In common with many enduro- and adventure-styled bikes, the F800GS is a tall machine. Seat height from the factory is 880mm (35 inches), significantly taller than a typical sports bike or cruiser (a ‘standard’ Sportster is just under 28 inches, a classic Enfield Bullet about the same).
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| OE seat height is a stretched 880mm |
On the move, it’s this very tallosity or tallishishness which gives the machine poise and presence but coming to rest can, occasionally, be tricky if for whatever reason you don’t quite get it right (as when following novice riders struggling with clutch control at a junction).
I’m six feet with a near 33-inch inside leg and I can flat-foot the bike most of the time but occasionally, say at rest on a road with adverse camber, it feels decidedly…well, not out of control exactly, but definitely a bit wobbly. I suspect in part it’s because I’m still getting accustomed to the machine but I’d be happier with a bit more reach.
BMW offers a number of suspension and other options to reduce the height but the simplest is the OE low seat. New, the low seat is a free factory option. As an accessory, it’s somewhere around 185 quid. Hmm, you can guess my feelings on that! Time for a look-see at the second-hand market…
To cut a long story short, two weeks rummaging on ebay turned up a low seat, professionally recovered in what some owners might consider an attractive black vinyl, and with a fiver starting price. I followed the auction, bid in the closing seconds and paid £80. A few days later, this arrived:
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| It’s that ebay moment: pleasantly surprised or cursing roundly? |
Having just returned from a walking holiday with a wet rucksack and aching limbs I was in no mood to open the parcel possibly to be met by something I’d have to wrangle with the seller about (ebay buying being what it is…).
I left the box to languish overnight and unpacked the ruckie instead. Next morning, I set to…
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| Promisingly well-packaged |
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| Revealed at last and – joy! – as described |
Freed from it’s wrapping, the seat proved to be exactly as described: in good condition. I can’t pretend I like the vinyl (think: ’80s V-Max) though the finish certainly deserves the epithet ‘professional’.
Removing an F8GS seat is simplicity itself: the ignition key turns a seat lock on the nearside and the seat lifts up and away. I transferred the toolkit to the new seat and installed it – now for a try-out. Wearing Converse, I swung astride and… yes, left foot down flat and my leg bent, a significant improvement.
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| There’s a hint of 1980s V-Max about the recovered replacement seat |
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| Even wearing Cons I can flat-foot the machine with bent legs |
Okeh, hand guards and seat sorted. Next: crash bars from Adventure-Spec – the only sensible option!
