2012 BMW G650GS Sertao

[tireatr]

Any thoughts on this as an on road Off road bike? I'm looking to get my first bike that I can ride forest service roads and some touring. Currently own 2 Aprilia Tuonos', a Mille, and a Gen One FJR, so something lighter and rugged was the target. I've never owned a BMW. Are they challenging to work on? What would be a comparable bike? KLR 650? $5200 seems like a decent price with mods, but I'm a little green here. The bike will live in the mtns.

http://advrider.com/index.php?threads/2 ... o.1190533/

[Bob]

I owned a F650GS thumper (now called the G650GS), pretty much same bike as the Sertao with shorter shocks. It is fuel injection, as opposed to almost every other similar bike--so no tinkering with cranky carbs. They are pretty reliable, there were a few glitches that affected them, front wheel bearings I think was one of them. But if I was to go back into riding fire roads again I would look for one. And I have also owned a KLR650 and DRZ400S. All have their strong points, DRZ being lighter weight. KLR will handle highway speeds and are cheap to acquire and maintain. The BMW 650 thumper is a strong engine and had zero trouble cruising with the big boys, I really liked its torquey pull and ergonomics, was fun riding up 181 as well as Pineola Rd.

The Sertao (formerly the Dakar) has longer legs for more gnarly stuff than the F650GS that I had. If you also have long legs, it should be a good fit. And it really handles longer pavement stretches nicely. If you like really good ground reach off road, try the plain G650GS. Still has plenty of shock travel.

That bike you're looking at is nicely farkled too! ABS in this price range.