2025 BMW F 900 GS Adventure | MC Commute

Name: 2025 BMW F 900 GS Adventure | MC Commute
Uploaded: 2025-08-28T09:45:00+00:00
Duration: 19 min 10 s
Channel: Motorcyclist

Motorcyclist

6 weeks ago

Take a closer look at the 2025 BMW F 900 GS Adventure, BMW’s latest middleweight ADV bike built for long-distance touring and off-road exploration. In this review, we cover the key updates, performance on and off the road, and whether the new F 900 GS Adventure is the right adventure motorcycle for you.

Check out the story at https://www.motorcyclistonline.com/reviews/bmw-f-900-gs-adventure-mc-commute/

Become a Channel Partner: https://octanemedia.co/home/become-an-advertiser/

Looking to buy? Get prequalified
https://octane.co/vehicle-selection/?partner=jAYmx9P&a=303&flow=long-prequal&appTheme=3a49337c5724d18079602a4ca5a91626

Read the best motorcycle news and reviews: http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/

Motorcyclist Shirts: https://teespring.com/stores/motorcyclist
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/motorcyclistonline/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/motorcyclistmag/

Category

🥇

Sports

Transcript

Display full video transcript

00:00Hey everyone, good morning and welcome to today's episode of MC Commute starring BMW Motorrad's F900GS Adventure.

00:08Who's ready to go for a ride?

00:10There it is everyone, BMW Motorrad's F900GS Adventure.

00:14This is a mid-size plus adventure touring bike from BMW Motorrad out of Germany.

00:21This is the sister model to the leaner and meaner F900, which was overhauled for the 2024 model year.

00:30This F900GS Adventure adopted some of the changes that the F900GS got, like that oversized 895cc parallel twin engine and that 9-inch travel inverted fork with adjustment.

00:46But some of the other changes, like the bodywork and the asymmetrical headlight, remain the same.

00:52All right everyone, who's ready to hop aboard this bad billy goat and log some miles? Woo!

00:58All right folks, here we are on BMW's F900GS Adventure.

01:04This is a mid-size plus adventure touring, full-fledged adventure touring bike from BMW Motorrad out of Germany.

01:13This vehicle differs from the standard F900GS in its more touring-friendly accommodations.

01:21So let's get into it right away, sitting on this motorcycle.

01:23This motorcycle has, it has a low seat height for an adventure touring bike, but it's still pretty tall.

01:31We also just love this seat on this motorcycle.

01:34It is crazy comfortable.

01:36It is broad, it's plush without being too plush, and there's a lot of room to move around.

01:42This is a very nice seat, and if you're looking to burn a lot of miles, you're going to like the seat on this motorcycle.

01:50It's also worth mentioning that BMW Motorrad always has optional tall and low seats that you can get when you purchase this bike, so you can have a more comfortable fit.

02:01This is the traditional seat, I wouldn't mind having the tall seat because I'm a taller person standing at six foot tall, but even this traditional seat, it is crazy comfortable, very nice.

02:12The handlebar on this motorcycle, it is nice and wide, it has an upright bend.

02:17There is quite a bit of rearward sweep, but if you want the handlebar to have a more upright, traditional upright bend for dirt biking, you can just roll it forward by loosening these four Torx bolts right here.

02:32You can roll it forward, have it in line with the fork tubes, and that's going to give you a little bit more aggressive posture for off-road riding.

02:38Honestly, this bike is a little bit more touring friendly, so having the handlebar rotated backward a little bit like it is, is really nice for street bike riding.

02:48We like these plastic handguards, which do a good job of keeping the wind off your mitts.

02:54There's also heated grips that you can engage with this button right here.

02:59You engage it, and you can see the heat element in three increments.

03:03These grips work really well and really get toasty.

03:06We don't need it, though, because it's 69 degrees Fahrenheit, how fitting.

03:11The rear sets on this motorcycle, they aren't too high, they're not too low.

03:16We really like the oversized size of the foot pegs, and they have a lot of good grip.

03:22The serration material on the foot pegs allows you to have a lot of grip against your foot pegs.

03:28This motorcycle has great ergonomics in both the seated and standing positions.

03:32This motorcycle feels very much like a dirt bike.

03:36It's right where you want to be, and there's a good amount of surface area to squeeze the bike with the inside of your legs.

03:43I always like doing that when I'm riding off-road because it just gives me more stability and allows me to charge a little bit harder.

03:50The ergonomics of this motorcycle are awesome.

03:53We have a two-position adjustable windscreen right now.

03:55Right now, it's in the low setting, and we can move it to the high setting by pushing that lever right here.

