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.
When I was doing bike sales a few years back, I always told customers to not put a lot of stock in a demo ride or their first ride on any given motorcycle because you usually get a bad impression from unfamiliarity with the riding position, handling and controls. With that in mind, I set out the next day on a group ride with the local Triumph club (yes, they let me go even though I was on a Beemer). I have to say, that my second impression was much more positive than my first. After getting over my initial "button shock", I just concentrated on riding the big 1600. I left the ride mode on Dynamic which gives me full power and throttle response and sets the DTC at it's least intrusive, the ESA on normal and turned the radio off.
I did mess with the electrically adjustable wind screen. Once at speed on the freeway, I set it at the right height with the touch of a rocker switch on the left handlebar to a position high enough that sent the oncoming air over my helmet but low enough not to have to look through it. On slower roads, I set the height to it's lowest position to get a bit of a breeze through to me. Very practical! Speaking about breeze, the fairing has two chrome winglets that you can pull out that funnels a jet of air right to your chest. It's a nice touch especially in hot Arizona.
After a good 10 hour day in the saddle, I'd have to say that the riding position was perfect for what the bike is intended to do. My feet were directly underneath me with my knees not bending at any radical angles. The reach to the bars left me in a perfectly upright police style posture. My only very minor complaints are that the saddle keeps you in one position. The ability to move around would be welcome on long days in the saddle. Also, the rear of the seat is canted a bit forward, a flatter seat would have been better. These are things that are easily fixed in the aftermarket.
At the heart of this bike is a big 1600cc, inline six cylinder engine which is smooth as silk and extremely torquey. It pulled cleanly in sixth gear from 1,500rpm! I would have liked to have heard a little less "BMW Whine" and more intake growl and/or exhaust note. Perhaps the latter can be fixed with the Akrapovic titanium slip-ons available from BMW. I guess Beemer owners like their bikes quiet, but I prefer a bit more engine "music". The only glitch I could find was that at about 2,500 rpm with steady throttle there was surge and jerkiness. I'm not sure if it's from EFI or throttle by wire mapping, but it was definitely not happy at that engine speed. Anywhere above or below that was no problem. Another small complaint with the drivetrain is the long shift throws. The transmission was very smooth and positive with the customary BMW "clunk" when a gear was engaged. The clunks don't bother me, but a shorter throw would have been nice for the moments I'd like to drag race a Harley or a Gold Wing out of a light...
I did also fiddle with the ESA II during my ride. On most occasions, I used the "Normal" but when the road got twisty with smooth pavement, I set the suspension to "Sport". When pushing in the corners a little bit, this setting gave the bike a more composed feel. I used "Soft" when going at a slow pace, like through a town with less than perfect asphalt. When things got twisty at a faster pace, I got the suspension to wallow a little bit, so it was back to the "Sport" setting. Switching the ESA settings are as easy as hitting the "Menu" rocker switch on the left handlebar until you bring up the ESA menu and then you scroll through the settings with the wheel. When you decide on your setting, just push the wheel to the right (watch the video). Coming from more of a sport bike background, I place a lot of importance to the feel of the suspension. Being spoiled by years of riding Italian bikes that are famous for the amount of feedback they give, I was a bit disappointed at the lack of feedback you get from the front end of this bike. BMW's Duolever front suspension is very comfortable and does an admirable job at smoothing out bumps, but feels vague and car-like. This doesn't detract from the overall handling, but you have to learn to have faith in the front end. After getting over my trust issues with the front suspension, I'd have to say this bike handles like something half it's size! It is incredible how light and nimble the K1600 feels. It easily flicks into a turn and if you have to make a mid corner correction, it allows you to do so with no drama whatsoever. I'm accustomed to putting more effort into turning, so I constantly applied too much muscle into a corner causing me to make corrections afterwards. The only times you feel it's heft is in garage/parking lot maneuvers when you have to push or back up. Once the big GTL is moving it's like it shrinks!
My test bike was equipped with the Premium Package which includes the highly touted by BMW adaptive HID lighting along with LED fog lights. To put the lighting to the test, I took a ride down one of my favorite twisty mountain roads at night which I normally wouldn't do even in my car! No matter whether I was leaned over in a corner or going up or down a hill, the road ahead of you was magically lit! With the high beam on, you got a tremendous view of the road with a nice bright, white light illuminating both shoulders and a good distance ahead. I spotted a dear crossing the road with plenty of time to slow down and let him by with no drama.
