[libranof1987]

BMW F900 GS Review

BMW F900 GS Pros

• 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

BMW F900 GS Cons

• 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

Introduction

BMW introduced the entirely newly developed F900 GS, along with the F900 GSA and F800 GS, globally in Sept 2023, and announced the launch of the F900 GS and F900 GSA in India in October 2024. While the F900 GSA is an evolved F850 GS/GSA, the F900 is essentially all-new bike. The bikes are brought to India via the CBU route, and the F900 GS is available in two variants - Style Passion and GS Trophy. Both the variants get the optional Enduro Pro package as standard.

The F900 GS sees plenty changes and enhancements over the outgoing version, right from the twin-cylinder 895cc engine that puts out an additional 10 BHP to an entirely new design language through the bike and technical upgrades to the suspension. With the F900 GS, BMW seems to have prepared to fight hard in the middle-weight ADV segment with a product that gets most of the qualities right - lighter, more powerful, adjustable suspension and allowing an easier riding experience while standing.

BMW F900 GS Price & Brochure

The BMW F900 GS is priced at Rs. 13.75 lakhs (ex-showroom) for the Style Passion variant and 14 lakhs (ex-showroom) for the GS Trophy Edition. This includes the Enduro Pro package that brings in several functional and technical upgrades. At this pricing, it undercuts the Tiger 900 GT, while also offering several features similar to the Tiger 900 Rally Pro with its Enduro Pro package. This is stellar pricing for a product that is imported as a CBU!

You can download the BMW F900 GS brochure here - BMW F900 GS Brochure.pdf.

[libranof1987]

Design & Styling

The F900 GS is an all-new bike with fresh styling and doesn't carry forward the design language of its spiritual predecessor, the F850 GS, the way the F900 GSA does.

A key theme on the F900 GS is weight saving compared to the F850 GS and given that the F900 GS doesn't come with a lot of baggage, there are plenty areas where BMW has used lighter parts. The F900 gets a bridge-type frame with a steel shell construction that's similar to the F850 GS, but gets a new sub-frame and tail section. The overall design is quite sleek and tapers towards the rear. While the front and mid-section is very well-proportioned, BMW has been miserly with the tail. It's quite narrow and very likely to be uncomfortable for the pillion.

Other areas where weight gains have been achieved are through the use of a lighter plastic fuel tank and a titanium Akrapovic exhaust.

The F900 GS comes in two graphics / tones - Sao Paulo Yellow, and the GS Trophy styling, which is now synonymous with the BMW Motorrad brand. It gets very visually appealing colour contrasts all over the bike. The Passion variant gets the Sao Paulo Yellow finish on the radiator cowl with tapes in red and a black seat with red accents, while the Trophy Edition gets radiator cowls in light white with blue/red tapes and the rear frame in white. The GS Trophy Edition gets golden wheels.

The F900 GS gets two variants - Style Passion, and the GS Trophy Edition and each in a single colour theme. Competitors tend to offer multiple colour options on each variant.

Build Quality, Fit & Finish

The F900 GS is very well put together and there's nothing really to find fault with and wish to be better. Barring the headlight unit that's shared with the 310GS that costs 80% less, all the equipment is top-notch and further with the Endurance Pro package, you get the absolute best-in-class hardware.

With the developed-from-scratch F900 GS, you get more plastic parts compared to the outgoing F850 and the paint and decal quality all over the bike leaves little to complain about. There's honestly not a lot of write here, because the bike is indeed built to very high standards.

Features and Instrumentation

With the new F900 GS, BMW has gone all out on the feature list, offering a slew of technical, functional and comfort / convenience features as standard across variants. The bike gets a fully digital 6.5-inch TFT instrument cluster, ride-by-wire throttle, quickshifter, dual channel ABS with switchable rear and multiple riding modes - Rain, Road, Dynamic, Enduro as standard and Dynamic Pro and Enduro Pro with the Enduro Pro package. Furthermore, it gets Dynamic Traction Control, adjustable clutch and brake levers, and adjustable suspension along with the gorgeous Akrapovic exhaust.

