BMW F 450 R priced from £6,395; US gets only the GS
BMW has put prices on its 420cc F 450 range, and the two bikes are not going to the same markets. The F 450 GS starts at $6,995 in the US. The F 450 R starts at £6,395 in the UK, and RevZilla reports that BMW has excluded it from the US market.
US deliveries of the GS are due in Q1 2027. Visordown says the UK F 450 R is expected in dealerships in May 2027. Both bikes use the 420cc parallel twin that BMW introduced on the GS.
Three US trims, from $6,995 to $8,195
BMW Motorrad USA now offers the 2027 F 450 GS in three trims, RevZilla reports, and it points to BMW’s US F 450 GS page for more information. When the production bike was unveiled, BMW said US units would only come as the GS Trophy. The extra two trims are a change of plan.
| 2027 F 450 GS trim | US price (MSRP, USD) | Colour | Equipment listed by RevZilla |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base | $6,995 | Cosmic Black | Standard equipment |
| Sport | $7,795 | Racing Red Metallic | Sport Suspension with adjustable fork, Gear Shift Assist Pro, Riding Modes Pro, handguards, off-road pegs, plastic engine guard, touring windscreen |
| GS Trophy | $8,195 | Racing Blue Metallic | Easy Ride Clutch, Sport Suspension with adjustable fork, Gear Shift Assist Pro, Riding Modes Pro, handguards, off-road pegs, aluminum engine guard, rally windscreen |
RevZilla says the $800 Enduro Package adds tubeless spoked wheels, which takes a GS Trophy to $8,995. It says the Sport and Trophy trims reach into middleweight adventure pricing, and it expects dirt-biased riders to pick the Trophy. The Easy Ride Clutch is a centrifugal clutch that makes the lever optional when paired with the quickshifter. It comes only on the Trophy.
RideApart says it has already ridden the GS and came away impressed. It called $7,000 a “ridiculously low price”. Its writer had expected closer to $10,000 because of tariffs, freight and BMW’s pricing history.
I think the $6,995 headline needs a footnote. It is the Base trim, which BMW had not planned for the US. The Trophy it did promise costs $8,195, or $8,995 with the wheels. That is the figure to weigh against rivals, and our list of the best off-road motorcycles shows the wider field.
BMW leaves the F 450 R out of the US
RevZilla describes the R announcement as light on surprises. The R has the same 420cc twin, KYB suspension and, in base form, a 6.5-inch TFT. RevZilla asks why the bike is not shipping to the US and says only BMW can answer. Its report cites no BMW explanation.
As background, RevZilla notes that the G 310 R, the R’s predecessor, was not among BMW’s more popular US models. It says the F 450 R could reach the US later but does not expect it soon, given the GS timeline. That is RevZilla’s reading.
My read: BMW is putting its US effort behind the GS, which Bennetts expects to sell in larger numbers than the R. A US rider who wants the naked version has no price to look up and no date to wait for.
UK prices for the F 450 R run from £6,395 to £6,995
Visordown, MCN and Bennetts’ BikeSocial give the same four UK prices. Paint splits the range in two. Cosmic Black covers the Base and Exclusive, and Snaefell White with M Motorsport detailing covers the M Sport versions.
| F 450 R version | UK price (GBP) | Paint | What it adds |
|---|---|---|---|
| Base | £6,395 | Cosmic Black | Entry spec, no Shift Assistant Pro as standard |
| Exclusive | £6,645 | Cosmic Black | Shift Assistant Pro, Sport Suspension |
| M Sport | £6,770 | Snaefell White | Riding Modes Pro, on top of the Exclusive’s Shift Assistant Pro and Sport Suspension |
| M Sport with Innovation Package | £6,995 | Snaefell White | Easy Ride Clutch as standard, on top of M Sport spec |
All versions get ABS Pro, Dynamic Brake Control, Dynamic Traction Control and engine drag torque control, plus Rain, Road and Dynamic riding modes, Visordown says. It also lists heated grips as standard across the range. MCN and Bennetts do not mention heated grips, so confirm that against BMW UK’s spec sheet.
Bennetts says Shift Assistant Pro and Riding Modes Pro can be added to the Base bike, and that the Easy Ride Clutch is an option on the R. It also says on-screen maps need an optional preparation kit plus BMW’s ConnectedRide hardware. None of the three outlets gives option prices. I can’t say whether adding extras to a Base bike beats stepping up to the Exclusive.
The UK GS price is unclear. Bennetts says the F 450 GS starts at £6,990 and that the R undercuts it by a few hundred pounds. MCN says the GS “launched at £7760”, which is £770 higher. One may be a top-trim price, but neither report says so.
How the prices compare with rivals
RevZilla names four US rivals. The CFMOTO Ibex 450 and Royal Enfield Himalayan 450 cost $5,999 each, the Kawasaki KLE500 costs $6,599, and the KTM 390 Adventure R costs $7,699. It says the Ibex was cut by $500 for 2027 and has tubeless wheels from the factory. The Base GS is $996 above the first two. The Sport trim is $96 above the KTM, which RevZilla calls the only mid-size rival in the GS’s price range.
In the UK, Bennetts lines the R up against three A2-class naked twins.
| Model | UK price (GBP) | Power (bhp) | Weight (kg) |
|---|---|---|---|
| BMW F 450 R Base | £6,395 | 47 bhp | 175 kg |
| BMW F 450 R M Sport with Innovation Package | £6,995 | 47 bhp | 176 kg |
| CFMoto 450NK | £4,999 | 46.3 bhp | 173 kg |
| Kawasaki Z500 | £5,799 | 44.8 bhp | 167-168 kg |
| Honda CB500 Hornet E-Clutch | £6,399 | 47 bhp | 191 kg |
The Base R sits £4 below the Hornet E-Clutch. That is not like for like. The Honda includes its clutchless system, while the R gets the Easy Ride Clutch as standard only on the £6,995 trim, £596 above the Honda. The Hornet is 16 kg heavier than the R. The 450NK costs £1,396 less than the Base R and, per Bennetts, sits within a smidge of BMW’s power and weight figures.
