BMW F 450 GS: Friendly by Design

What BMW has done here is simple: shrink the size, keep the GS spirit. The LED headlight wears the familiar ‘X’ signature, and the body lines follow the same flyline as its larger siblings. Even the engineering details feel grown-up – magnesium components in the GS Trophy variant, high-quality plastics where it makes sense, and wheel options that move between cast units and proper cross-spoke setups if you want more off-road flavour.

At the centre of everything sits a new 450cc two-cylinder engine, built from scratch. It makes 48 horsepower, which is the limit for the A2 class, but the bike’s low weight means it feels more lively than the numbers suggest. BMW also gave it a crankshaft with offset pins, which sounds technical, but in practice it just means the engine has an unexpectedly nice pulse and doesn’t buzz your hands numb. Fuel consumption sits at 3.8 liters per 100 km, so long rides don’t turn into maths problems, and the 14-liter tank gives you more than 350 km before you even think about stopping.

Then there’s the ‘Easy Ride Clutch’, the system taking over at low speeds, during gear changes, when you’re weaving through traffic or climbing over rocks. Newbies will find it a huge confidence boost. Riders who are experienced will appreciate not having their left hand do overtime. And if you do want full manual control, the clutch lever is still there, waiting.

The F 450 GS arrives in four flavours: a basic version for purists, an Exclusive variant with more off-road hardware, a Sport version with adjustable suspension, and the Trophy model with white handguards, a rally windscreen and the ‘Easy Ride Clutch’ as standard. All are playful when you’re messing around on dirt, steady when you’re covering distance, and surprisingly comfortable when the day turns long. In other words: a proper GS, just in a size more people can actually handle.