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Bmw k1600

9K views 32 replies 21 participants last post by  louisiana rgl 
#1 ·
Do any members here also have a K1600 or have had a K1600 and then moved on to a Road Glide?

What were your experiences - both positive and negative - with the K1600?

Thanks
Emil
 
#2 ·
I went and looked at a K1600, nice bike. It’s not at all maintenance friendly for the owner. It’s setup basically for dealer only repairs and maintenance. There’s even a valve adjustment that happens fairly often and is pretty expensive because the engine is essentially buried. Not much of an aftermarket for it either. So order it the way you want, get a trinket or two from the dealer, and that’s it. Go ride. It’s got plenty of power and is super smooth and linear.

Bought a Ducati instead. LOL I never though that would happen.....
 
#5 · (Edited)
I realize that there probably aren't many Ducati dealers in Bama, Jack, but you need to get caught up on their line-up as they've been making a cruiser for about 10 years now. It's called the Diavel, 158 HP and 481 pounds. It's a muscle cruiser, sort of in the vein of a Yamaha V-Max. Or check out their MultiStrada sport touring bike with hard bags. 461 lbs. with around 150 HP. Both have a full compliment of electronic riding aids. Out of 8 main models, only 2 are true crotch rocket sport bikes these days. Parts are expensive and dealers are few and far between unless you live in a major metropolitan area.
 
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#6 ·
My riding buddy has had a H-D Heritage Softail Classic, GoldWing, and now a BMW K1600 GTL. His favorite by far is the BMW.

He is a more aggressive rider than I and can make that bike fly through the twisties. He does all of his own basic maintenance (oil, filter, tires) with no complaints. Well, I take that back. The specified Michelin tires are relatively soft, so he burns through tires rather fast, especially the rear. He had a few mechanical issues early on, all covered under warranty. I do know he has spent less $$ maintaining his bike than I have on my 2015 CVO Road Glide Ultra. As I recall, he’s got about 25K on it so far. We have swapped bikes for ~50 miles or so, and it is a night and day difference, with the BMW being lighter and much more responsive, performance wise. We tour together and he has almost as much storage capacity as the H-D.

If you want good assessment of the BMW, go over to their forum. They are pretty blunt about the good and the bad. And go test ride one. I was considering a change last Spring and test drove the K1600B Grand America and the new GoldWing. Both performed amazingly well, but lacked the storage capacity of my existing bike. The K1600 GTL has considerably more storage than the Grand America. But Both bikes are a little too fugly for this long-time Harley rider. I ultimately decided my RGU could satisfy my needs for a couple more years until something really catches my eye. But if it were practical to have both in my garage, I would buy a BMW in a heart beat.

Good luck in your decision.
 
#7 ·
buddy of mine I used to ride with had a Duc and it was $1,100 minimum every time he took it in. Heard similar about the beemers, couple of folks I met on the road who were on a gold wing said their maintenance cost was cut by 50-75% when then went to Honda from BMW. IMHO, ride whatever fits ya and makes your heart sing.
 
#9 ·
K1600

I did infact own a 2013 K1600GT....BMW is very good M.C...lots of toys and tech...BUT if they have a problem a major problem you will never know because the hide it....I owned a 2013 early year K1600...what a fun bike,did a lot of things very well................UNTIL it started puking smoke....BMW did not say anything about the problem with piston cracking in the 2012-mid year 2013.....I was 3 months out of factory warranty when it all went south....$6100. dollars later....BMW offered NO HELP....SORRY BUT!!!!!I will never ever ever ever buy another BMW of anything....Sorry but the Germans have not forgotten,buy at ur own risk.........I did have RPM1 warranty and they did step up and pay but they tried very hard to derail me ....BE WARE.....
 
#20 ·
You been hanging out with teen aged girls again?
 