The quickshifter is bi-directional and a hoot to use with very accurate and smooth shifts, especially in the higher gears. Shifting up or down between gears 1-2-3 can be jerky, but beyond these, it is absolutely seamless.

The Enduro Pro package offers a host of technical upgrades:
- black handlebars with aluminum handlebar risers, raising the handlebar height by 24 mm
- sports suspension with 45 mm, fully adjustable golden Showa fork and fully adjustable Sachs suspension strut with expansion tank
- M Endurance chain
- Enduro Pro riding mode that allows customization of the throttle input, ABS and Traction Control

The fully digital 6.5-inch TFT screen on the F900 GS displays everything that you'd need to know about the bike and supports connected tech for a host of features including pairing with your phone for navigation, music and telephony as well as the rider and pillion helmets. The display is controlled through a combination of the rotary knob and the menu selector button on the left stalk. To ensure rider safety, certain operations are only available while the bike is stationary.

The 6.5" TFT screen gets a customizable main screen where the rider can define the data that gets highlighted. The instrumentation cluster shows a wide variety of ride information from the odometer, FE, average speed, ride time, to individual data for trips A and B and then other data such as tyre pressure, DTE, ambient temperature, riding mode and so on. Then there's the standard fare digital tachometer, speedometer, gear indicator and lights.

The one downside of this instrumentation cluster, a typical BMW Motorrad quirk, is the limited amount of information offered at any given time, despite oodles of available real estate. On any specific view, you can only see one metric - the fuel status, DTE, odometer, or the various trip related data (average time, FE, speed and so on). An absolute nuisance that you have to keep toggling across the vast number of options to see that one readout you want.

The F900 GS sports two charging ports on the handle / headlight unit - a USB-C port on the right, and a 12V socket on the left.

On the lighting front, the BMW F900 GS gets an all-LED light setup at both, the front and rear. Quite disappointingly, the F900 gets the same headlight unit as on the baby GS - the BMW G310 GS, and while it isn't exactly poor, a bike at this price point should have been equipped with a more capable setup. The F900 gets an Automatic Headlight On feature and hence, only has a button for the high beam / flasher on the left stalk. The front indicators are also carried over from the 310GS. Note that the indicators get a customizable auto-cancelling feature based on a time elapsed.

At the rear, the 900 GS gets integrated stop lamps + indicator lights. The brake lights are a tad too bright and when glowing, drown out the indicators.

The 900 GS gets headed grips which are a delight to use during early morning starts in the winter. The heating comes in three levels and provides good comfort even on the lowest setting. You can enable / select the warming level / disable heating through a single button, placed on the right stalk.

Wheels & Tyres

The F900 gets spoked rims on both wheels shod with Metzeler Karoo 4 tyres. The front gets a 90/90 R21 tyre on a 2.15/21" rim, while the rear is equipped with a 150/70 R17 tyre on a 4.25/17" rim. The Karoo 4 tyres are standard fare in this segment and the next and have generally favorable reviews internationally. The Karoo 4 tyres have a 50:50 use profile - the knobby layout makes it quite off-road capable, while also offering a fairly comfortable on-road ride.

TPMS is standard on the F900 GS.

Ergonomics and Comfort

BMW has brought in several ergonomic enhancements with the F900 GS. The handlebar is now about 12 mm / 0.5 inch higher than earlier, and with the Enduro Pro package, you get BMW aluminum risers, that raise the handlebar height by a further 24 mm / 1 inch. Furthermore, the rear brake lever gets a folding foot plate that allows for an easier brake operation when you ride standing.

Complementing the above changes are adjustable clutch and front brake levers and also those for the gear shift and rear brake.

The seat height, when unladen, is 870 mm; note that seat height is not electrically adjustable. The 870 mm seat height may not please everyone, especially those who intend to regularly take the bike on trails. The GS Trophy Edition does offer the lower Rallye seat.

