BMW C650 SPORT (2015 - on) Review

Scooters certinly make sense as easy, practical urban transport, but neither the Sport or its larger brother the C650 GT make enough sense to warrant spending almost £10,000 - especially with cheap touches such as the cubby holes. 

The Sport makes light work of twisty roads, dropping into corners with ease and enthusiasm and responding well to more aggressive rider inputs, although once in the corner the Sport has a tendency to be upset by bumps. A good firm squeeze of both levers is required to bring the Sport to a stop in a hurry. The seat on the Sport lacks the comfort of the GT - lower back ache sets in all too soon - and you never quite feel like you're sat in the correct place on the seat.

The 647cc parallel twin puts out 60bhp and feels much livelier in the Sport model due to the lighter weight compared to the GT. It's a capable engine, propelling the bike upto motorway cruising speeds with ease, and providing enough oomph to ease past cars once you get there. On greasy Spanish roads the traction control will activate when giving it full throttle from a standing start.

The 650 is mechanically very similar to the C600 Sport, and we're aware of no problems with the 600, so the 650 should be a solid machine.

At £9,600 there's no getting away from the fact the C650 Sport is an expensive scooter, and despite the price it doesn't offer any more than the competition.

The Sport comes with a manually adjustable screen, two cubby holes under the handlebars for small items and enough space under the seat for two helmets when the bike is stationary thanks to the clever BMW Flexcase which expands above the rear wheel. The Highline model also comes with heated grips and heated seat.