Road Test: 2011 BMW K1600 GTL: The Incredible Shrinking Motorcycle

I'll start off by stating that I have never liked any of BMW's "K" bikes that I have ever ridden.  Starting with the mid '90s K1100RS to the '06 K1200S.  Fast forward five years and the K1600GTL.  Since the last "K" bike I rode, it's gained 400cc and 2 cylinders.  BMW has also added Electronic Suspension Adjustment (ESA II) and Dynamic Traction Control (DTC) which are both switchable via the handle bar controls on the fly among other things.  All of the technical features of the K1600 have been well documented in a variety of cycle magazines and on the web.  So, I will forego all of the technobabble and proceed to describe how the GTL is to live with.

The first impression I got from seeing this bike at it's US debut at the Long Beach, CA International Motorcycle Show was that it was big and heavy.  At a claimed 767 lbs wet, it IS heavy.  At 8.1 feet long, it's pretty big too!  When sitting in the saddle, you'll notice that there's a lot of bike in front of you, and a lot of bike behind you.  It takes a bit of muscle to pick it up off of the side stand, but after you turn the key, watch the dash go through it's dance and hit the starter button, that weight and girth start to disappear.  The bike really didn't make a great impression on me during the ride home after picking it up.  It had been a while since I'd ridden a full on touring bike and was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of techno-whizardry that the K1600 has.  I fell into the trap of trying to see what all the buttons do all at once which detracts from the riding experience.