The K1600GTL does not lack luggage space! You can fit a full face helmet in each of the saddle bags and pack two in the trunk. A handy feature this bike had was the central locking. Just push a button on the right handlebar, and all of your bags are locked! No more forgetting to lock your saddlebag and your door opening at speed on the freeway dumping out your underwear and worse yet, scratching the expensive painted panel! The latch system is well engineered and easy to use.
Styling-wise, BMW's new flagship takes some queues from the R1200RT. It is definitely a form follows function approach to styling. The fairing is shaped the way it is to protect the rider, the seven gallon fuel tank looks the way it does because it needs to be packaged correctly. It's not an ugly bike, but it's not pretty in the way an old R100RS was or more recently an R1100/R1200S. I like the way that the six cylinder engine is left a little exposed. There are "6" plaques on both sides of the motor along with the logo on the welcome screen on the LCD display on the instrument panel. The styling of the dash is a bit of sore spot with me. It has a round analog speedometer and tachometer with a big digital display in between them. While functional, the art deco inspired styling is completely out of place on a thoroughly modern bike such as this one! Think of a mix between the last generation Ford Mustang dash mixed with the current Chevy Camaro's. During the day, the speedometer was a bit hard to read. The font is too small because they tried to cram too much information in a small space. A nicely modern, large digital speedo with the analog tach and LCD screen would have been easier to read and more at home on such a technically advanced motorcycle.
At the end of the day, this is a very competent motorcycle that is very efficient at doing what it's built to do. Alas, it's the German way! It is the perfect bike to take a long freeway drone to a special place then once you get to that place, you can have fun on the twisty roads and then take the a long freeway drone back. All in the utmost comfort so you feel fresh to do it again the next day! I would never consider owning a Honda Goldwing or a big Harley bagger, but the K1600 would be a bike I would consider owning if I had the $26,000 + asking price burning a hole in my pocket.
Make sure to view my BMW K1600GTL photo gallery here. Check out the video below to see some of the dash functions, hear what the six cylinder sounds like and to see the adaptive headlights in action.
Finally, I'd like to give thanks to Steve Bittner and BMW Motorcycles of Scottsdale/Go AZ Motorcycles (www.goaz.com) for providing me with the test bike and the pre-ride class on what all the buttons do!
When I was doing bike sales a few years back, I always told customers to not put a lot of stock in a demo ride or their first ride on any given motorcycle because you usually get a bad impression from unfamiliarity with the riding position, handling and controls. With that in mind, I set out the next day on a group ride with the local Triumph club (yes, they let me go even though I was on a Beemer). I have to say, that my second impression was much more positive than my first. After getting over my initial "button shock", I just concentrated on riding the big 1600. I left the ride mode on Dynamic which gives me full power and throttle response and sets the DTC at it's least intrusive, the ESA on normal and turned the radio off.
I did mess with the electrically adjustable wind screen. Once at speed on the freeway, I set it at the right height with the touch of a rocker switch on the left handlebar to a position high enough that sent the oncoming air over my helmet but low enough not to have to look through it. On slower roads, I set the height to it's lowest position to get a bit of a breeze through to me. Very practical! Speaking about breeze, the fairing has two chrome winglets that you can pull out that funnels a jet of air right to your chest. It's a nice touch especially in hot Arizona.
After a good 10 hour day in the saddle, I'd have to say that the riding position was perfect for what the bike is intended to do. My feet were directly underneath me with my knees not bending at any radical angles. The reach to the bars left me in a perfectly upright police style posture. My only very minor complaints are that the saddle keeps you in one position. The ability to move around would be welcome on long days in the saddle. Also, the rear of the seat is canted a bit forward, a flatter seat would have been better. These are things that are easily fixed in the aftermarket.
At the heart of this bike is a big 1600cc, inline six cylinder engine which is smooth as silk and extremely torquey. It pulled cleanly in sixth gear from 1,500rpm! I would have liked to have heard a little less "BMW Whine" and more intake growl and/or exhaust note. Perhaps the latter can be fixed with the Akrapovic titanium slip-ons available from BMW. I guess Beemer owners like their bikes quiet, but I prefer a bit more engine "music". The only glitch I could find was that at about 2,500 rpm with steady throttle there was surge and jerkiness. I'm not sure if it's from EFI or throttle by wire mapping, but it was definitely not happy at that engine speed. Anywhere above or below that was no problem. Another small complaint with the drivetrain is the long shift throws. The transmission was very smooth and positive with the customary BMW "clunk" when a gear was engaged. The clunks don't bother me, but a shorter throw would have been nice for the moments I'd like to drag race a Harley or a Gold Wing out of a light...
