[Ripcord09]

BMW F900 GS

What you'll like:

• Sleek styling with superb fit and finish
• New 895cc engine produces 10 BHP more than the outgoing 850 GS
• Superb rideability and handling; despite the 219 kg kerb weight, very easy to maneuver on city roads or mountain trails
• Loaded with features such as Akrapovic sports silencer, quickshifter, riding modes, etc.
• Optional Enduro Pro package includes several technical and functional enhancements such as adjustable fork, rear suspension strut and more
• Ability to customise hardware such as front and rear suspension, clutch and brake levers, folding foot plate on the rear brake, etc.
• Priced extremely well, undercutting competitors such as the Tiger 900 GT and KTM 890 Adventure R

What you won't:

• Stiff ride, especially at the rear. You get a noticeable amount of feedback on the handle bar
• Tank capacity of 14.5 litres and range of ~250 km will necessitate frequent fuel stops
• Except when cruising on highways, heat from the engine is very, very prominent and causes discomfort
• Those looking for an all-rounder / tourer, will find seating comfort poor
• Available in only two variants and only one colour per variant
• Imported as CBU; service and repairs could be costly and non-fast-moving parts can take significantly longer to procure as they'd have to be imported
• BMW OEM accessories tend to be expensive and as a CBU product, third-party model-specific accessories could be hard to find and expensive

Review Link

Triumph Tiger 900 GT

Discussion Link

Triumph Tiger 900 Rally Pro

Ownership Review

Suzuki V-Strom 800DE

Ownership Review

KTM 890 Adventure R

Launch Discussion

Honda Transalp XL750

Ownership Review

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[BullettuPaandi]

Voted for the V-Strom 800DE.

On such expensive bikes, I don't see myself off-roading a lot. If I'm buying any of these, it'd be to enable long stints of touring throughout the country for the most part, with some off-road ability to tackle mild off-road paths should some destinations be beyond those. So, the V-Strom fits perfectly here; everything about the bike is built for carving curves while sitting upright on an off-road capable motorcycle, which is a rarity on ADVs.

[Axe77]

This is a reasonably wide range of mid segment ADVs - needless to say, if the budget permits, this should be a battle between the Tiger, 900 GS and the KTM. The Suzuki and Transalp enter the picture if strictly operating at the lower end of the price bracket. Putting forth my thoughts on the higher end of the segment.

If you want a comfortable road-touring biased product with a 19” alloy front, the Tiger 900 GT is an absolute no brainer. It's plenty capable at handling basic off roading (I did Spiti and Rajasthan all on its predecessor XRx). Comfortable for two up touring.

If you want to throw in a healthy dose of off roading it's between the other three offerings. The KTM is of course very capable, but richly priced, has a bit of a rep on quality and reliability and of course the final wrinkle of its broader restructuring overhang. For the moment, I'd personally rule it out for now.

Coming to the other two, the 900 GS is just brilliant value at its current price and also as capable (if not more) than the 900 Rally Pro. The Tiger RP scores with better versatility and comfort for two-up touring, with a better pillion seat as well as a more flexi cockpit with its adjustable windscreen. But for me, it's the 900 GS that tugs the heartstring. Very very nimble and flickable, stock Akra equipped and absolutely a hoot where the roads end. Since I hardly ever ride with a pillion, I'd probably pick the 900 GS from this trio.
Voted for the 900 GS

EDIT: Haha - what a snapshot of the poll as of this point. 1 vote each to 5 bikes.

[MileCruncher]

I personally feel this list needs to get bifurcated to Road Focussed & Off-road focussed

The list then will look something like this:

Road Focussed

1. Tiger 900 GT
2. F900 GSA
3. Transalp 750
4. Strom 800 DE
5. Versys 1000

Off-road Focussed

1. Tiger 900 RP
2. F900 GS
3. 890 Adventure R

For road biased, I will go with Tiger 900 GT but for offroad, I don't think F900 GS has any comparison.

P.S: Since you have taken both Tiger 900GT and Tiger 900 RP, you also need to consider the F900 GSA. The GSA is actually the direct competition the GT and allows for 2 up touring. The GS is a single seater bike with a rally type seating.

