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2021 NC750x vs 2014 BMW F800GS

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bumblepee

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Hi all,

I am in a bit of a dilemma. A guy near me is selling a low mileage BMW F800 GS Adventure, year 2014. I have my 2021 NC750X but there are some things I don't like about it, so I am considering the GS as a temporary second bike to maybe sell the NC later.

Has anybody had experience with the GS? Here are the areas I am most interested in:

* Some people say the GS is a money pit and not as reliable? How bad is it? People complain more about the R1200GS but is the 800 the same difficult to maintain?

* I like to go out with my son, and the NC has a very bad pillion seat. The GSA seem to be designed more for touring, including seat and position, but I am not sure. Is the GSA a much better tourer than the NC for, say, 200 mile ride?

* Agility. This is where the NC may be better. Does the 21 inch front wheel of GS make it much worse for regular street and city riding? Also, I see a lot of YouTube videos of guys falling with the GS in off-road conditions. Looks to me like the GS does not like low speeds, you have to be more careful on turns. Is this the case?

* The NC has torque at low revs. Some people say the GSA is similar, but I wanted to understand how it feels compared to the NC from your experience.

* The GSA may just need crash bars and skid plate from what I understand, paniers are included. Do you think the GS may need other mods? Is the stock windshield any good?

Thank you for any help.
 
As questions are mainly about the BMW, moderator moved thread to Non NC700 Motorcycle Section.
 
bumblepee said:
Hi all,
Click to expand...
I sold my 2010 F800GS to buy the 2012 NC700X I have now, but I did put something like 33k mi on it between 2013 and 2016.
For mundane riding, the NC gets better mileage (75mpg vs 55), has a lot less tech (I like that), the storage space was awesome, and I sold the BMW for about twice what I paid for the NC.
Otherwise the BMW will be better in almost every single way. It's a lot more exciting and in my opinion looks a lot better than any year NC.
If it's a good deal and not too tall for whatever your stature is, I don't think you'd regret it.

You exact questions:
* Some people say the GS is a money pit and not as reliable? How bad is it? People complain more about the R1200GS but is the 800 the same difficult to maintain?
- Not bad at all, I would say for the most part it was super reliable. I beat mine to a pulp since I was really into ADV back then. It's no harder to maintain than the Honda, very similar parallel twin set up, but you will probably have to buy some somewhat special tools (Like E-torx). No big deal.
-I did have 2 issues: Fuel injectors went bad at 10k mi, or it was really bad old dirty gas, totally possible. Clutch went out in the low 20ks, the clutch pack is over $500 ( I think more than 2x Honda's). Could have been my riding, like I said I was really into ADV back then. Sand, mud holes, etc.

* I like to go out with my son, and the NC has a very bad pillion seat. The GSA seem to be designed more for touring, including seat and position, but I am not sure. Is the GSA a much better tourer than the NC for, say, 200 mile ride?
- Better according to the wife, but still a far cry from a Gold Wing. She definitely liked riding less when I got the NC (that's why I got a sidecar too...). I had Corbins for both.

* Agility. This is where the NC may be better. Does the 21 inch front wheel of GS make it much worse for regular street and city riding? Also, I see a lot of YouTube videos of guys falling with the GS in off-road conditions. Looks to me like the GS does not like low speeds, you have to be more careful on turns. Is this the case?
- The GS was way better from an agility and handling standpoint. Throttle response was really bad on my year (it was either on or off) but they may have fixed it, so you had to be really good with the clutch. It handles great at low and high speed, on and off road. I went through probably 4 sets of tires, knobbies, 70/30, 60/40 etc. and there was never an issue except with those really crappy Metzeler Tourances. Those things are absolute garbage.

* The NC has torque at low revs. Some people say the GSA is similar, but I wanted to understand how it feels compared to the NC from your experience.
- The BMW will undoubtedly have more power. It likes to go. Plenty of low end grunt but it also revs up in a sportier way. It's also better on the highway and will do 100mph without a question. I ran in the high 70's and 80's for maybe 8 hours straight a couple times, I don't think I could pull that off on the Honda, going 80 on that is a workout.