04:01The high setting's nice, but I wish it was even higher.

04:05Another inch or two.

04:06Another inch would go a long ways to keeping that air and have it go even higher over your head.

04:12It's not terrible, but one inch taller would be nice.

04:16We're going to put it in the low setting.

04:18That just gives us a little bit more air into the cockpit.

04:22Very nice ergonomics overall, though.

04:25This motorcycle is powered by BMW Motorhead's oversized 895cc water-cooled parallel twin-engine dual-over camshafts with an eight-valve cylinder head.

04:36This engine has higher engine capacity than the previous version.

04:40That was a change that BMW Motorhead did for 2024.

04:44This engine is awesome.

04:45It makes upwards of 85 horsepower at the business end of that 17-inch rear wheel and nearly 60 pound-feet of torque.

04:53A lot of pound-feet of torque, a lot of torque to get up and running here.

04:57The engine is complemented by a cable-actuated clutch and a six-speed gearbox with a chain-file drive on the left-hand side of the motorcycle.

05:07This vehicle is equipped with BMW's Gear Assist Shift Pro.

05:13That's BMW talk for an electronic quick shifter that functions on the up-shifts and the down-shifts.

05:19This allows for full-throttle up-shifts without using the clutch and the ability to down-shift on or off-throttle without using the clutch.

05:27It's a very nice feature.

05:28We love it.

05:29All motorcycles should have it, and it's cool that BMW offers that as a part of its up-spec premium package.

05:37That is an assortment of options that come as one for one cost.

05:44It also includes a center stand and electronic suspension adjustment, which we will get to in a little bit,

05:52and cruise control, and this GPS phone mount, which you can use to put in your smartphone or your GPS.

06:01We didn't put our smartphone in here because it requires you to take off your case.

06:04I don't like to take off my case, so we're not going to use it.

06:06There's a USB charging port, so you can charge your phone, too.

06:11And then we also have one of these micro-DC ports here, so you can charge things if you have that adapter.

06:17Very nice.

06:20Handling on this motorcycle.

06:22This motorcycle handles very well for a 542-some-pound adventure touring bike.

06:30It feels light on its feet.

06:32You definitely feel the weight picking it up off the kickstand, but in motion it feels very nice.

06:37And the handling is very predictable.

06:40It does feel a little bit top-heavy.

06:41You don't really notice it so much on the road, but off-road you do.

06:45But that's kind of how it goes having such a big capacity fuel tank.

06:50That's right.

06:50We have six gallons of fuel.

06:52How crazy is that, folks?

06:54Six gallons of fuel.

06:56Well, everyone, so far so good at BMW's F900GS Adventure Middleweight Plus Size Adventure Touring Bike.

07:02I love how comfortable this bike is.

07:05That seat is just crazy comfortable.

07:07It lets miles melt away with ease.

07:09And the updated ergonomics package on this motorcycle, it feels like a dirt bike in a good way with a crazy comfortable seat.

07:16BMW Motorhead has done a marvelous job of really engineering the ergonomics on its GS bikes to feel like a dirt bike in a good way for all of you riders who like to kick up dust off-road.

07:27All right, folks, let's hop back on our F900GS Adventure and log some more miles.

07:32Woo!

07:32All right, folks, where were we?

07:34Yes, fuel capacity.

07:36Six gallons of fuel capacity on this motorcycle.

07:38And we've been averaging just over 40 miles per gallon.

07:42How crazy is that?

07:43And you know we don't ride these motorcycles slow unless we're on our MC Commute ride.

07:47So 40 miles per gallon, that's a range of nearly 240 miles.

07:52So a lot of fuel capacity, a lot of range on this motorcycle, which we really like because the F900GS has a smallish fuel tank of 3.8 gallons.

08:01And you're definitely going to need fuel more often.

08:04But to be fair, the F900GS is not designed for cross-country freeway touring like this bike is designed for.

08:11That bike is designed for cooking up dust off-road.

08:14So that is the deal.

08:16Suspension on this motorcycle, we talked about the inverted fork that has independent spring preload adjustment and compression and rebound damping adjustment.

08:25Compression damping adjustment is on the left fork leg and rebound is on the right.

08:30So not independent compression and rebound damping, which we would like to see usually with a separate function.

08:36It does make for a lighter suspension package, but it also doesn't perform as well as independent damping adjustment.

08:44But to be fair, the suspension on this motorcycle, it glides over the road and delivers a very nice ride.

08:49We have 9 inches of travel up front and 8.5 in the rear.

08:53Out back, we have a direct mount shock that mounts directly between the frame and swing arm.

