Recent classic, or just young timer. The BMW F 650

Indignation about the fact that a motorcycle manufacturer goes shopping itself? That is like that nineties! From 1993 for example. Then the Bavarian BMW presented its BMW F 650 cc single-cylinder. They had Austrian Rotax engine blocks. And they were made in Italy. At Aprilia.

The BMW F 650 single-cylinder, from 1993.

... and things still had chain drive too! A disgrace! The beginning of the end for BMW! Certainly because the design came from a Brit. Martin Longmore even received design prizes for it! His masterpiece is the boxing bracket around the rear tire. For example, the rear fender could be kept dynamically short while the German legislators saw it as sufficient protection for the rear wheel. So the demise of BMW?

Even then, fundamentalists were completely wrong

And meanwhile there are Triumphs from the Philippines and makes Honda motorcycles in Spain and the most recent BMW 650 single-cylinder comes via Austria from China. And nobody is surprised anymore. In contrast to at the time with the F 650, which therefore must be a young timer. But at the beginning of the nineties, BMW marketers had thought that more BMWs had to be sold to more younger people. The F 650 was not a love baby, but born of a marriage of convenience. The machines were no less. And this time the marketers were right. Cynics said, "They are even as boring as real BMWs."

The 650 cc Rotax blocks were not entirely ready-to-wear

The normal five-valve heads were replaced by four-valve heads. As a result, there was - later - room for an extra spark plug, a nice extra on a single-cylinder. And the crankcase covers are provided with molded 'BMW' designations, a solution that buyers of recessed engines for motorcycles have been using for about a century. The primal mother of the series was the Funduro, an allroader for asphalt. At the front, the 19 inch wheel was supposed to suggest terrain. The engine got the famous BMW reputation: "not very exciting, but very good". The service intervals of 10.000 km were a relief at the introduction. The operation of the strut on the stern with a large adjustment wheel was very user-friendly.

The first F 650s were not very exciting, but they were very employable

In terms of power, they can still handle anything that is asked of them. About 50 hp is enough. When it comes to steering and braking, they still surprise quite a few fellow motorcyclists who only looked at it for a while. And in today's busy traffic are the ideal creep by sneak through bicycles. Early models with the tank in the classic place are already collectable, the oldest later ones with the tank under the buddy are on the tipping point to exchange their real working life for a more nostalgic sequel.

In the middle of 2000, BMW brought the production to the Heimat

The series got new looks and the F650s got an injection. The gas tank moved under the buddy. When we are in 2004, we are almost talking about 'ZGAN' engines. But then for the better: in that year the established hybrid got two spark plugs per cylinder. As a tip for the future, we will mention the "X" bikes. Those were styling exercises that were just as successful as the Scarver. They were actually unsaleable. Then unwanted, now not wanted, later of course unaffordable!

And nobody wanted an 'X'bike