BMW F900 XR (2025) Review: BMW's Mid-Weight Sports Tourer Tested

BMW’s middleweight range has been updated for 2025, with both the F900 R and F900 XR gaining new technology, and equipment. 

For this review, we are focusing on the F900 XR, although you can read our 2025 BMW F900 R review here. The new F900 XR slots into the range below the S1000 XR, and will be competing with bikes like the new Triumph Tiger Sport 800, Yamaha Tracer 9, and Honda NT1100.

For this review, I spent the morning riding the updated machine on the roads around Almeria, riding for between three and four hours, all in bright sunshine and thankfully warm temperatures.

What’s new

Like its naked sibling, the big news is the switch to a fully adjustable 43mm front fork, which provides the bike with 170mm of suspension travel. The rear is still suspended by a fully adjustable monoshock, which can be upgraded to Dynamic ESA (electronically adjusted) spec as an option. 

The bike also boasts improved weather protection, thanks to redesigned wind deflectors and hand protectors, and heated grips are now standard. The bike also gains Headlight Pro as standard, meaning it gets a DRL and adaptive headlight as standard. The XR variant of the F900 also features a USB Type-C socket in the cockpit, and new 17-inch cast aluminium wheels which are claimed to reduce unsprung weight by around 1.8kg.

What hasn’t changed a great deal is the engine, which is the same 895cc unit as before, albeit now in Euro5+ trim. In XR spec it makes 105bhp at 8,500rpm and 68lb ft at 6,500rpm.

Price, colours and availability

The new 2025 BMW F900 XR comes in at £10,890. The bike I’m riding in the pictures includes the Sport style pack (£360) which gives you the BMW Sport tricolour paint scheme and the belly pan. It also includes the Comfort Pack (£835) which adds keyless ignition and fuel cap, pannier rails, cruise control, a taller screen, and a satnav mount. It also includes the Dynamic Pack (£830) which includes Riding Mode Pro, Gearshift Assist Pro (quickshifter), and Dynamic ESA (electronically adjusted suspension.

Stacking that against its rivals, in standard trim the BMW comes in cheaper than the £10,995 Triumph Tiger Sport 800, although that already gains cruise control and a quickshifter as standard. It’s also significantly less than the £12,679 Honda NT1100 and £11,300 Yamaha Tracer 9, when taking them in their respective base spec.

What’s it like to ride

For a middleweight sports tourer with long legs, the new F900 XR is surprisingly spritely on these billiard-smooth Spanish roads. Its agility belies its 216kg (wet and fully fuelled) kerb weight, while its low (in comparison to some) 820mm seat makes it surprisingly accessible for a shorter rider such as myself (five foot seven).

That agility in quick changes of direction isn’t at the expense of composure, with the new F900 XR feeling particularly at home in fast sweeping bends at high lean angles. The bike I’m riding is shod with the Dynamic ESA suspension pack, which, when in the Dynamic riding mode, stiffens up the base setting at the rear but still allows for some weight transfer on the brakes and when I get on the throttle.

As I found on the F900 R, the engine is not full of charm or character, but in the F900 XR it makes the most of its 105bhp, and the strong mid-range spread of torque makes it extremely tractable around town. It’s also handy out on these twisty roads, as the engine pulls cleanly even if I’m a gear higher than I really should be. As I found with its naked sibling, the throttle connection on the XR is just brilliant, and picking up the throttle at the apex of a sharp turn rewards me with precisely the amount of thrust I’m asking for. The optional quickshifter is working very well too, and seems to have a wide envelope of road speeds that it's happy to operate at.

The braking system of the bike boasts four piston Brembo calipers at the front which are mounted to 320mm. The system is fairly basic and nowhere near as flashy as some of the equipment fitted to other bikes in this segment. It is though perfectly up the job, and has a progressive feel to it which feels like the right fit for a bike like this. It’s allowing me to brake hard and with confidence into sharper corners, and with the revised front suspension providing me with a solid and dependable front end, it feels every inch a top-notch sports tourer.

BMW looked to boost the long-distance potential of the XR for 2025, with the inclusion of new wind deflectors and handguards as standard. The cockpit is a very nice bubble of still air with the screen on the tallest setting, although on its lowest the top of my lid is sitting in a swirl of turbulent air. It’s worth noting that the bike I’m on has the Comfort Pack fitted, meaning it’s 30mm taller than the stock item and includes larger wind protectors than stock. Had the bike been fitted with the standard screen, my head would have probably been just in the turbulence even when adjusted to the tallest setting - if you are six feet tall or more, opt for the taller screen.

One standout feature of the cockpit is the screen adjustment, which is probably one of the nicest to use of any brand. It’s a proper one-handed action to lift and drop the screen, if only all manufacturers realised that we’d like to be able to adjust the screen on the fly without riding with no hands on the bars!

Overall comfort is equally impressive, with the riding position feeling relaxed for my size and not too cramped behind the cockpit. Likewise, the footpegs are nicely spaced and there isn’t too much of a bend in my leg. It’s a bike you most definitely sit in and not on, meaning it envelops you, making me feel cocooned from the outside world. The pegs, fuel tank and bars are also nicely free from vibration, and it feels smooth when cruising at 75 to 80mph.

Verdict

Dynamic improvements, thanks to the new suspension, and a higher level of standard spec and equipment have elevated the F900 XR further in the segment, with it now looking like a more viable option in the sea of other middleweight machines. It performs as well on a twisty mountain road as it does on the motorway, and with improved comfort and weather protection now makes more sense than ever to UK riders.

It is, though, diving into a highly competitive segment, and for many the lure of a more exotic inline three-cylinder engine (be it from Triumph or Yamaha) might be enough to sway riders one way or the other. For me, the biggest thorn in this bike’s side is the new Tiger Sport 800, which is dynamically just as good on the road, but with a higher standard spec and price tag that is within easy reach of the BMW.

Comparing the F900 XR to the F900 R I’ve also been riding at this event, there isn’t much between them on the road. The ability of the XR feels right up there compared to its naked sibling, and despite its slightly more supple suspension, it still feels like it can do everything the F900 R can do, just with increased range, improved comfort and room for two plus luggage.

Pics: Jamie Morris

2025 BMW F900 XR specs