#12 ·
I had a 1600GT and really liked it. Technology wise it was light years ahead of HD when it came out, but now (over 1/2 a decade later) maybe not so much. If you want to cover distance fast it's an awesome bike. 120 MPH feels "right" on it. And there lies the problem. At legal speeds it's a boring bike. That's where HD has it beat. At least to me. My RG is comfortable at speeds that won't land me in jail. As far as build quality goes, the 1600 is pretty dialed in. There is lots of plastic compared to HD, but the bike isn't made to compere with HD. The bike is made to be light weight, handle well (for a sports tourer) and go fast. There isn't a huge aftermarket because it comes pretty much loaded. It does take a while to do a major service because even taking the fairing off takes time. But the fairing does an awesome job of wind protection.
I never had any issues with my 1600, and the major service is at around 15K if I remember correctly. That's a fairly spendy service because you are maintaining a BMW 6 Cylinder engine. But if you want a bike that you can set the cruise control at 135 MPH, I can't think of any that won't be expensive somewhere along the way.
You can't fairly compare a sports tourer to a cruiser. They are designed to do different things. The new BMW cruiser with the 1600 engine would be more comparable. Personally, I think that bike looks like crap. And the build quality doesn't compare to HD, because all the plastic is out of place on a cruiser.
Someone posted (correctly) about BMW factory being asses about service, and I couldn't agree more. They downplay serious issues (like fork stanctions on the GSA) and their car service is the same. That's why I don't drive a BMW anymore.
 
#13 ·
BMW bikes have gotten more and more complicated, and expensive, as time has moved on. The old Airheads were simple and reliable, mine had 180k miles on it when I sold it. The same can be said for HDs. However, the degree of complexity, is greater with BMW.

Consumer Reports rated major MC brands for reliability several years ago. At the top, Yamaha, followed by the other Japanese brands, then Harley. At the bottom, BMW.

Other than routine maintaince, I have not even turned a nut on my Honda at over 100k miles. Same for my Kawasaki, less miles. Ducati requires about $400 every 7.5k miles for belts and valves. HD so far, nothing.

Any fancy European vehicle is gonna cost you $$.
 
#16 · (Edited)
My Diavel is 162 HP and is extremely lightweight and easy to handle. It’s a blast. The only thing I’ve done to it is added a can and a carbon fiber rear tire hugger to match the rest of the bike. Very capable machine. Way more tech than any of my HDs.



It’s got the heart of a crotch rocket, but you sit upright and it’s pretty comfy. No fairing, no windscreen, no rearsets, nothing stupid.



This one happens to be a Carbon Fiber edition. I think it looks amazing.

I should add, the dealer said they don’t usually sell Diavels to Ducati guys. They sell most of them to H-D guys. I’ve found that to have some truth to it. A lot of owners (I’ve met or on the forums) are or were H-D owners.
 
#17 ·
Emil, I currently ride a 2018 k1600 grand America, previously a 2017 road glide ultra. The two bikes are completely different the BMW is a sport touring model the Harley is a touring model. Handling and power goes to the BMW, stability and comfort and a light years difference on the navigation and audio goes to the Harley. Service maintenance isn't bad on either bike, the BMW has valve checks every 18,000 miles they never Need adjustment but they want them checked? Oil and filter ever 6k I do mine every 5k. Tires last about 7k of normal riding less if you have a heavier throttle hand. Another thing to consider there are less dealership net work with BMW. My bottom line is I like both bikes if you're going to ride the interstate long trips in the saddle your not going to find a better bike than the road glide, the BMW doesn't like turbulence especially the Grand America it's fast but likes to dance. Now that's an honest review by someone that has owned both. My advice take a close look at the 2020 Road glide limited. Enjoy the ride
 
#18 ·
Thanks to "Bradley" and "Jarrell" for the excellent review/comparisons. Both were straight up, tell-it-like-it-is reviews without a bunch of hyperbole one way or the other. The one thing that struck me odd was when Jarrell said the HD nav and audio was light years ahead of the Beemer .... wow, that's a shock since most of us think HD's system is way overpriced and greatly under performs expectations.
 
