BMW F900R, F900XR, S1000XR

When BMW Motorrad South Africa announced a day-long introduction to the F900R, F900XR and S1000XR, we weren’t about to let the fact that we had published the story of the international launch only a few months ago stop us trying them out on home soil. We may not have the roads of Spain as our playground but we weren’t going to let a small detail like that put us off; I had to see for myself what these bikes were like.

- Harry Fisher

Of course, the S1000XR has been around for quite a while, although it would be interesting to see if the recent updates had improved what some might consider un-improvable.

But it was the two F900 models that really piqued my interest. I am on record as saying that I never liked the early F700/F800 models; bland styling and an even blander engine - no character whatsoever. The engine, in fact, was my least favourite motorcycle engine of the last ten years.

So much so that I wasn’t exactly chomping at the bit when BMW announced new ‘F’ models; the 750 and 850. Well, that caught me out, didn’t it! The new engines - 853cc in both, detuned in the 750 - were the best bit about the bike. By that, I don’t mean that that the rest of the bike was so bad that the engine stood out, I mean that the new engine now was transformed and allowed the rest of the bike to shine as well. Changes to crank-pin offset and firing intervals produced an engine with bags more character and a much meatier sound, more akin to a V-twin. Here, at last was a mid-range BMW I could actually own.

So, when the F900 models were introduced, with an additional 42 cc and 10bhp, they promised to be just as good, if not more so and, in the F900XR, surely here was a bike that was going to be a brilliant all-rounder.