F800's were plagued with problems.. You couldn't go a day without seeing another dead F800GS thread on a forum.

I've only been working in a BMW for three months so my experience still has it's limits but I have to say that the only F800 problem I've had on my bench was the older model with the heat exchange problem (which turned your oil into milk)..

I have been doing it for the last 4 years and the only major problems i have seen is with the s and st models engine wise(i have one sitting in pieces in my bay atm), never had a gs engine go tbh and they have fixed that engine problem now. As far as servicing the gs goes they are one of the more reliable models, obviously most people who will get it serviced in the dealers probably wont be doing anything to hardcore on it but compared to the others i dont see many reoccuring problems.

If the road to Damascus was to be open at this moment, this would equate to a biblical event of long ago.
Let the light shine in! :D

I used to like the belt drive system for the S/ST for highway riding but never have owned one, partly because of the various discussion in the fora over the years + I don't like to be a beta tester of any bikes so I tend to own models that have been "ironed out". Often the discussion referred to piston slap as one issue with this twin engine.
So, what has changed or was that all consumer "chatter"?

Bmw's belt drive is worse then their rear differentials on the 1200s. Constant bearing failures on the early models and because of the materials they use for the eccentric in the swingarm it corroded alot meaning you cannot get the bearings out of the eccentric meaning you have to replace the whole thing. This doent seem to be as common an issue now mainly high milage bikes but you cant expect bearings to last forever right, seems the eccentirc is still made from the same material though making it nearly impossible to replace the bearing without just replacing the eccentric. No problems with the actual belt dirve itself though. Piston slap was a problem on early bikes again, which would lead to engine failure if left to long. BMW Updated the pistons aswell as alot of other parts inside the engine, cant remember what exactly. The new pistons were realised in ~2008 so bikes from that age should be ok, we have had customers do 30-40K miles on the new pistons and no sign of the problem reoccuring, early ones you would be lucky to get to 10k miles without deafening you.

Totally off topic, but it's reckoned that the Damascus mentioned in relation to Saul/Paul is not the one the one in Syria that you are thinking of. After all, why would the Jerusalem high priests have sent Saul into a country outside of their jurisdiction to persecute Christians?

Off topic over, please carry on. :innocent:

The borders of the ancient countries of Judea & Samaria etc are not what the modern borders are; in fact, modern day Damascus is not that far from Jerusalem in absolute distance terms, really. A few hundred km, I believe.

Just sayin'.

Yes, a couple of hundred km.

From educate yourself: Paul "the Liar" and Qumran "the Damascus"

Apologies for going off topic again. :)

Thanks for these interesting insights into the S/ST model.
I heard that the belt needed to be changed about every 24K miles which is pretty good compared with many chain systems, considering the maintenance free nature of the belt system and, I think, that the "sprockets" did not need to be changed.

I guess the 800GS has been sorted out by now, with the lack of the belt drive issue and the revised pistons + the other bits that you mention.
There have been one or two comments made in the HUBB in the past about the reliability aspects of the 800GS model but they have tended to lack any definition of the perceived issues, or evidence for that matter.

Oh well, whichever road the Saint was travelling, the volte-face of a week ago is revolutionary.

I built a new one up yesterday.. Brand new 2013 out of the crate.

Fired her up and thought that the bike had been shipped without oil in by some gargantuan error.

Then I remembered that they all sound that way.... It's hard to know when they are going wrong as they sound broken when they're new :smartass:

However, I thoroughly enjoyed the test ride around the country lanes. Great bike power/weight wise.

Sure it does last longer with very little maintenance but when it costs over twice as much as a chain and sprocket set it doesnt begin to look so good. Also in the unlikely event you get a stone under your belt it'll cause a bulge which i as a technician would write the belt off for.


They do get shipped with running in oil in them but even so the 800 engine does sound like a jar full of marbles. I have repaired so many 800 engines you kind of get in tune to what they should and shouldnt sound like.

We got our F800GSA in today and BMW really have tried with this bike. At first looks it looks like the 800GS has been eating doughnuts non stop for the past 3 years. The tank is bigger, it looks huge compared to the standard GS. The front fairing has been given the fat man treatmen aswell, they have spaced it out a good few inches either side for the radiator which makes space for the spotlights which sit either side of the radiator neatly tucked behind the fairing where they made extra space. The screen is a tall upright job, much bigger then the 800gs tall screen. Although the seat height is only 10mm taller it feels much more as it has the comfort seat as standard which is alot wider then the standard bench taking up alot more of you instep, although it is really really comfy. The centre stand has also been changed and you can put the bike on and off of it with very little effort. All of the fairing panels have been ruggerdised aswell and feel alot more resilient. I have not ridden it yet but im sure it wont be too much different from the standard GS.

head-stock bearings too..

I've done about 3 sets of these in the last 3 months. All around the 15,000-20,000 mile mark.

Very notchy 10 degrees each side from centre. Makes the bike horribly twitchy when you test-ride it.

They're practically dry of grease when you press them out..

I'd expect a set of 'premium quality' head bearings to last 40,000 miles in a bike.

Still, I do love the 800 twin motor. I love it in the GS and the ST... If I were buy a BMW, it would be a hard decision between them. The ST is so much fun on the country lanes. The low down grunt and speed it winds up so smoothly is a real joy to ride. I prefer that over many inline fours now.

Even the GS pulls nicely. It's top end is as fast as anyone really needs it to be but it's got a great spread of power down the rev's...

I might borrow one for the next HU meeting :)

Yup quite common on the f650/800 twin models, the s/st dont suffer as bad though.


You obviously work for a better company then me lol :funmeterno:

Get used to it ... now that you are living in a BMW world. One consequence of BMW's like of a stable steering geometry is that you go through head bearings at twice the rate. Doesnt matter what quality of bearing to change to, its not the bearing quality that causes it, its the inherent stability in the geometry favoured by BMW. I like the way the geometry is on BMs, and have to add steering dampers, and less offset triple clamps to products that have come out of Mattighofen to try to increase stability. but the flipside of it, is you spend more on head bearings.

I never expedition without spare head bearings if I am on a BMW.


You are supposed to be on the road then ... :mchappy:

You will never get to Magadan if you prioritize HUBB meetings over travel!

HUBB meetings are for those who arent out on the road that summer !

Trust me.... I'd be on my way tomorrow if my wallet wasn't made of onion skin. (It makes you cry when you open it) ;)

I think I will need another 18 months saving before I can hit the road for Russia. And I want to spend 6-8 weeks in Indonesia this winter if I can get the time off :D

Its okay though. I'm doing a couple of back to bare metal bike restorations and welding projects to keep me out of trouble for the time being....