ford
'2001 BMW F650GS
affectionately known as
Pearl'
I’m in the saddle of a 2001 BMW
F650GS that’s factory lowered and
more affectionately known as Pearl.
Pearl was a bike sourced on eBay at
the right price so I took a gamble.
Granted, she appeared in better
condition in the pictures, although
with a bit of hard graft in between
umpteen cups of tea, Jason
transformed Pearl into a shiny new
penny. A trusty companion; she's
great fun to ride, has an additional
sump guard over the original belly
pan, heated grips and a radiator
guard.
Although Jason drooled over his R1200
GSA, a brilliant bike ‘two up’ when we
toured through Europe for example, he
felt it wasn’t the weapon of choice for
the Latin American dirt roads we had in
mind. Hence, he acquiesced and
downsized. He now adores his BMW
F800GS despite the two niggles he had,
which were the rock-hard seat and un-fit
for purpose screen. Opting for an
Airhawk seat, an inflatable cushion gives
Jason around twice the mileage before
his derriere goes numb. Investing in a
Touratech fairing cost a pretty penny but
performs well in shielding him from the
wind. Jason has further modified his
bike with a custom belly pan and heavy-
duty engine bars. The F800GS is a tall
bike against Jason at 5’ 8” – the engine
bars are doing a remarkable job for the
number of times he drops it!