How well does the BMW 750 motorbike perform off-road?

Adventure bikes have been the motorcycle industry’s big sales phenomenon for the past 10 years, with one in particular – BMW’s range-topping GS model – avidly topping the sales charts.

According to The Bike Insurer there was a 118 per cent increase in insurance quotes for adventure bikes between 2008 and 2018, vastly outstripping those for other big bikes. On top of that, the BMW 1200 (now 1250) was four times as likely to feature in an insurance quote as it was in 2008.

It’s no coincidence, of course, that Ewan McGregor and Charley Boorman chose this bike for their highly publicised ‘Long Way Down’ documentary, setting a new trend for motorcycle adventure trips.

Now, with the release of BMW’s new, smaller, more light-weight 750 and 850 GS models, the manufacturer is hoping for even more success in this area. But are these ‘adventure’ bikes really any good off-road?

I’ve been riding the F 750 GS on the road and am very impressed. Qualities I have most admired have been its build quality, its long-leggedness (you can ride it comfortably for hours at a time), its cushy, pliant ride that can be firmed up at the press of a button on some models for sportier motoring, and its cracking engine.

Fitted with BMW-issue panniers, it is a workhorse too; you can fit enough for a weekend away in the top box alone but with the lockable, clip-on paniers (each weighing around 6.9 kilos), you could travel the world. Better still, both the top box and panniers can easily be expanded by around 6cms, thanks to a clever internal lever mechanism, enabling them to swallow vast amounts of luggage. It makes life so much easier.

Panniers and top box on BMW F 750 GS

Other likes? The small screen which efficiently deflects the wind, nice, fluid steering and all those gizmos…buttons allowing you to control sat-nav, ride and traction settings from the handlebars on the move, depending on the model specification. And, costing from £8,225, it’s considerably cheaper than the 1250 which starts at £13,415.

I even tackled a track day at Thruxton and loved every minute; it performed brilliantly in ‘Dynamic’ mode on the bends. I wasn’t brave enough however to venture off-road on the shiny, gleaming press bike; especially not on standard road tyres.

So I borrowed one shod in off-road Metzeler tyres while taking the two-day BMW off-road skills course run by off-road racer Simon Pavey and wife Linley. Shorn of mirrors, indicators (and certainly panniers and top box), it had already been ‘dropped’ numerous times, allaying any fears of causing serious damage.

It proved as impressive off the road as it had on it. While not quite as able as the bigger, more powerful 1250, it performed brilliantly in hostile conditions including deep, rutted, slippery mud, water crossings over a foot deep, and steep slippery ascents and descents.

It proved nimble at tasks including tight slaloms and balancing exercises on loose gravel and mud, and survived (yet another) drop when I overbalanced, sustaining no more damage than a loosened plastic handguard.

Switched to ‘enduro’ mode it allowed a degree of controlled slide while retaining an element of traction control as well as ABS – ideal for tackling the atrocious conditions in a sprawling, disused, 4,000-acre quarry criss-crossed with forest trails.

Most off-roaders stand on the footpegs – you get more control in the ‘rough’ than when sitting – and the position, with the handlebars slightly rotated for extra height, was good. The suspension was more than a match for some fairly extreme berms and embankments and there was plenty of power on tap for long, thrilling, slippery ascents too, as the traction control made the most of the conditions.

Despite a severe pounding it carried me right through a fun, long, rainy day without missing a beat. Soaked to the skin from the floods and the rain, I was even able to keep warm – by switching on the heated grips. The saddle height too – some 35mm lower than that of the 1250 – was good for confidence in the rough too.

Most owners wouldn’t dare to treat their F GS 750 like this. But it’s good to know they could if they wanted to on this tough, highly able bike. As this machine proves, the adventure bike phenomenon is much more than skin deep.