08:57We also have the ability to adjust spring preload electronically with this button right here.

09:05Of course, we have to be at a stop right now.

09:07We have it in the two-person setting, which has the ride height of the vehicle elevated and sharpens up the steering.

09:13We talked about the good handling of this 542-pound bike.

09:16If you want a more neutral handling profile, you can always, always adjust that spring preload and have it be a little bit more flat.

09:24It'll give a little bit more neutral handling, but we always like a little bit of weight on the front tire.

09:30That's just our personal preference with BMW.

09:33You can set it up the way you like it.

09:35We also have adjustable ride modes right here.

09:39Road, Dynamic, Enduro, and Enduro Pro.

09:42Enduro Pro is part of BMW's Upspec Ride Modes Pro package, which is unlocked with the Premium package.

09:48That allows you access to customize ABS and DTC dynamic traction control settings that you can adjust inside the menu when you're at a stop.

09:59Very nice.

10:00If you're someone who likes to kick off dust off-road, you're going to really want this Enduro Pro setting.

10:05It just allows you to set up the motorcycle, electronically speaking, a little bit better for all you folks who want more control off-road.

10:13Right now, we're riding in road mode.

10:15There's not a big difference between the combined engine power and throttle map settings between road and dynamic.

10:22There never is with BMW.

10:23They're very stealthy in their engineering of those maps.

10:27Unless you're a pro-level test rider, and even if you are, you're going to be hard-pressed to even notice a difference between those settings.

10:34Still, it's nice that BMW offers a more aggressive setting.

10:38Dynamic is the more aggressive setting, but it doesn't feel radically different than the road setting.

10:43But it also gives you access to a little bit less intrusive traction control.

10:49But again, you have to be riding at such a high rate of speed to really even notice it, that it almost is a moot point.

10:55It's still cool that BMW offers it.

10:58We have the 6.5 color TFT display that was introduced on the 2019 BMW R1250GS.

11:05It's really nice, really sharp fonts.

11:07All the fonts are similar to BMW Motorrad, other vehicles, and BMW cars.

11:14BMW has had that good synergy in its fonts for a long time now, and other manufacturers are catching on, including Suzuki with its new color TFT display.

11:24You can also pair this display with your iOS or Android-powered smartphone via BMW Motorrad's Connected app that allows for turn-by-turn directions right on the screen.

11:35How cool is that, folks?

11:37I like it a lot.

11:39It rolls on a 21-inch front wheel and 17-inch spoked wheel with tubeless tires.

11:46Now, the 21-inch front wheel is really nice because it allows you to ride over larger obstacles off-road with ease.

11:55A little bit more wheel diameter just helps you get over the rough stuff a little bit better than a 19-inch wheel.

12:00Even though we're riding on the road, this 21-inch wheel feels very maneuverable.

12:04It doesn't really feel like there's a 21-inch wheel out in front of you, even though there is.

12:08Of course, in typical BMW Motorrad's Spirit, we're rolling on a 17-inch rear wheel.

12:13It loves its 17-inch rear wheels.

12:16And honestly, for this motorcycle, they work fine off-road, too.

12:19The 17-inch rear wheel is a nice tall sidewall, which is always nice for folks that want a little bit of extra damping from that tire sidewall.

12:29That's a really nice touch.

12:30All right, folks, let's get ready to do our right turn, our infamous right turn.

12:38We're in first gear.

12:39I love the growl of that 895cc engine.

12:42All right, let's get rid of the berries.

12:44How about it, folks?

12:45Whoa, yeah!

12:47Oh, this thing goes!

12:49Wow!

12:51Wow, this bike has some great acceleration.

12:53And that uneven firing order makes this parallel twin feel like a V-twin.

12:59It's got V-twin-esque power pulses and character and even a sound that just makes riding fun.

13:06You get the best of both worlds.

13:08V-twin power character incitement with the compact packaging of a parallel twin.

13:14Very, very nice BMW.

13:17There is some engine vibration.

13:19You can feel it only slightly through the controls, a little bit through the handlebar, and only slightly through the footpegs.

13:26But once again, it's the good kind of vibration.

13:30It's the vibration that makes riding fun.

13:32It's like there's a friend riding along with you.

13:36It's very nice.

13:37The vibration on this motorcycle, you can tell, just like the Tuning Fork brand, has been finely tuned to complement the ride rather than to detract from it.

13:48Good job, BMW Motorrad.

13:49But you guys are paying attention to the details, and we see it and feel it.