The F900 GS is an adventure bike and a typical rider is bound to stand while riding through trails. The rider triangle is quite well laid out on the bike and you feel at ease, be it riding on the highway or navigating mountain routes.

The biggest letdown in this department is the seat though. The seat profile is very slim and cushioning is very hard. The seating is just not comfortable and you're bound to have sore buttocks after an hour or so of riding. The story isn't much different for the pillion and lack of grab handles at the rear doesn't help. While this isn't unusual for an ADV, most people in India tend to look at a bike as a multi-purpose vehicle and may intend to take it on trails as well as for highway touring.

Fuel Tank Capacity & Range

The F900 GS gets a redesigned plastic fuel tank vis-a-vis the outgoing F850 GS. The F900's tank capacity is 14.5 litres. Through our test ride covering country roads, highways, and through bumper-to-bumper traffic, we saw an average FE of ~17 km/l over ~120 km. A typical breakfast ride or an overnight trip, the bike could return better FE and could typically result in ~225 - 275 km on a single tank.

Given the compression ratio of the 895cc parallel-twin cylinder engine is on the higher side at 13.3:1, riders may be inclined to fill higher RON petrol, adding a further challenge with the range. Note that the 895cc engine on the F900 GS is compliant with 5% and 10% ethanol-blended petrol.

Given that the F900 gets keyless operation, the fuel lid is also keyless. Ensure that the key is in close vicinity and the ignition is off, and just flick the lid cover up to open the fuel lid.

Maintenance

BMW Motorrad products typically follow a yearly maintenance schedule beyond the first free service (generally conducted at 1,000 km). Given that the F900 GS is imported as a CBU, maintenance could be on the costlier side. With the Endurance Pro package, the 900GS gets the M Endurance chain with low-wear DLC coating, which is said to require only yearly maintenance.

Standard & Extended Warranty

The F900 GS comes with a factory warranty of three years. While two years is the norm, BMW is offering the third year warranty as standard. Additionally, typically, BMW offers an extension of two years over the standard warranty. Given that the bike is imported as a CBU and offers a wide range of technical and electronic features, we'd recommend getting the maximum possible warranty coverage.

[libranof1987]

Riding the BMW F900 GS

The F900 GS gets several changes over the outgoing F850 GS which enhance the riding experience. For starters, the F900 GS is powered by BMW's 895cc water-cooled, twin-cylinder, four-stroke engine that puts out 104 BHP @ 8,500 rpm, with a peak torque of 93 Nm coming in at 6,750 rpm. This DOHC, parallel-twin motor has a larger bore over the outgoing engine by 2 mm, and combined with the new pistons and cylinder head, a compression ratio of 13.3:1. Given this high compression ratio, users may prefer higher RON petrol.

Complementing the bump in power of 10 BHP are weight savings of almost ~14 kg, giving the F900 GS a major boost in the power-to-weight ratio.

The 895cc engine on the F900 offers much steeper power and torque curves across the rpm band with power delivery quite instant and linear right until almost 7,000 rpm. While torque is uniform through much of the lower rpm, it really comes alive in the mid-band and is a delight to use. The gear ratios allow you to do much of your riding, especially when off-roading, in the 2nd and 3rd gears.

The F900 GS gets multiple Riding Modes - Rain, Road, Dynamic, Enduro are standard and the Enduro Pro package enables the Dynamic Pro and Enduro Pro modes. On each of the modes, you can customize throttle input, ABS and Traction Control settings. It is on the Enduro Pro mode that you can really let the F900 loose, with rear ABS turned off and a more aggressive throttle response.

The F900 GS also gets a bi-directional quickshifter as standard. We found the quickshifter to be fairly capable, offering seamless gearshifts across the rpm change. The gearshifts between gears 1- 2- 3 and 3-2-1 are a tad jerky, especially if you're at higher rpms, but beyond the initial gears, they are absolutely smooth, barely letting the rider feel a gear change. The F900 gets the routine 6-speed manual gearbox.