* The GSA may just need crash bars and skid plate from what I understand, paniers are included. Do you think the GS may need other mods? Is the stock windshield any good?
- I had crash bars, skid plate, Corbin, a Madstad, basically any farkle you could throw at it. The stock screen was not useful at all for me. There are lots of fun accessories so let me know if you want more info.
 
bumblepee said:
Great. Thank you @CamaroEric for sharing your experience and pic. Love the foot rests on the crash bars.
Click to expand...
I used those exact foot pegs, hard bags, and windscreen on my NC.

Fun fact: The marine fuel tank on the back was plumbed directly into the main tank vent using a vacuum feed. As the main tank drained, it would replenish without overfilling since it wasn't pure gravity feed. My solution before the GSA was offered. I actually had about 7.5 gallons on tap so ~350 miles per 'tank' was typical. I miss that.
 
What crash bars are those. I had my eyes on these because of the small resting foot pegs:

Anyone else had experience with the GS 800cc for a comparison with NC
 
I think they were from a brand called Wild@Heart. They may not exist anymore.

-Ricochet Skid Plate
-Rox risers
-Kildala Fat Foot and fog light mount
-Metal Mule / Scorpion balanced pannier kit and tucked exhaust (otherwise one pannier is bigger than the other)
-Wukaking throttle tamer
-Barkbusters
-Tried the Sargent seat and didn't like it, the Corbin was definitely better for 'touring'

Looking back I miss it, but the NC has been good and was exactly what I needed at the time. Still a good bike but the ergo does not do well for my back these days.
 
Are you saying the stock seat is not very good on the GSA?

On the NC, I put Seat Concept and if much better. But the best I see on YT videos is Top Sellerie.
 
I tried the used 2014 F800GS Adventure today. The difference with the NC in comfort was clear. For my 6ft body and 33in inseam, the GS was very comfortable. The pillion told me it was very easy ride and roomier for sure. A nice plus from the NC was the lack of huge bufeting by the legs because they are well tucked from the GS's body; the NC has huge wind coming through the legs, I even thought to get the Honda foot wind deflector.

I also had missed to use gears and clutch to precisely control the bike. Probably I will not be this happy in stop and go traffic but man if that GS was a secure comfort to ride.

But here are my problems:
1. Vibrations at 4-5K rpm were very clear. I did not try the highway but I would imagine that could be a problem. I told the owner and he said "yes. it's not much of a highway bike".
What is your experience with vibrations and highway? Do you know if BMW fixed vibrations in later years? Should I look for a newer GS?
2. The stock windshield was kind of a joke, my full head was in wind. So all those reviews I read about being protected from wind is wishful thinking. I would need a Madstand to make the rides comfortable, I guess I am spoiled with the Madstad on the NC now.
3. I noticed the throttle not having much intermediate control, just on and off as @CamaroEric said. That is also a bit of an issue because at slow speeds offroad may be difficult to control precisely the bike. And I did feel a bit strange on tight U turns.

Other than that, I am ok with the bike being heavy. I want to tour around and go places, and the NC is nowhere near the comfort of the taller GS. So, I want a GS now :) Can someone help with more info, any way to resolve my issues above, vibrations, windshield, throttle control? The bike I tried was 10 years old but has barely 3k miles on it, so the engine should be in good condition.
 
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bumblepee said:
The bike I tried was 10 years old but has barely 3k miles on it, so the engine should be in good condition.
Click to expand...
300 miles a year. It's amazing how many motorcycles get purchased, just to sit in people's garages and never get ridden. And people wonder why the manufacturers don't go all out putting the very best of everything on their bikes from the factory. Why? They are not going to be used or appreciated anyway.
 
the Ferret said:
300 miles a year. It's amazing how many motorcycles get purchased, just to sit in people's garages and never get ridden. And people wonder why the manufacturers don't go all out putting the very best of everything on their bikes from the factory. Why? They are not going to be used or appreciated anyway.
Click to expand...
Shoot, I ride a bicycle a lot more than 300 miles a year.
 
the Ferret said:
300 miles a year. It's amazing how many motorcycles get purchased, just to sit in people's garages and never get ridden. And people wonder why the manufacturers don't go all out putting the very best of everything on their bikes from the factory. Why? They are not going to be used or appreciated anyway.
Click to expand...
The GS is not without features, and the price is not cheap. I don't think they withhold because people don't use the bikes, like every company they will find a balanced market of least features and maximum prices.