I did also fiddle with the ESA II during my ride. On most occasions, I used the "Normal" but when the road got twisty with smooth pavement, I set the suspension to "Sport". When pushing in the corners a little bit, this setting gave the bike a more composed feel. I used "Soft" when going at a slow pace, like through a town with less than perfect asphalt. When things got twisty at a faster pace, I got the suspension to wallow a little bit, so it was back to the "Sport" setting. Switching the ESA settings are as easy as hitting the "Menu" rocker switch on the left handlebar until you bring up the ESA menu and then you scroll through the settings with the wheel. When you decide on your setting, just push the wheel to the right (watch the video). Coming from more of a sport bike background, I place a lot of importance to the feel of the suspension. Being spoiled by years of riding Italian bikes that are famous for the amount of feedback they give, I was a bit disappointed at the lack of feedback you get from the front end of this bike. BMW's Duolever front suspension is very comfortable and does an admirable job at smoothing out bumps, but feels vague and car-like. This doesn't detract from the overall handling, but you have to learn to have faith in the front end. After getting over my trust issues with the front suspension, I'd have to say this bike handles like something half it's size! It is incredible how light and nimble the K1600 feels. It easily flicks into a turn and if you have to make a mid corner correction, it allows you to do so with no drama whatsoever. I'm accustomed to putting more effort into turning, so I constantly applied too much muscle into a corner causing me to make corrections afterwards. The only times you feel it's heft is in garage/parking lot maneuvers when you have to push or back up. Once the big GTL is moving it's like it shrinks!
My test bike was equipped with the Premium Package which includes the highly touted by BMW adaptive HID lighting along with LED fog lights. To put the lighting to the test, I took a ride down one of my favorite twisty mountain roads at night which I normally wouldn't do even in my car! No matter whether I was leaned over in a corner or going up or down a hill, the road ahead of you was magically lit! With the high beam on, you got a tremendous view of the road with a nice bright, white light illuminating both shoulders and a good distance ahead. I spotted a dear crossing the road with plenty of time to slow down and let him by with no drama.
The K1600GTL does not lack luggage space! You can fit a full face helmet in each of the saddle bags and pack two in the trunk. A handy feature this bike had was the central locking. Just push a button on the right handlebar, and all of your bags are locked! No more forgetting to lock your saddlebag and your door opening at speed on the freeway dumping out your underwear and worse yet, scratching the expensive painted panel! The latch system is well engineered and easy to use.
Styling-wise, BMW's new flagship takes some queues from the R1200RT. It is definitely a form follows function approach to styling. The fairing is shaped the way it is to protect the rider, the seven gallon fuel tank looks the way it does because it needs to be packaged correctly. It's not an ugly bike, but it's not pretty in the way an old R100RS was or more recently an R1100/R1200S. I like the way that the six cylinder engine is left a little exposed. There are "6" plaques on both sides of the motor along with the logo on the welcome screen on the LCD display on the instrument panel. The styling of the dash is a bit of sore spot with me. It has a round analog speedometer and tachometer with a big digital display in between them. While functional, the art deco inspired styling is completely out of place on a thoroughly modern bike such as this one! Think of a mix between the last generation Ford Mustang dash mixed with the current Chevy Camaro's. During the day, the speedometer was a bit hard to read. The font is too small because they tried to cram too much information in a small space. A nicely modern, large digital speedo with the analog tach and LCD screen would have been easier to read and more at home on such a technically advanced motorcycle.
At the end of the day, this is a very competent motorcycle that is very efficient at doing what it's built to do. Alas, it's the German way! It is the perfect bike to take a long freeway drone to a special place then once you get to that place, you can have fun on the twisty roads and then take the a long freeway drone back. All in the utmost comfort so you feel fresh to do it again the next day! I would never consider owning a Honda Goldwing or a big Harley bagger, but the K1600 would be a bike I would consider owning if I had the $26,000 + asking price burning a hole in my pocket.
Make sure to view my BMW K1600GTL photo gallery here. Check out the video below to see some of the dash functions, hear what the six cylinder sounds like and to see the adaptive headlights in action.
Finally, I'd like to give thanks to Steve Bittner and BMW Motorcycles of Scottsdale/Go AZ Motorcycles (www.goaz.com) for providing me with the test bike and the pre-ride class on what all the buttons do!
Thanks victor. Your review has provided a much knowledge about this motorbike's function.
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