Come in BMW F900 XR, your time is up!

Having had three months onboard something slightly’ different from the norm for Fast Bikes magazine’s Charlie Oakman, it is time to move on. But first, what were his final thoughts?

- Charlie Oakman, Mike Browne

I opened my first column on this bike with a very bold statement, "The F900 XR is NOT a sports bike, but in truth I have spent much of the past thoroughly enjoyable three months of riding rather thinking that it is. Well, sort of.

The upright seating position, two-position front screen, wide bars, satnav, hand guards and centre stand all screamed 'Adventure' to me in appearance. But twist the throttle and allow the 'beans, and the capabilities of the 895cc inline two-cylinder engine get the heart pumping and adrenalin spiking toward the heights associated with more sport-focused machines. An exceedingly agile, smile-enducing machine through the twisties, but with a commanding road presence that keeps you extremely visible to other road users.

I guess the latter is why it has had to go back to BMW for a polish and be ready for its next duty as a lead bike at this year's London Marathon - I, for one, will certainly be looking out for what became a welcome companion over the past 700-plus miles.

New sensations

This BMW was MSL editor Mikko's first gambit in introducing me to the Adventure scene and probably wasn't what I was expecting at first. Though this was only to be a short-term loan to get me a little more acclimatised to a more upright seated position with the potential of a full load of luggage and ease of the long haul, which was a personal pre-requisite.

These elements did remind me a lot of the long-term Fazer-thou I ran for Fast Bikes many years ago, but bikes have come a long way since then and the tech on this bike would make Microsoft envious.