Also standard in the F900 GS, is Cruise Control with a similar unit to the one in the elder GS. You can enable the cruise control at the prevailing speed and then increase / decrease the set speed through forward / backward flicks of the Set / Res button. The cruise control operation varies across brands and in the F900 GS, here's how it is implemented:

- cruise control is disabled if the front / rear brake or clutch are used, or cruise control is turned off
- if cruise control is set at a particular speed, and you accelerate to a higher speed; if the acceleration is momentary, cruise control will bring the bike back to the original set speed, once you let go of the accelerator; however, if the acceleration is constant, cruise control will adapt to the new speed
- if cruise control is set at a particular speed, disengaged, and the engaged at a different (lower or higher) speed, cruise control will engage at the earlier set speed and then slowly adapt to the speed that prevailed at the time of the second engagement

Refinement & NVH

With the F900 GS, you get top class refinement. The new twin-cylinder 895cc engine has very controlled vibrations and none of them make their way to the rider at typical riding speeds / rpm. As is fair, vibrations make their presence felt at higher rpms, but given the power and torque on tap, you're rarely going to be at that rpm. The Akrapovic exhaust sounds delicious; of course, it is tuned to meet emission and noise level regulations.

Standard on the F900 is a non-adjustable visor; it comes in a clear finish on the Passion Style variant and blackened on the GS Trophy Edition.

Suspension and Handling

The F900 gets all-new suspension at the front and rear. The Passion variant does not get adjustable front suspension, it is available only on the Trophy Edition. On it, you get upside-down Gabel fork with tubes that are 43 mm in diameter and spring pre-load manually adjustable, rebound and compression adjustable. The fork has a 9.05” travel.

With the Enduro Pro package, you get a 45 mm, fully adjustable Showa fork at the front.

We found the ride quality to be a tad stiff, especially at the rear. There was a fair amount of feedback on the handlebar when riding over bad roads or through trails.

That said, the F900 handles beautifully. All the weight savings have put the kerb weight at 219 kg, which makes maneuvering the bike a breeze. You absolutely don't feel the weight, be it while navigating through bumper to bumper traffic or twisty mountain trails.

The rear suspension gets an aluminum dual swing arm, and with the Enduro Pro package includes a central WAD spring strut that is hydraulically pre-load adjustable and rebound damping adjustable (high / low speed).

Braking

Braking duties are handled by Brembo. The F900 gets a twin disc brake at the front, the setup consists of floating brake discs with a 305 mm diameter and a 2-piston floating caliper, and a single disc brake with a 265 mm diameter disc and 1-piston floating caliper on the rear. The bike gets BMW Motorrad ABS as standard across variants. The braking setup on the F900 is fairly competent.

The F900 gets dual-channel ABS, which is switchable for the rear. Additionally, it is equipped with Dynamic Traction Control, that can be toggled through the switch on the left stalk easily while on the move.

The front brake lever is adjustable, as is the rear brake lever. The rear brake lever also gets a toe pedal, which makes brake operation easier when standing and riding.

[libranof1987]

BMW F900 GS Images

With the younger sibling, the G310 GS



Plenty design changes up front: headlight unit, tank



And an entirely new tail section







Twin disc brakes at the front. The setup consists of floating brake discs with a 305 mm diameter and 2-piston floating calipers:


At the rear is a single disc brake with a 265 mm diameter disc and 1-piston floating caliper:


Equipped with BMW Motorrad ABS. The brake fluid reservoir is Nissin-make


Very capable Metzeler Karoo 4 at the front and rear. Both wheels come with spoked rims. Front gets a 90/90 section tyre on a 2.15/21" rim:


At the rear is a 150/70 section tyre on a 4.25/17" rim:


Both tyres are equipped with TPMS:


Front gets an upside-down fork suspension:


