REVIEW | BMW’s F 900 R is a mid-size all-rounder without sacrificing speed and handling | Life

• The BMW F 900 R was introduced locally in late 2020.

• The bike is the successor to the F 800 R.

• The F 900 R is sibling to the F 900 XR.

• For more motoring stories, go to Wheels24

Last year, as soon as the lockdown regulations allowed, BMW invited the media for an introductory ride on their F 900 R and F 900 XR. While I found the latter to be pleasant enough despite lacking the power of the S 1000 XR (which BMW also threw into the mix), the F 900 R surprised me with the amount of sheer fun it brought to the party.

When the Bavarian brand recently offered me the F 900 R for a full review, I jumped at the opportunity. I was keen to evaluate their successor to the less-than-exciting F 800 R in more detail. The 900 R promised to be everything its predecessor wasn’t. With increased engine capacity, improved looks, and a vastly better soundtrack, it was set to impress. And impress it does.

Rob Till

From affordable to desirable

Let’s start with the looks. Where the 800 R fairly screamed, “I’m affordable!”, the 900 looks the part of a desirable bike. From the more rectangular headlamp to the more aggressive line along the tank and seat to the slightly abbreviated tail, if the 900 screams anything, it is: “Let’s go play!”

But as playful and sporty as it appears, the seating position is not sportbike-excessive. While knee-bend is greater than on the XR, it will not prohibit you from taking the bike on the occasional long ride. The slight forward lean of your body is also a good compromise for a bike that is very likely to serve as an all-rounder. 

Spending an hour or so in commuting traffic doesn’t place excessive strain on your forearms and neck, and you sit upright enough to see over the roofs of most passenger cars easily.  However, lowering your upper body for some hard cornering is no problem because you’re halfway there already.

Wheels24

Dries van der Walt

‘Bewildering variety of menus’

BMW has endowed the 900 R with a multi-function full-colour TFT display that offers a bewildering variety of menus and sub-menus. Unfortunately, making a selection requires finding the right menu with the arrow button, and then ‘sideways-clicken mit der Schpinnen-Wheeler Patent’ – BMW’s controller device that is found on just about every current model. The arrangement, however, is anything but intuitive, although I suppose you get used to it after some time.

In addition to the standard instrument display, BMW has included a sports panel which places the rev counter front and central and relegates the speed read-out to a lesser position in the top left-hand corner of the panel. This display includes a bank-angle indicator which keeps your maximum lean angle in memory until you switch the bike off. ‘Tis a perilous thing, though, because as much as you try to convince yourself that you’re a seasoned journo doing a serious job with a near-scientific approach, you do find yourself chasing the indicator.

Wheels24

Dries van der Walt

Riding without hesitation

Fortunately, the bike’s handling is both beyond reproach and extremely confidence-inspiring. I found myself tipping it into corners without hesitation, and the bike followed my instructions. Grip from the standard tyres seems prodigious. With the usual array of electronic safety nets (which, on the test bike, included BMW’s active suspension), the 900 R seemed to require more courage than I have to push it beyond its limits.

The engine, with its 270 degrees firing interval, not only feels the part but sounds it, too. Where its predecessor sounded like so many pebbles rattling around in a tin can, the growl from the 900’s mill is both impressive and satisfying. As a parallel twin, it delivers copious amounts of torque which endows it with brisk acceleration, while the quick shifter (which works both up and down) ensures that your gear shifts acquire an on-the-track aura, even in the light commuting traffic that thankfully still substitutes for what we used to call rush-hour.

Understandably, the F 900 R comes nowhere near its litre-class counterpart in performance terms, but then neither does it in terms of price. To appreciate the 900 R means seeing it for what it is: a mid-size all-rounder for those who don’t want to sacrifice acceleration and handling when they buy a bike for commuting duties. And then, of course, it brings to the table an attribute that is highly valued in some circles – the allure and status of the blue-and-white roundel.

Rob Till

2021 BMW F 900 R

Engine

Type: Water-cooled four-stroke in-line twin
Displacement: 895cc
Maximum Power: 77kW @ 8500rpm
Maximum Torque: 92Nm @ 6500rpm
Fuel supply system: Electronic fuel injection
Fuel type: Premium Unleaded

Transmission
Type: Six-speed sequential
Final drive: Chain

Dimensions
Overall length x height (mm):  1518 x 815
Kerb weight: 211kg

Capacities
Passengers: 1+1
Fuel tank: 13L

Brakes
Front: Dual discs, 320mm
Rear: Single disc, 265mm

Suspsension
Front: Upside-down telescopic fork, 43mm
Rear: Cast aluminium dual swing arm, central spring strut

Wheels and tyres
Tyre, front: 120/70-ZR-17
Tyre, rear: 180/55-ZR-17

Price: R196 700