#21 ·
I had my 2012 BMW K1600GTL since 2014. I have been riding Harley Davidson since 1994 and the K1600 by far is the most fun, most comfortable, most powerful, and most agile bike I've ever owned. Absolutely love this machine. Yeah, the valve check should be done. I've done it twice, the last time one of my valves did tighten up. Harley Davidson has the Infotainment (minus the GPS) and automatic cancel turn signal in their favor. Yes, BMW does have the automatic cancel turn signal, but it is set to cancel out after 40 seconds. I do like my Road Glide for what it is. When I get into turns, the Road Glide is more work and planning going into it than the K1600.
 
#22 ·
What's up guys, haven't been on here in a long time. I was browsing, and saw this topic, and I can contribute. I bought a K1600B last October, and I own a 2012 Road Glide. I can saw that the BMW is by far a more fun bike than my HD. I have put 8k miles on my BMW since last October, and less than 500 on my RG. I typically ride my RG to the bar, and occasionally to appease my riding buddies that still ride HD's. When I ride the BMW they get a little "butt-hurt" because they can't keep up, but hold on, I digress. The BMW has so much tech that the HD can't compare. Hill hold, clutch-less shifting, electronic suspension settings on the fly, heated front and rear seats, heated grips, adjustable windscreen, the list goes on and on. My 6k service cost me $320, will take it back at 12k, haven't had to add oil yet (BMW oil is $20/quart). The bike is so comfortable, it's everything my RG isn't - good and bad. I've taken it to ROT and Lonestar Rally, and it's about the only BMW there. Oh, I paid $23k out the door. There is virtually 0 aftermarket for it, but I'm telling you has everything. Before I get to the bad, I did add Remus exhaust, and I changed out the radio because the stock radio was worse than my HD stock radio - by far. The bad - well it's not sure footed on the highway ONLY when you get in turbulent air from a semi, RV, or irregular load truck. I say not stable, but its not like you'll lose control or anything, its sorta like riding a street glide and fairing moving, but the bike moves here, just a little wobble, it will wake you up! Second, the aforementioned stereo out the box SUCKS. You can't hear it at 60! The BMW riders typically are a little pompous, and uptight.

I changed the speakers, and it was EXPENSIVE. A guy in Russia (yes, Russia) made some aftermarket pods that allowed me to replace the stock 4" speakers with 6.5's I added an amp, stereo problem solved. I changed the windshield, and it helps a little with buffeting but doesn't solve it. As for 18k service where they check the valves, I'll see when I get there. But for $23k with a 4yr/42k warranty, I should be safe from all the BS type stuff. The year I bought (18), it only came in black. I had it wrapped. With 160 hp/128 lb-ft torque this thing moves. Shifting a the 8500 redline will lift the front tire off the ground. My HD motor went to Dragos for the Diablo stage 2.5 kit, with Dragos 2into1, was dyno'd at 112/118, and couldn't keep up with bike if I let my wife ride the BMW. Riding the 3 sisters here in Texas on the BMW is funny, my group is mostly baggers, and we all ride together, but once the road curve, watching them fall back is something to see, they can't keep up with this thing.

So, to each his own, but the OP asked who owns both, and here are my thoughts. The BMW wins in my opinion hands down - so much, that I am currently selling my RG. It's collecting dust.
 

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#27 ·
I currently ride a 2018 RGU. I have previously owned a K1600 GT, a K1600s, a BMW R1200 Adventure, and a Ducati XDiavel for that matter. I traded in the K1600GT and the Ducati almost straight across for the HD.

The K1600GT is a rocket - gobs of power and speed, and loves to run at high speed - as someone said above, it is not really even moving until you are past legal speeds. the BMW six is super smooth, and feels like a turbine as it spools up to full power. Lot of features that were surprisingly missing when I came to HD - Power Windshield, Heated Grips, Hill Hold, Keyless ignition (well sort of), CENTRAL LOCKING, Heated Seats, Bluetooth, XM Radio, Adaptive Headlight and I am sure i am forgetting something.