Bennetts’ own verdict is that the R is strong on tech, options and badge, but many rivals will be cheaper. I agree on the Base bike. The top trim is where the case gets harder against the Honda. If a new bike is out of reach, our KTM 390 Duke used buyer guide covers what to check on a secondhand small naked.
What the F 450 R replaces
MCN says the R replaces the G 310 R, which BMW had already stopped building. The G 310 R ended its run at £5,290 with a 313cc single making 34 bhp. The F 450 R’s base price is £1,105 higher for a 420cc twin making about 47 bhp. MCN’s own take is that the R is a big step up from a G 310 R it calls basic even for its 2016 launch.
Quoted power figures differ by outlet. Visordown lists 48hp at 8,750rpm, MCN 46.9bhp at 8,750rpm, and Bennetts 47bhp (35kW). All give 43 Nm at 6,750 rpm, which MCN writes as 31.7 lb-ft. The US GS figures are 48 hp and 32 lb-ft.
The A2 licence class caps power at 35 kW and power-to-weight at 0.2 kW per kg, Bennetts explains. At 175 kg ready to ride, the R hits that ratio exactly. The GS is 178 kg, so BMW took 3 kg off for the naked bike. BMW Motorrad CEO Markus Flasch, quoted by RideApart, called the GS “a genuine BMW GS” for the A2 class. For BMW’s bigger adventure bike, see our earlier BMW R 12 G/S article.
Where the R differs from the GS
MCN and Bennetts both describe the R as a road-biased rework of the GS chassis, with S 1000 R-inspired styling. The frame is a tubular steel space frame with the engine as a stressed member. The differences are in geometry, wheels and travel.
| Measure | F 450 GS | F 450 R |
|---|---|---|
| Ready-to-ride weight | 178 kg (393 lb wet, US claim) | 175 kg (176 kg with Easy Ride Clutch) |
| Rake | 28.1 degrees | 23.4 degrees |
| Trail | 115 mm | 110 mm |
| Wheelbase | 1465 mm | 1405 mm |
| Front wheel and tyre | 19 in (100/90-19) | 17 in (110/70-17) |
| Rear tyre | 130/80-17 | 150/60-17 |
| Front suspension travel | 180 mm (7.1 in) | 140 mm |
| Seat height | 33.3 in | 790 mm |
| Fuel tank | 14 litres (3.6 US gal) | 14 litres |
| Top speed | 102 mph (Fasterwheeler listing, unconfirmed) | 105 mph (BMW claim via MCN) |
The engine is shared. MCN and Bennetts say TVS of India builds it. Bennetts lists a 135-degree crankpin offset, a balancer shaft, double overhead cams, four valves per cylinder, a 72 x 51.6 mm bore and stroke and a 13:1 compression ratio. Visordown, MCN and Bennetts all say 80 percent of the torque is available from 3,000 rpm. Bennetts says the engine is closely related to the one in Norton’s Atlas, and that TVS plans to use a variant in its own bikes.
MCN’s testers found the GS engine fun, but said it felt stretched on the motorway, with vibration reaching the handlebars and footpegs at a steady speed. MCN says it remains to be seen whether the R’s road-specific tune fixes that. It also says the GS’s Easy Ride Clutch works well, comparable to Rekluse systems and MV Agusta’s SCS, but can feel abrupt pulling away in first gear. Bennetts notes the lever stays available for manual use and calls the system simpler than Honda’s E-Clutch. I’d want road tests of the R before paying for the top trim, since all of those impressions come from the GS.
Seat height on the R is 790 mm. MCN says a Sport seat adds 20 mm and a low seat takes off 15 mm, and Bennetts gives 810 mm and 775 mm. Claimed economy is about 74 mpg from the 14-litre tank. Visordown puts range at more than 200 miles, MCN at more than 217 miles and Bennetts at 229 miles.
BMW Motorrad’s own launch film for the F 450 R, “Wake The Rebel”, is below. It is manufacturer material, so the claims in it are BMW’s.
Video: Wake The Rebel l The all-new BMW F 450 R (BMW Motorrad)
Top speed, waiting time and service costs
For the R, MCN reports that BMW claims 105 mph and 0-62 mph in 5.7 seconds. For the GS, the only top speed in the sources I have is 102 mph, on a Fasterwheeler spec listing that gives no BMW source. The same listing shows 364 lb, against the 393 lb wet weight in RevZilla’s spec table, so I would not lean on it.
On the waiting period, the sources document a long gap between reveal and sale. RevZilla says the GS concept appeared at EICMA 2024 and the production bike at EICMA 2025, and that it has yet to reach US soil with EICMA 2026 approaching. US sales are due in Q1 2027 and the UK R in May 2027. None of the sources describes an order backlog or gives a reason for the delay.
No source gives a first-service or oil-service price for either bike. Bennetts lists a 10,000 km (6,000 mile) service interval and a three-year, unlimited-mileage UK warranty for the R. RevZilla lists 36 months of warranty for the GS in the US. Whether a BMW costs more to maintain than its rivals cannot be answered from published figures yet. Until BMW or its dealers publish service pricing, any figure you see for a first service is a guess.
Featured image: BMW F 450 GS – EICMA 2024 by Saggittarius A, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons. Cropped.
