setting, the extra legs of the
unrestricted F850GS and its upgraded
suspension (43mm USD units over the
conventional forks of the F750GS) make
a noticeable difference out on the open
road with the bike feeling at times like
a Roadster. The F850GS is sharper, with
better front end feel over the F750 and
a slightly better windscreen which offers
better protection for the rider, but is sadly
not adjustable.
F850GS RALLYE
If we openly admit that we initially
mistook the F850GS Rallye (known as the
F850GS Adventure in other markets) for
an R1250GS Adventure the first time we
saw it, we hope it reflects more on the
sheer size of the bike and not our naivety.
This thing has a visual presence out the
wazoo!
At a full 939mm wide the F850GS Rallye
boasts a larger 23-litre fuel tank than
the base F850 which takes up some, but
not all of the room under the massive
shrouds. The Rallye features steel tube
crash bars and luggage rack instead of
the alloy unit found on the rear of the
base bike. The added size of the F850GS
isn’t too noticeable other than the large
amount of plastic in front of you – which
had us thinking of BMW Motorrad’s
hoverbike concept from 2017...
KIWI RIDER 15