BMW F 450 GS

The BMW F 450 GS is easily the most-awaited motorcycle of the year. But has this German learned a few tricks to survive in India?

Anyone eyeing and buying a mid-capacity ADV in the country has been keen to know one thing above all -- when will the BMW F 450 GS arrive? Its predecessor - the 310 GS -- was a relatively popular motorcycle but had started to show its age. Its TVS-made 313cc engine never received the updates that the TVS bikes received, which made them significantly better. All of this made buyers overlook the 310 GS.

Finally, the 450 GS has arrived, and I must say with a less eye-watering price tag than we were expecting, given its premium roots. And if you have up to Rs 6 lakhs to spend on an ADV, should you be navigating to a BMW Motorrad dealership? I rode it in 45 deg Goa heat to get to know if the F 450 GS is fit for India.

If you are planning to bring this ADV home, then here’s all you need to know about it with the help of detailed real-life images.

Where are the spoke wheels? That's the question you ask when you look at the baby GS for the first time. And the answer to that is simple -- they are optional accessories. They always have been, even in international markets. The setup is 100/90-R19 front and 130/80-17 rear, which is narrower than the 310 GS. Once you get past this and start to accept the alloy wheels, the premiumness of the motorcycle starts to show.

In the GS Trophy variant, the paint quality feels excellent. The contrast between white graphics and golden forks and handlebar offer excellent contrast. The metal belly guard and the knuckle guards give it the right off-road flavour. The fit and finish are excellent, and the bike feels very well put together. The aggressive predator face gives the bike a solid road presence, and the overall size is impressive. BMW has made the bike more lean and athletic than big and bulky, which to me looks much better.

I genuinely wish that the rear grab rails and the luggage hooks were made of metal. Right now, they are made of plastic and that is where a bit of compromise is felt. Also, the switchgear. It is tactile but the quality is less than desired. Plastics feel cheap and the click is average. For a premium bike with a premium price tag -- we certainly expected better.

Now comes the colour options. They are locked with the variants you buy. The Basic and Exclusive variants get the black colour, and the GS Trophy comes with the blue and white contrast. That's it -- nothing else. More colour options, especially for the Indian market, would have been highly appreciated. But the offered two colours also look exciting, and here is everything you need to know about them.

The BMW F 450 GS is a good-looking motorcycle. It has a lot of road presence, especially in the GS Trophy variant, and feels premium too. If you are considering getting the tubeless spoke rims, we hear that the cost can be close to Rs 70,000 for a pair. This is still a rumor though, and we will only have the final prices a bit later. This will push the price of the bike to Rs 6 lakhs ex-showroom -- and close to 7 lakhs on-road. Now that -- for a 450 twin, is asking for a lot.

The one thing the BMW F 450 GS does not compromise on is tech. It comes loaded with features that an ADV today should pack -- barring a few exceptions. The display is a 6.5” TFT, which is plenty bright, and the layout is easy to read and understand while riding. Plus, it is operated via the rotating controller on the left handlebar -- the BMW multi-controller, which is possibly the easiest and most intuitive in the business. It will receive call alerts and also offer navigation, but it is controlled via offline maps in the BMW application on your phone, not Google or Apple Maps.

The rear monoshock is preload and rebound adjustable from the base variant, but the compression- and rebound adjustable fork is reserved for the top Trophy variant only. Also available across the board are switchable ABS and traction control, and 3 ride modes (Rain, Road and Enduro). The 4th ride mode, Enduro Pro, is not available in the base variant. Finally, all three levers are adjustable (including the rear brake).

Then you also get heated grips, which are hard to find a use case for in the majority of the riding situations in India, and ERC in the top variant, which gives the bike a clutchless ride. We will discuss this in more detail a bit later. The Quickshifter is offered only in the mid-spec Exclusive and the top-spec GS Trophy variant. But what we can't overlook is the fact that the bike misses out on two very important features -- a tyre pressure monitoring system and cruise control. Both of these have been adopted by mass-market motorcycles, and the premium bike skipping these is a little hard to digest. Especially given that BMW has offered heated grips.

All of these features work well and are executed flawlessly. This does not feel like beta testing, and the hardware and the software you get have been tested and proven to be reliable. This is not something we can say about a lot of new ADVs on sale in India right now.

Spot on! The F 450 GS takes the learnings of its forefathers and ensures you feel comfortable on the saddle. The weight, at 178kg, is kept in check, which makes getting it off the stand fairly simple. The 845mm seat height is manageable too, because the bike’s mid-section is slim. If you are over 5’6”, the baby GS will feel natural to hop onto. The handlebar is wide, and the reach is comfortable. You do feel confident in the saddle.

The seat cushioning is good, and spending time on the road will not be an issue. The 350km tank range should be able to be covered with just a chai break in between. 

The pillion seat, though, is a bit on the narrow side and not the most comfortable. Even the grab rails are not the most ergonomic. That said, city journeys with a pillion should not be an issue.

In my limited time riding the motorcycle, the overall feeling I was left with was fun, not exciting. And that mainly has to do with the performance and getting used to the ERC (Easy Ride Clutch). The brand new 420cc parallel-twin engine is an excellent all-rounder. It will suit your style regardless of whether you are a calm tourer, a happy commuter or an aggressive rider. While it is not as traditionally refined as a Japanese twin-cylinder motorcycle is, in fact, there are times it feels like a single, but it more than makes up for this with the grunt it offers.