Passion variant does not get adjustable front suspension. It is available only on the Trophy Edition. Here, you get an upside-down Gabel fork. BMW Risers are included in the Enduro Pro package:


With the Enduro Pro package, you get a 45 mm, fully adjustable Showa fork on the front:


Rear suspension gets an aluminum dual swing arm:


Enduro Pro package includes a central WAD spring strut:


Standard on the F900 comes the Akrapovic sport silencer made of titanium:


Yet another inclusion of the Enduro Pro package is the M-Endurance chain with low-wear DLC coating:


New plastic tank has a capacity of 14.5 litres:


The F900 gets a single curved radiator. Riding the bike in the city traffic can be a very uncomfortable experience with significant heat dispersion on the legs:


Coolant tank is tucked under the tank panel on the right:


The F900 gets standard hand protectors, while the Trophy Project Edition gets high-quality Enduro hand protectors with metal brackets and new trim:


Left stalk is busy with controls for the headlight high beam / flasher, cruise control settings and operation and hazard lights on the upper portion...


...and menu selector button, dynamic traction control toggle switch, indicator switch and horn on the lower portion:


As in the outgoing GS, you can toggle through the menus with the help of a rotary switch. Pull the top part to the left to scroll left / back in the menu, and push it to the right to scroll right / select a sub-menu:




Right stalk is much simpler with the just the button for the grip warmer, ride mode selector button, and engine kill / ignition switch:


The F900 gets heated grips and are a delight to use:


Clutch lever is adjustable. Adjustments are fairly simple with a turn of the knob:


As is the brake lever. Easy adjustments on this, similar to the clutch lever:


The F900 also comes with ample provisions to charge your devices. On the right of the instrument cluster is a Type-C USB port...


...while on left of the cluster is the smaller cigarette lighter port:


6.5" fully digital TFT instrument cluster provides a host of information and enables customization of various technical controls:










The F900 gets the same LED headlight unit and front indicators as the GS310. The F900 comes with automatic lights, so in daylight, the DRLs come on:


With the headlight in high beam + indicators in action. Note that the indicators get a customizable auto-cancelling feature based on a time elapsed:


I found the headlight to be strictly average. The low beam has a throw of ~30 ft.:


High beam isn't very confidence-inspiring either:


Rear gets integrated stop + indicator lights:


Fellow BHPian jomson13 mentioned that that the brake lights are too bright and drown out the indicators:


Passion variants gets a clear visor as standard; it is not adjustable though. The visor on GS Trophy Edition is blackened:


The F900 gets a quickshifter as standard. Note that the gearshift and brake lever are both adjustable:


Rear peg lever is adjustable and get a folding foot plate to aid braking operation, while standing-and-riding:


OE seat gets stiff cushioning, so riding all day long is doing to leave you with a sore backside:


No grab handles / mounting plate for a top box at the rear:


Mirrors are common with other GS models:


The F900 comes with a smart key and gets keyless operation. Press the button on the side and the physical key springs out; you'll need it only when pulling the seat out:


Fuel tank lid also works keyless; just have the key on your body, and pull the flip on the lid cover. Note that the fuel tank lid will only open if the ignition is off:


Toolkit is kept above the battery:

[Aditya]

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

[5hank3r]

Great review!

Those combined brake lights are a safety concern. This is something I would expect the Americans would do, not a German brand. I've seen Himalayan 450s with this setup on the road and they are confusing for fellow road users.

[Axe77]

Great review Libran. I had had a couple of really short rides on the 900 GS and loved what I felt in that very brief experience. I’m really itching to take it out on a longer test ride once I have some dedicated time for it. So far not been able to match my availability with the availability of Navnit’s demo. Will hopefully pen something in more detail on this thread once I get the chance.

From my brief ride, it was evident how immensely flickable and off road friendly this bike was, specially since I was coming right off the heavier 1300 on both occasions. There will be some touring comfort compromises though in the way they’ve designed this, some of which are not so pronounced on immediate competition like the Tiger 900 RP.