P.s., I am starting to have my eyes on the 1200 GS now. Those vibrations of the 800 seem to be pervasive, and the 1200 should be considerably better tourer. But have yet to try the 1200 after many years of hearing people that is great.
 
The F series BMW parallel twins are noted for coarseness and vibration. I think BMW tried to give their P twins some of the characteristics of the iconic BMW boxer R opposed twins with 360 degree crankshafts but weren’t able to pull it off. The pistons rise and fall together and with such a great mass of inertia they employed a sort of third connecting rod balancer to quell vibration but it did not work all that well.

There is no perfect motorcycle. It sounds like you like some of the features the 800GSA has and you might be able to live with the engine vibes. I know a guy that put over 100,000 miles on a F800GT version. He acknowledged the vibration of the 800 twin but it wasn’t a deal breaker for him. Just a thought you might try and get a demo of a 1200 twin GS or GSA. The vibrations are strikingly similar to the NC700/750 motor, low frequency pulsing rather that high frequency buzz. They pillion well and make great traveling companions. The 2005-2013 bikes are fully depreciated now and the 2014-2019 water cooled models have been eclipsed by the newer Shiftcam 1250s. All making the older ones fairly inexpensive to acquire.
 
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@bumblepee
I am 6' 2" myself. If you are looking to do serious touring on a moderate budget:
Goldwing - $6-10k for mid-2000s. Do your research since these are 15-20 years old. Very large, maximum comfort.
Newer Goldwing - more expensive, newer.
Concours 14 - Buttery smooth, insanely comfortable, incredible agility and balance, loads of power. Probably my favorite riding bike of all time. Most if not all in the early 2010's are under $10k
FJR 1300 - IMO basically the same as the Concours, but I personally think it does everything 90% as well.
Obviously this list can keep going on...
 
Thanks.

@CamaroEric I can't wrap my head around the Goldwing yet. Would like to keep the options open to go off-road. Not that I go much, but I would like to start exploring more.

@dduelin I will give a try to 1200. I like the low revs of NC, don't like high reving bikes much. I have my eyes on this:
Looks quite complete and maybe needing just windshield. But has 60k miles, not sure how bad that is and how long 1200 GSs live.

Might still go back to the 800 GSA because it has so few miles whilr vibrations may not be an issue at the speeds I go (80-90 mph max). But that 1200 seems fully loaded with features, just hop on and ride. Never tried how a 1200 rides.
 
bumblepee said:
Thanks.

@CamaroEric I can't wrap my head around the Goldwing yet. Would like to keep the options open to go off-road. Not that I go much, but I would like to start exploring more.

@dduelin I will give a try to 1200. I like the low revs of NC, don't like high reving bikes much. I have my eyes on this:
Looks quite complete and maybe needing just windshield. But has 60k miles, not sure how bad that is and how long 1200 GSs live.

Might still go back to the 800 GSA because it has so few miles whilr vibrations may not be an issue at the speeds I go (80-90 mph max). But that 1200 seems fully loaded with features, just hop on and ride. Never tried how a 1200 rides.
Click to expand...
Just out of curiosity, have you considered a VFR1200X? In my opinion it is a wonderful bike with little vibration, outstanding power, shaft drive, roomy, and relatively inexpensive.
 
mzflorida said:
Just out of curiosity, have you considered a VFR1200X? In my opinion it is a wonderful bike with little vibration, outstanding power, shaft drive, roomy, and relatively inexpensive.
Click to expand...
Cruise control is pretty much a must have in this class. I could live with a Go Cruise but most buyers expect the suite of features that ride by wire enables
 
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