Where to dear? I think we should go to the seaside, perhaps for an ice cream. Oh lovely! On BMW's new F900 XR. Yeah! Ridiculous. Hi folks, welcome back to the BMW stand here at the NEC. We've taken the time to have a look already at BMW's very, very interesting new F900 Kuala L Twin Roadster. In addition to that, I guess their sort of bigger brother is the new F900 XR. So that's the middleweight touring bike. They released a kind of concept variant about 18 months ago called the 9 Cento and I've got to say when I saw that bike roll up to a special event, it was gorgeous. Really, really cool looking thing. I think it had electro magnetic pan� as if I remember correctly. Sadly they've not translated that to the road bike. But actually the design language, the profile is very, very similar and this is for me again, it's a really interesting exciting bike for this segment. You know, when you think about what's out there, what's available, I'm not sure this has got any direct competitors. Well, this middleweight touring segment is super popular. There's no doubt, you know, you trace a 900's really popular. You trace a 700's really really popular. People love that type of bike. Yeah they do. And for good reason as well, they go really well. They actually pretty much handle like a naked. Yes. Well, they're not, I mean, traditionally. Of course, multi stride and 950. Yes. Well, really great bike. And people are wanting to put a lot of mileage on. I mean, I've done quite a few ferry trips actually recently. And you know what, half the, not half the dock, but there's quite a few bikes on them and people doing a lot more trips. They want something, they need something more comfortable. Soft seat, nice riding position, nice screen, good engine, but also handling as well, because you're going to travel all the way to an Austria for those good roads. Sure. And you know, you don't necessarily want to. The reason I'm the gold wing, dear. In some respects, you've got, you know, Yamaha, I've got a lot to be thankful, I think, because they've kind of driven that market a little bit. The reality is, you know, the way that manufacturers are looking at the model selection and the type of bikes they're producing is changing enormously. You know, what a lot of people want, including myself, is you kind of want a bit of Swiss Army knife for a bike. You actually want a bike that you could sit on for five hours, but also that if you want to go for a blast, it's agile, it turns well. You know, you're absolutely right. If you're going to get on a ferry and you get on, I mean, I went, you know, south of Spain, I don't, I need a screen. I'm just like, I like heat to grips. I love cruise control. So Chris, thanks so much for your time. I know we've just spoken very briefly about the, the F800, F800, 900 are, and I'm sort of fascinated to get a sense of how that differs from the new XR. You just just taught me through how they're going to, you know, how they compare in terms of riding experience. Yeah, it's a funny thing because yeah, essentially the backbone of the bike is the same, you know, the base on the same chassis, the same engine, surprisingly different feel to the two bikes, you know, the 900R feels more at the sports bike end of things. It's a real nice flowing through fast bends, but in town, this thing feels actually a little easier to handle because you're getting off that up. Yeah, big wide bars. Yeah, and this is almost a more childish bike. It really surprised me this thing. I had so much fun every time I got off it, even comparing it to the S1000. So it's a big brother. This thing was a hoop. It was an absolute right to ride. So, so, so, at slow speed, really easy, compliant, maneuverable, but actually when you, when you, when you go out to the open road, it's also a really enjoyable bike to ride at the highest speed. Exactly. It does that, that thing that the sort of sporty road bike should do. It makes you feel happy. It makes you feel like you're getting everything out there. You'll make it me feel happy talking about it. Can you tell it was exciting? Yeah, and that's the thing. When you ride it as hard as you can in the video footage, we were riding them hard and right on the limit, there's plenty of feel in the bike, just feels like it's letting you know what's going on. So it's kind of, it's reassuring. You're never kind of intimidated by the riding experience at all. Absolutely. It gave you confidence and just made you go out and yeah, hair around like an idiot. I love it. Chris, you just saw me one of these. Somebody want to take my deposit. So, of course, the bike, like the F900R, comes with the amazing BMW TFT, which is just, the most beautiful dashes that I've seen on a motorbike. It's really interesting. It's a lot more illuminations than it means you're in the fight. It's a nice welcome in it. It sounds ridiculous, right? You can't let you know, you get on this bike or winter evening. That lights him up. Oh, that's nice. It's like a nice walk by the way. I almost felt like I'm in my car. Yeah, but it's easy. I mean, jokes are like, it's super crisp, isn't it? Yeah. Really easy to use. Feet are packed and get all that connectivity. Again, that's another thing, isn't it? The manufacturers have been doing really embraced that you've got. You're able to download the app to your phone. You