The stock seat is HORRIBLE - good for about 80 miles. Since it is a GT, your legs are kind of tucked under you, and that gets old on old knees. There are aftermarket parts...but $$$ (but then again...). If you want to ride fast, what a great machine. Low speed riding - kinda top heavy (although much better than my K1200 LT), and low speed is a challenge. Seat height is also relatively high - so if you don't have a 32" inseam you will have some challenges with putting both feet flat. The BMW is not a sport bike...but a sporty touring bike for sure. And FAST.

For me personally what I realized as I have gotten older is I have zero interest in the risk that comes with pushing hard when riding. In fact, every ride I took with a Ducati group someone fell off somewhere...I am too old and I don't bounce. The Harley is perfect for laid back cruising. Comfortable, pleasant, and confidence inspiring. I have also noticed that with all the custom dynamics lights I have added, I rarely have to hit my horn to fend off someone trying to kill me...which for whatever reason seems way less often than on any other bike i have owned. Net, for comfortable touring and cruising, the harley hands down. If you want do the high speed thing, then the BMW is awesome.:smile:
 
#28 ·
To directly answer Emil's post, I have had 3 K1600s (2 GTLs & 1 K1600B). Just purchased a 20 Road Glide Special. Have also had just about every model of BMW since the late 80s, including GS, GSA and K1300GT.

You didn't define which model K1600 you are interested in discussing, that would have been helpful. There is a big difference between a K1600 GT, GTL and the B/GA. Since this is a Road Glide forum, I'm going to assume you're interested in the B or GA.

BMW was forced to write a check to buy back my K1600B after I had to take them to court in NJ. You can head over to the K1600 forum to read all the details. I'm the one that started the 'pull to the left' poll/thread back in July 2011. To sum up the issue, as best as myself and experts, one of whom testified in court, can tell there is a bad jig being used in the positioning of the frame parts for welding. They use a turntable with two positions, so while the robot is welding the worker can unload the welded frame and load new frame parts for welding. The turntable rotates and the process repeats. One of those jigs is out of tolerance, resulting in 50% of the K1600s pulling left. The entire engine/transmission/drive/wheel assembly is off the desired horizontal location by as much as 3/4 of an inch. Easiest way to tell is to sit on the bike then stand up, balancing it between a finger on each grip. Use a level on the fairing to see if it is also level. If it is, the bike is more than likely fine. If not, it's not the fairing being out of alignment, you're compensating for the tendency for the bike to fall over to the left by leaning it right. The frame is bad on that bike.

Before I get flamed by anyone here or on any other forum, I'm not saying the K1600 is a bad bike. The frames in 50% of the bikes have out of spec tolerances. Computrack Boston performed the measurements and this information was submitted in court. BMW admitted to NHTSA that they had known about the pull to the left issue since 2011 but didn't think it was a big deal. I was specifically told by BMW that any attempt to fix the issue by shimming the engine assembly or any other modification, would void the warranty. BMW refused to even acknowledge the pull to the left, stating it was "operating as expected". I had two dealerships put in writing that the bike pulled to the left.

Bottom line is a judge was convinced that the bike was not fit for its intended use and that we had provided sufficient evidence to prove it. Note that there is no "reasonable doubt" here. The bar is set extremely high to force a manufacturer to buy the vehicle back, which is why the overwhelming majority of plaintiffs lose in court.

So no I will not own another BMW motorcycle, due to how they covered up a known issue that is relatively simple to fix. Additionally, a shim kit or something like that would not be that much trouble to develop, fixing 50% of the bikes going back to 2011 (2012 Model year).