Inside the city, the baby GS feels happy. At low speeds, it shows no struggle to chug along, and the engine offers excellent tractability and pull. It can pull from as low as 3000rpm in 4th gear and even stretch its legs for a quick overtake. In fact, one of the key highlights of this motorcycle is its ability to build speed quickly. Even in the narrow lanes of Goa, the bike took no effort in overtaking cars, scooters, and even the eager and often hungry-for-attention Thar drivers. The throttle response is smooth for the most part -- it's just that you have to get used to the ERC as it only starts to give power to the wheels post 2700rpm. And if you pull hard on the accelerator from idle, the power comes in a snappy manner. An easy initial throttle input can ease this issue.

On the highway, the bike’s character changes a bit. The calmness is reduced and the GS nature starts to take over. Close to 5000rpm, the bike becomes buzzy and the vibes start to be felt on the pegs, handlebar and even the fuel tank. They are not significant enough to spoil the experience, but certainly enough for you to notice and feel a bit out of place on a low-capacity twin. Get past the vibes, and the bike is a comfortable tourer. It sits happily between 100-120kmph and still has a lot of power left for quick overtakes. It reaches 150kmph in no time. This makes it a fun bike to be on the highway.

However, apart from the refinement, there is also top-end performance, which feels a bit missing. It never feels wow when you start to rev it, and you will have to upshift close to 8000rpm for continuous power. Hence, having the near 10,000rpm redline feels like a stretch. In contrast, Aprilia’s 457 twin offers both better refinement and more explosive performance.

The final trick in the F 450 GS is the Easy Ride Clutch (ERC). To simply understand this -- the baby GS now uses a manual gearbox, but paired to the clutch system (centrifugal) that is found in gearless scooters. Hence, while the bike has gears, the clutch is only there to help you shift between them and not help the bike start or stop. Consider this experience to be like a geared Activa/Jupiter. It is only available on the top GS Trophy variant.

It takes a while to get used to not using a clutch to put the bike in first gear. And to get moving -- you need to rev the bike past 2700rpm. This is what takes you a bit by surprise. The forward motion in a gearless scooter happens much earlier, hence it feels more natural. Here -- the bike remains stable while revs climb, and then all of a sudden you have movement. If this motion came at a lower rev, this process would have felt smoother. Still, you do get used to it. Once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature. Riding the bike in city traffic is a lot more effortless. But, here’s the thing. No one really asked for the ERC. The clutch is an inherent part of riding a motorcycle, and without it, you feel less control. While launching the bike hard, you will get a jerk, and you cannot control it for a smooth launch. You need to be gentle while the ERC engages and then go full throttle for a smoother launch, which takes time to get familiar with. Especially for a pillion, this jerky nature of the engagement can feel more stressful.

You also get BMW’s Shift Assist Pro -- which is the quickshifter. It offers smooth and satisfying upshifts, and you can get a truly clutchless experience. However, the downshifts were less smooth and seamless. Now, this could be because the bikes we were riding were brand new and hadn't been run in yet. But the overall experience was positive.

Going by the G 310 GS, even the 450 GS was expected to offer plush and comfortable ride quality. However, BMW has now gone for a sportier setup. The GS Trophy variant offers adjustable suspension at both ends, and the stock setup feels a bit firm for Indian roads. Over bad roads, it feels a bit firm, and you can feel the bad parts of the road surface. Even over sharp bumps and potholes, the bike does not absorb them fully, and you do feel a bit of the impact. While the ride is not harsh or painful, it is definitely not the plush or comfortable setup that we have come to expect from a BMW ADV. Even on the highways, while the bike remains very stable, you do feel the imperfections in the road, and it's hard to ignore the surface as expected from an ADV.

Handling, however, is fantastic. The bike is telepathic when you want to cut through traffic, and changing directions is quick and effortless. The wide and tall handlebar offers ample leverage to push the motorcycle, and passing through narrow gaps becomes second nature. Even while taking corners a bit fast, the stability and lean are impressive. You do not expect a tall motorcycle to hold its line so well, and the F 450 GS gives you massive amounts of confidence to attack mountain roads with sporty intent.

Royal Enfield Himalayan 450: A bike built for touring, the Himalayan still holds the crown of being the most comfortable ADV in the country at this price point. Its simple mechanics, tough build quality, easy power delivery, and an accessible price point make it an excellent choice for someone looking for their first big ADV—one that will take on a lot of punishment and need frequent mends. But remember, it's heavy. Very heavy.

The KTM 390 Adventure S, though, has become quite a bit more expensive now, is a jack of all trades and a master of a lot. The 390 Adventure is possibly the one bike that can do it all. It tours in a fantastic manner, is very capable off-road and on trails and even inside the city it is fantastic to ride. A true all-rounder.

The BMW F 450 GS not only rivals twin-cylinder ADVs in the 500-650cc segment but is also a more premium alternative to several single-cylinder small-capacity adventure bikes. It goes up against bikes like the KTM 390 Adventure R, Benelli TRK 502 and Kawasaki Versys 650. Here are the detailed comparison stories with each rival:

• BMW F 450 GS vs Honda NX500

• F450GS vs Royal Enfield Himalayan 450

• BMW 450 GS vs TVS Apache RTX 300