[BullettuPaandi]

Originally Posted by Axe77

If you want a comfortable road-touring biased product with a 19” alloy front, the Tiger 900 GT is an absolute no brainer. It's plenty capable at handling basic off roading (I did Spiti and Rajasthan all on its predecessor XRx). Comfortable for two up touring.

Only after reading this does it occurred to me that perhaps I oversold on the 'road focused' part of my earlier post; so feel the need to clarify here.

Personally, there are a couple of key specs that are required for the 'some off-road ability' I mentioned earlier and would be looking for in such a bike. Primary being Ground Clearance. I'm not comfortable with GC under 200mm (laden); the 800DE appears equivalent to my current XPulse on paper at least, but the 900GT is well under. Secondary being wheel size. My 2nd bike, the Classic 350, didn't feel much different to me with its 19" front, from the 17" one on my 1st bike, the FZ150. But the 21" one on my 3rd and current XPulse, felt a lot different. So now, I'm not sure if I'd like going back to 19" ones on a motorcycle that I might take off-road. Although, I could be convinced either way only after test rides.

Not voting for the 900RP, is simply because the 800DE seems better put together. The typical Suzuki laziness we dislike happens to mean here that they're not trying to do too many things with the same platform. The 20L tank and 220mm clearance are better carried with a longer wheelbase and larger rake, which the DE does. This has its advantage in two-up and/or luggage-heavy touring as well more than anything else.

I guess what I'm looking for is rather 'on-road touring focused but with not significant compromises on off-road ability'. If this is what one is looking, the only contenders in the list are the Transalp and the 800DE- will have to lose the F900 GS due to the tiny tank for such a powerful engine. It's close between these two; I just happened to like Suzuki better because of some of their engineering bits like bi-axial balancers, over the Transalp's smaller cam.

[MileCruncher]

Originally Posted by Axe77

If you want a comfortable road-touring biased product with a 19” alloy front, the Tiger 900 GT is an absolute no brainer. It's plenty capable at handling basic off roading (I did Spiti and Rajasthan all on its predecessor XRx). Comfortable for two up touring.

Couldn't agree more on the Tiger 900 GT. The previous gen 800 is a slightly better bike but where the 900 scores is weight reduction, narrowness and twin cylinder characteristics derived from T-Plan crank.

Originally Posted by BullettuPaandi

I guess what I'm looking for is rather 'on-road touring focused but with not significant compromises on off-road ability'. If this is what one is looking, the only contenders in the list are the Transalp and the 800DE-

Don't go by the numbers. Statistics don't tell the full story.

One reason where the 800 DE doesn't score is the weight. A Tiger GT weighs 198 Kgs dry weight. F900 GS is also the same. Vstrom 800 DE is about 232Kgs. Full 30 Kgs more. Weight takes it to GS 1250 category. And hence it becomes a challenge to handle off road.

A 14 litre tank is actually a lot. Most bikes in the middle weight category do 20-23kmpl. This means 250-300 Km range which essentially is filling up every 4-6 Hrs. You cannot ride a bike straight on the go without getting off the saddle, more than 3 hrs. Atleast I cannot.

So, if you don't ride one regularly, go ahead and test ride them. You will realise why Tiger 800/900 rules the middle weight category even though it is the most expensive of the lot now. And BMW GS 1250/1200 have ruled the full size category.

Africa Twin, VStrom and even Transalp don't close to these two in their respective categories.

Also

[TheHelix0202]

I’d pick the Tiger 900 Rally Pro.

I love KTM but the 890s scream unreliability. The BMW is not touring friendly, as much as I love the F900 GS.

The Honda being the cheapest here is a welcome change but I’d still invest in the Tiger for its capabilities.

[BullettuPaandi]

Originally Posted by MileCruncher

Don't go by the numbers. Statistics don't tell the full story.

I am quite aware that specs sheet don't say it all and you still can be surprised. If I'm interested in any of these bikes, I will want to test ride most- if not all- of them, as I'd be voting with my wallet there. When it is with just a mouse, I feel fairly confident in reasoning with the specs sheet, which I believe gives you at least 2/3rds of an idea about the bike.