Assuming you have a bike that tracks straight, it's a decent machine. Personally, the electronics are extremely outdated with the Bluetooth always being a problem since introduction. You have to buy the BMW Nav unit for $1000 (yes Harley forces you to buy WIMS). The Nav VI is a touch screen but difficult to use compared to the Harley System. No Apple Car Play available.

A full faced helmet will fit in the side bags. It's a hell of a lot faster than the Harley, any of them. Servicing the bike is a pain as the dealer network is sparse and I live in the Northeast. Can't imaging being out West. The seat is horrible as is the case with all BMWs. A Russell Day Long saddle fixes that. If you're under 6 feet tall, you may have issues with reaching the ground. BMW has reverse which is necessary given how tall the bike is. The mufflers have to be about the ugliest on the market, but can be fixed with aftermarket. Available accessories are very limited and expensive.

The bike is squirrely at speed around large trucks or crosswinds. The GA can be downright frightening. BMW's answer is to stick to the speed limit, but the problem is present even at 50mph, as I found out crossing the I95 Susquehana bridge with a stiff crosswind. Not pleasant.

That's all I can think of for now.
 
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#29 ·
I have a 2015 K1600GT and just picked up a 2017 Street Glide CVO Stage 4. The street glide is really a cruiser even though it’s listed by HD as a touring bike. The K is a heavy sport bike. I love them both equally. My K has 35000 miles and it’s due for the big 36k service.
K Pros - legs for days, she will run and doesn’t like to be in the back of the pack. Comfort is good not excellent. Tech was good for 2015. 44 miles to the
K Cons - like BMW cars, burns oil. I have never made it to my next service interval without having to add oil. Service is pricey from the dealer. Oil change is 150, same as my X5.

SG Pros - M8 rumble, aftermarket, street cred, large “family” of fellow riders. Good for DIYers.
SG Cons - heat, build tolerances, weight mass not as centered as BMW, wide(er) turning, fast turns or switchbacks make me nervous.

They serve 2 different purposes. I don’t think I would replace one with the other. But if you can’t have 2 bikes and need to choose, base it on your riding style. Commuter, K. Weekender, SG or any HD touring bike.

Also the GT and GTL are NOT the same.

2015 HD Breakout CVO sold
2015 BMW K1600 GT
2017 HD Street Glide CVO
2012 Suzuki Hayabusa
 
#30 ·
Currently own a 2028 BMW K1600B and 2020 Road Glide Limited. Both bikes seat were horrible. Changed them out
Stock stereo is better on Harley the speakers on BMW can't be heard after about 45. They are tiny.
Hill assist on BMW is better than Harley since it works in neutral.
Clutch whole new world on BMW. Lighter for one but with bmw pro shift. You only need clutch coming thru first gear going up. No clutch 2nd thru 6th. Or 6th back to first.
Reverse on BMW works up to 7 degree angle.
I never had to down shift when passing a vehicle plenty of power at highway speeds
You are in a bubble when riding. Sure rain gets you wet but road spray does not wet your lower legs
Dealerships go to Harley. Not many BMW dealers and if you encounter problems on tje road. Harley dealerships are numerous.
BMW is lighter but i almost feel like the RGL handles better at low speeds due to the torque difference.
Options for suspension are controlled via the computer system on board. Select and change. 1up, 2up ,luggage. Soften or stiffen its really amazing when it comes to technology. It carries a fun factor but in a different way way than Harley. Customize hands down Harley.
Both bike a nice but different its like comparing a Steak dinner and a beautiful scenic sight. Both are great just different.

I am actually putting my BMW on the Market
 
#31 ·
You are spot on. The only thing I preferred was the SG to the RG because I didn’t like the fairing fork disconnect. I prefer everything turning when I move the bars. HD stereos are industry best from factory. My stock CVO seat is pretty good. HD aftermarket is huge. Not sure I would buy another k bike no matter what they did to it. With Harley I can stream Bluetooth phone to bike. My K can’t and I was very disappointed with that.
 
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