can connect to your bike. It just simplifies all the terms. So, you can run the satnav. Run the satnav. Run your phone. Run your music. You're all sorts of bits and pieces with it. And again, as we were talking about with the 800 road, the 900 roads, the 800 roadster, most people are going to buy the TFT Touring Edition because you get so much more for your money. And when that's hanging on about value again, this bike on the road just under 10 4, with all of these toys, riding the bike. That's a sport version. The Stander comes in at 9365 and this one is 10365. Yes, so effectively, for another thousand quid you get Rommers. Pro, QuickShifter, He Debrit, Cruze! The list is very long so you are getting a massive amount of bike for your money. And like I say, an incredibly usable tool for all types of riding, touring, going out for a blast, everything. And that I think is the key for me. I mean, it's a difficult one. I've come on of here and vacillated wildly. Do I prefer this? Do I prefer that? I don't know. I think you're a fan actually of that screen. Mark, aren't you? Well, I'm a mid-lane. It works as well. It works well. I love the fact that you just do that to lift it up and up and down. I mean, that's great. And when we had a KTM recently, you had to get your Allen key out and unscrew the bolt and then lift it up and even then it didn't work. You've got to stop for 15 minutes. Get your toll back out. Yeah, in the cold. So this is really, really good. I actually prefer the red being honest, but it comes in three different colour ways as well. So it comes in a red, it comes in a grey and I think it comes in black as well. No, there's a gold. There's a gold. I'm not sure exactly what the BMW terminologies for that colour is, but actually, you kind of think gold, you think, not so much, but in the flesh, that is a very nice looking motorcycle. Yeah. The other thing that they do quite nicely on this bike and we didn't mention it in the F900R1 is that they do a really nice exhaust, and we've told it's a bit about exhaust getting bigger and bigger and you know, it's sort of... Let's talk about exhaust. Yeah, yeah. So it's quite a nice, it's quite a nice exhaust on this one. It's kind of like a slash cut exhaust. It's not enormous. I don't think honestly, even if I can talk myself, we could live in that one. That's teasing quite big enough. Interestingly as well, I think we would remiss not to mention that these bikes do come in A2 license friendly for, so you know, if you're an A2 license holder and A2 you can't go for your full, these can come as an A2, which is amazing, right? Yeah, it's, you can have a... This much bike and you could be, I don't know how old you are to be, A2 license compliant. It's a long time ago, 21 or 21, yeah. But you've got that option too. So they really have so many boxes with these bikes and again, put their best foot forward in what is a very competitive market, but you know, honestly, again, at the risk of sounding like a total sicker phone, I honestly can't say to you that there is a direct competitor at this price. That's the thing that surprises me the most is how they've managed to position these bikes and the price they have. If you think about... And you consider that it's BMW. Yeah. So, you know, everything else and there are other brands out there, but it's not going to be as well-made as this. And everyone that uses a BMW product, whether it's a GSO on R9 T-O, you know, they're never any complaints about the build quality. And that's why they keep coming back because they are well-made. Yeah. And you go on other stuff and it's all a bit plasticky and stuff. These guys really take care because they're such a big worldwide brand. You know, you can... You know, technically, you should be actually paying a premium for that, but I think the reality is that you're not in this case. I don't think BMW want this to be a secret, but frankly, I am... I'm really, really incredibly surprised at how they've positioned these bikes price-wise. I do think, dare I say it, they're a bit of a bargain. Yeah. You know, if you are looking again, if you're looking to upgrade from a kind of smaller capacity bike, you want to get yourself a real full-size machine, whether it be the roaster, whether it be the XR, they are phenomenal value for money. There's no doubt about it. Oh, just very quickly, obviously, it being the touring-based bike, the tank is slightly larger. I don't know if you mentioned the roaster video, but it's a 13 and this is a 15-liter tank, so range is suitable. Okay. So again, the F900XR is fitted with Brembo brakes, just like the naked variant. So it's going to stop really well, basically. Same set up as the new 900-roadster. And the tyres are a bit more of a sport-oriented, so a sport-touring orientated the T30R from Bridgestone, which, yeah, just bit, probably longer-life tyre, basically. And one of the interesting piece of technical is that this is just eight kilos heavier than it's naked equivalent, which is very little, frankly, isn't it? It's probably like a big Christmas dinner. Oh, the difference between me and you. If you enjoyed the video, don't forget to like, please subscribe to the channel, massive endorsement from me, incredible value for money. So come along and check it out as soon as you get the chance. We'll see you in the next one.