I wasn't considering the 900 GT, and I've never bothered to look at dry weight as I think it is irrelevant; and the weight you've listed for the 800DE alone is kerb weight. Which for all three bikes I was considering are closer to each other than you'd think: the F900 GS is 226kg, the 900 RP is 228kg & the 800DE is 232kg. The 800DE is still the heaviest of the bunch by 6kg & 4kg, respectively. But under most circumstances, a shorter bike with longer wheelbase and larger rake would be easier to handle despite being slightly heavier, due to (usually) lower center of gravity. Conversely, despite lower in weight, if the weight sits higher on a shorter wheelbase and smaller rake, we notice a lot of it. The DE is shorter in both measures of seat height and overall height.

This is what I meant by "The 20L tank and 220mm clearance are better carried with a longer wheelbase and larger rake, which the DE does". My expectation is simply that the DE would at least mask its extra 6kg, if not perform better. Considering the use-case, this added 6kg factor is lower on my cons list, as I'm not looking to do any serious off-roading.

Filling up won't be an issue on highways, and as you explain, the GS is probably fine there. But what about remote areas? BMW says reserve is approximately 4L, for some reason on a 14.5L tank. I wouldn't want to be calculative or bothered about this out in the open. So, I'd like to have 20L+ tank, which should give me minimum 17L+ usable fuel.

All that said, I understand perfectly that I can still be surprised. But, this is what an unsurprised me, who can't actually afford any of these bikes feels as of today.

[100Kmphormore]

I would go for a preowned Multistrada 950S or the V2S. Its got the brawn, yet so nimble. Handling and braking are my top priority and this one is the king of it.

[Darkcloud]

I haven’t understood the point of this thread. There’s a similar one put up in the Motorbikes forum.
Are these choices the OP has to choose his next bike from? Or is it just a poll to choose from a random collection of ADVs?

[It's Magic]

Voted for Triumph Tiger 900 GT

I think the overall BMW F900 GS offers more at the given price point, but its comparatively small tank capacity means you would end up stopping more frequently during long journeys. Additionally, I was not happy with the riding position and did not feel very comfortable while riding it.

My vote goes to the Triumph Tiger 900 GT as it was great to ride and, in my opinion, looks better than the BMW F900 GS. The only drawback I can think of for the Triumph Tiger 900 GT is the heat generated from the radiator, which can take away all the enjoyment of riding it. It’s so bad that waiting for a few minutes at a traffic signal can make your leg quite uncomfortable. However, from a purely riding perspective, I think I would go with the Triumph Tiger 900 GT.

[Redline6800]

This is an interesting poll.

But a difference in the on-road price between some of these models of approx 4 lakh is not small change. Especially in Karnataka which has very high road taxes.

It sounds fine as an academic discussion but when laying the moolah on the table 4 lakh is a substantial amount of money. Trust me, my contortions to get to the TransAlp would have put Houndini to shame

The March discounts put the TransAlp on par with the Suzuki Vstrom 800 DE, which everyone agrees is a well priced motorcyle and does not have a company tubeless rim option.

Sometimes best is the enemy of good

As I understand approx 90+ TransAlp's have been sold in BLR and rest of Karnataka since it was launched. Not a bad number at all considering Honda's somnolent brand management of its big bike portfolio.

Heat management is really a challenge in Indian conditions and to me is not an insignificant issue.

Did a quick ride to Kollegal and back (290 km total) and on the return entered bangalore around noon and the last 40 km was approx 90 minutes to get home.

This bike is just fantastic in the city with its light clutch and engine/gearbox combo. It is super light and easy to manoeuvre to scythe through traffic. Engine heat even in heavy afternoon traffic can be considered negligible.

The TransAlp has a 17 L fuel and my avg has been 25 kmpl across 4500 km of ownership. Leaving 3 L in the tank that gives a usable range of 350 km. Honda for some reason has not given a distance to empty readout, which is very irritating.

So if the budget is under 14L OTR, I would put the TransAlp at the top of the list of ADVs on the market.

Between 18-20 L OTR, I think it is clear that BMW/Triumph offerings emerge as favorites.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by Darkcloud

I haven’t understood the point of this thread. There’s a similar one put up in the Motorbikes forum.
Are these choices the OP has to choose his next bike from? Or is it just a poll to choose from a random collection of ADVs?

These are generic “What bike” or “What car” poll threads inviting members to vote and express their preferences. This is not for the OP as a prospective buyer.

There are several similar polls across similar segment bikes and cars.