All in all, BMW seems to have moved the game significantly forward from its predecessor, the 850 GS and I love how this generation has ended up. It’s a definitive match up to the Tiger now and brilliantly priced too, for what it offers - a pretty penny cheaper than both the Desert X as well as the 900 RP in Maharashtra.

[cosmopolitan]

I was in market for 900 cc ADV tourer. Took a TD of both GSA 900 and Tiger 900 rally pro. I was really confused. Planning for a longer TD from Kochi some day.

[Axe77]

Originally Posted by cosmopolitan

I was in market for 900 cc ADV tourer. Took a TD of both GSA 900 and Tiger 900 rally pro. I was really confused. Planning for a longer TD from Kochi some day.

Both excellent bikes of course in their own right. Please do describe the use case etc a bit more too and perhaps readers will be able to weigh in a bit with inputs.

Longer test ride definitely a must for you to understand each bike a bit better.

[cosmopolitan]

I had been a Harley owner from 2013. Started with an Iron 883 and later upgraded to a 2018 heritage and sold it in Oct 2024. All these years I was a fan of highway rides. But I was always worried about road conditions when planning for a bike trip with Harley. During my trip to Varanasi from Kerala in 2021 I had an encounter with a very bad stretch after MP-UP border for around 20-30km (bypassing Prayagraj) to Mirzapur. My fellow rider was on Multistrada 950 and he was enjoying that stretch and me stressed to the core.

So I decided to go for an adventure bike. I don't want to be worried about the road conditions anymore. After Varanasi I wanted to go for Gangtok which I had to cancel owing to bad roads.
My budget is 20L and took test drive of GSA 1300, 900, Transalp, Ducati Multi V4S, Desert storm and Tiger 900. Out of these GSA900 and Tiger 900 came close to my liking. I was having reliability issues with harley during all these years so was thinking about Africa Twin too. But looks like Honda has not yet decided about it.

I want the bike to be reliable and not that heavy on wallet. I live in a place 100km away from both these dealership so taking the bike to service once in a year is okay for me.

[Axe77]

Based on a ballpark 20L budget (keeping in mind that even basic protective accessories and luggage etc can add up to a couple of lakh over and above), I’d say the 900 GS and Tiger 900 GT / RP are two of your best bets as a short shortlist.

The 900 GS is an incredible machine but they’ve designed it with a very heavy off road bias - not that it can’t tour comfortably of course but its some of the little touches.

For more road (including bad road / no road) but essentially road / tarmac biased touring with luggage, I feel the Tiger might be a better all rounder. Reasons:
# Better seating comfort for both rider and pillion (on the odd occasion you want to take a pillion.)
# Better visor with height adjustability adds a lot to touring comfort - raise height for wind blast protection at higher speeds or bring it down if you are looking for more airflow on hotter days. The 900 GS comes with a shorter and non adjustable wind screen.
# The Tiger offers a 19 as well as 21” front wheel option based on what you may prefer. The 19 might provide a sportier riding experience on tarmac.
# You’re likely to get better tank range on the Tiger. The 900 GS has a sub par for segment tank size IIRC.

Some advantages for the 900 GS:
# If you feel you might graduate to enjoy more hardcore off-roading, the GS will be extremely rewarding. It is very light and flickable (perhaps better than the 900 RP on this front), feels less top heavy too.
# Getting that peach of an Akra as a standard fitment is a peach of an inclusion.
# Option of a lower seat height on a 21” front wheel bike via that candy yellow variant, albeit at the expense of losing some suspension travel. If a taller bike is ok, then you can opt for the Trophy. If you want a 21” front bike, the Tiger Rally Pro only comes in one height which can be tall for some. (Of course you can play around with all of these with low seat options etc)
# The GSA 900 can fix some aspects like tank range etc but it does feel more top heavy and it comes only in that very tall seat height so you need to be ok with that.