13:55This F900GS Venture is really nice, not only because the seat's crazy comfortable in the ergonomics, but we have this huge, oversized front fairing that does a great job of shielding us from the elements.

14:08The wind goes around us, which is very nice.

14:10And it's a great place to log miles on the freeway.

14:16If you needed a ride across country, you could absolutely do it with this motorcycle.

14:22And as part of the premium package, this motorcycle comes equipped with the aluminum storage racks, which you can use to mount hard case luggage to the vehicle.

14:35Now, this wide fairing is super nice, but when you're riding in really hot weather, like 90, 95, 100 degree weather, you're going to feel some engine heat kicked off onto the rider.

14:48It's a combination of the cocoon-like fairing and just the way that the radiator shrouds are routed.

14:56The radiator is going to kick off some heat onto you.

14:59It's not so bad at 73 degrees Fahrenheit.

15:01You certainly, our lower section is a little warm, but it's certainly not bad at this ambient air temperature.

15:08But you get into the 90s, 95, 100, and you're going to feel that hot air being kicked off from the radiator on your legs.

15:15It's not the most awesome feature.

15:18It would be cool if BMW Motorrad had some type of louvers, which you could use to maybe direct that radiator air away from the rider.

15:28That would be a cool feature, I think, in our opinion.

15:31You know, that's only going to really be for people who ride in really, really warm conditions.

15:38If you ride in coastal conditions at 73 degrees, you're going to be just fine.

15:44Now, this motorcycle benefits from triple-disc hydraulic brakes with axial-mount Brembo calipers.

15:50We have stainless steel brake lines.

15:54The brakes on this motorcycle, they have good power.

15:58The feel is a little bit muted initially, which honestly isn't a bad thing, especially for folks who are going to be riding off-road.

16:05But the power is nice and consistent.

16:06And the rear brake has a really nice feel.

16:11It's a little bit soft on the power, but it has good feel.

16:15And we really like how serrated that rear brake pedal is.

16:20You can really find it easily with your right foot, and there's a lot of grip there.

16:24I'm a big back brake person.

16:26Whether I ride on the street or off-road, I'm always on the back brake.

16:30It's easy to have a nice, chunky lever that's easy to grab with your right foot.

16:35Of course, we have ABS on this motorcycle, and you can adjust some of the features and turn off track control by pushing this button.

16:44You do have to be at a stop.

16:45However, I apologize.

16:47You do not have to be at a stop.

16:49You just hold it and press it, and now track control is off.

16:53You can also adjust the ABS sensitivity inside menu.

16:57Everything is controlled by BMW Motorrad's signature multi-wheel controller.

17:02This was a device that was engineered for the 2012 K16 or GTL.

17:08Fast forward 13 years, and it lives on today with this F900 GS Venture.

17:14This multi-control wheel is pretty neat.

17:17Over the decades, we've really gotten used to it so we can use it really well and access the trip computer and all the menu navigation settings, which work pretty good.

17:25Once you learn how to use BMW's menu navigation, it's actually pretty easy to figure out, easy to use.

17:31This multi-function control is a cool tool, but in today's world, it's starting to lose tactile function.

17:37Some of the other motorcycle manufacturers have finally stepped it up to the plate and offer switch gear with a lot improved tactile feel.

17:44So, BMW, it's time for an upgrade on the multi-wheel.

17:48It would also be nice if the switch gear was backlit.

17:52Well, everyone, that was a fun ride on BMW's F900 GS Adventure, midsize-plus adventure touring bike.

17:58I really like this bike.

17:59It's crazy comfortable on the road.

18:02Miles melt away with ease.

18:03It's got a really great seat, and the ergonomics on this motorcycle are wonderful, whether you're in the seated or standing position, especially for this six-foot-tall rider.

18:14The engine's awesome.

18:16It's got a ton of character, the right amount of engine vibration, good powered acceleration and sound, and that parallel twin configuration just allows for a relatively slim motorcycle.

18:26Of course, the oversized fairing that we talked about, which makes this motorcycle so adept for freeway use, makes it a little bit wide, but you're going to like it if you are logging miles.

18:36Which brings us to the price on this motorcycle.

18:39Kitted out, this thing is $18,000, including the $2,700 premium package.

18:45Is it worth it?

18:46Well, it's one heck of a bike.

18:48It's crazy comfortable.

18:49And the ability to actually have some fuel capacity and range and go on trips on the thing, it's really nice.

18:56And realistically, you get a capable adventure touring bike for $18,000.

19:01I don't think that's a bad thing.

19:03It's worth mentioning that this motorcycle is made in Germany and carries a three-year warranty.

19:08We'll see you in the next episode.