Bmw k1600b

[Sailor]

Check this bike out. It is everything the new venture should have been but isn't. Lighter, faster, cheaper, etc. My only criticism of this bike is the lack of storage space and the garbage can exhausts.

[cowpuc]

INDEED - WOWZY WOW WOW WOW what a scoot!! I was reading about that one in an online Biker Mag Sailor - it made the top of the list in the top 5 long distance touring bikes and looks to be quite the ride!! Here is a link to the article I was reading:

https://rideapart.com/articles/the-5-best-touring-motorcycles-bike-for-doing-distance

 

Personally I find it interesting that the Polaris Road Master hauled in a 2nd place in this category but after reading the underscore for the Polaris I could see why = it seems that a lot of long distance riders today actually consider getting roasted by the heat of an air cooled V-Twin as an essential part of CTFW..

 

Also note,, the above article was released in March = BEFORE the unveiling and release of the new air cooled V-Twin Venture.. Perhaps the top 5 long distance touring bike awards would have been different had they waited for this new one..

[Sailor]

I am actually going to take a serious look at it. At my age I don't have that many riding years left so why not go out in style, if I like it. The big question is " Does it fit me?"

[cowpuc]

I am actually going to take a serious look at it. At my age I don't have that many riding years left so why not go out in style, if I like it. The big question is " Does it fit me?"

 

Really look forward to a ride report if you do go demo one... Thing looks amazing to me too.. One of the main issues I would have is the potential for having to depend on a dealer for repair stuff and,, from what I have been told about BMW,, $$$$'s associated with that (both parts and labor) = NEVER owned one,, only saying that out of hear say.. I think @VanRiver has a Beemer now - what do you know about that Riv? Wanna a little brother?

 

I had a neighbor offer me a really really nice Wing recently for a super price - his wife has major health issues and they are done biking. We kicked it around and came to the conclusion that I/we probably dont have enough CTFW time left in life to start the learning curve on a new scoot and a whole new brand.. I think the memory stick sitting on my shoulders is 80% 1st Gen data - be a sad day to have an issue up in those mountains of Utah and have no idea how to even begin taking the plastic off one of those things, then have to haul it 2 states to a dealership that is gonna charge me 400 bucks an hour cause the issue was something not covered by a warranty...

[Sailor]

Always wise to go with what you know. Fortunately I know nothing about anything so the field is wide open for me.

[cowpuc]

Always wise to go with what you know. Fortunately I know nothing about anything so the field is wide open for me.

 

 

 

[VanRiver]

Hi @Sailor, yup @cowpuc is correct, I recently added a BMW K1200LT to my "collection". I suffer from an illness where I only have the ability to buy motorcycles and never sell them, so the Beemer was an addition rather than a replacement. Plus, my bike is well out of warranty so the responsibility of fixing her up and doing maintenance is on my shoulders as I will be "gosh darned" to even dream of taking it to a dealer. I feel this same way about all dealers, not just BMW.

 

So here is what I have learned over the last 4 months of BMW ownership......I was always taught that German engineering was the "Ultimate" and that owning a BMW motorcycle was the epitome of riding! Well I have figured out that no matter what badge is on the side of the tank, every motorcycle and mechanical thing in general has it's strengths and weaknesses. Just like our Ventures have flaws, so does my BMW. Case in point, my K1200lt has a known issue of early rear differential failure because some bikes were shimmed incorrectly at the factory! Yes the German engineering and manufacturing wizards actually put the wrong shim in around 4% of all K1200 Diff's that made the bearings fail very early! Also on my bike, it is around a 4 hour job to replace the air filter.......they actually located the air filter under the fuel tank on my K1200LT.....so that means you need to remove all the "Tupperware" on the bike, remove the stereo and communications system, and finally completely remove the gas take...... yes completely take it off the bike...... to simply install a new air filter!

 

Next is the cost of parts.....if it has "BMW" printed on it, it is usually triple the price. But the good news is manufactures like Bosch and Mann actually make most of the parts for BMW so the trick is to purchase the identical "Bosch" version of the same part/filter and the price comes down significantly for the exact same item and quality.

 

The last thing is all bikes have quirks and BMW's are no exception! You know how our Ventures whine since they have straight cut gears, well guess what so does the BMW "ultimate driving machine"....5th gear between 90km and 112KM per hour she whines the same way......and K1200LT riders all report the same thing. All BMW K1200 motors also smoke to the point that it can be extremely embarrassing if you don't turn your bike off and wait 30 to 45 seconds before you put it on it's side stand, it even tells you that in the owners manual!!!! This is because oil seeps into the cylinders of the horizontally positioned 4 cylinder motor when it is tilted on the side stand which just happens to be the same side the heads are on (great German engineering)!!! I have had people make fun of me because I forgot to turn the key off and then wait a minute straddling my bike keeping it upright to let the "Oil settle" before I put it on the side stand......"Dude there is something wrong with your bike", as I speed away riding through the cloud that my bike just created to avoid having to explain that my bike is not broken......and this is all documented stuff that all BMW K1200 riders experience and are in some way proud of! But to be honest I find that with many "luxury items".....the more you pay for something the more willing I find people are to accept these quirks! I currently own Mercedes and BMW cars and SUVs as well and they all have some really weird things to them that when you complain to a mechanic or dealership they say "thats just how it is owning a Mercedes" and I need to accept the "Uniqueness of my ultimate driving machine".......but if that same "quirk" was in a bargain economy Kia sub compact car I would say that it was a piece of crap!!! Funny how the human brain works!

 

So have I scared you yet? I hope not.....now the good news. There is NOTHING on my BMW that is more complex or mechanically challenging then what is on my first-generation Venture's. Actually, I personally believe that once you get past removing all that plastic "Tupperware" the BMW is actually simpler then my Venture to troubleshoot and repair (aside from getting to the air filter! Plus there is a huge BMW community out there to help support you, similar to the fine folks we have here at VentureRider.org. Case in point about simplicity.......my BMW is almost identical to the engine in my BMW 325 convertible car I also own (they event use some of the same electronic components). If she doesn't run right I just plug in my diagnostic tool into the diagnostic port and it will tell me how she is sick. Gas mileage is poor, oh look my GS911 diagnostic tool says I have a bad O2 sensor on my Bike, guess I should replace that!........Compared to our Ventures, it took me weeks, pages of wiring diagrams, and finally some expert advice from the fine folks her to figure out that I had a bad ECU on my Venture causing 2 cylinders to periodically not fire. That would have been a 5 minute test on my BMW motorcycle. Another example is checking and adjusting your valves, the process is very similar between the BMW and the Yamaha with the exception that things are easier to access on the BMW since the heads are on the side rather then then busting your knuckles trying to access the top on the Venture. etc etc.

 

Lastly, she rides nice and has so many amenities that I didn't know I was missing in my life with the Venture until I rode the BMW on some day trips. Things such as the power adjustable windshield is amazing! Adjustable seat height is great of a guy like me with a bad knee. Heated grips, heated seats front and rear and backrest, wow that is nice too, fuel injection so no more futzing with carbs and I get 54 miles to the Gallon! But I need to feed her premium gas as per the BMW manual......"FiFi" likes high octane!

 

So I know this was a very long post and hopefully you have made it to the end! Long story short I totally respect both Yamaha and BMW, and there is no clear winner or perfect motorcycle in my mind. I would be happy to hop on either one of them and ride across the country! I'm also not scared anymore of them breaking down as I know that even my personal rudimentary mechanical skills can maintain them and fix them both. If I break down or need parts I can buy anything over the internet and never really need to rely on a Dealer (Mother Yamaha or Mutter BMW) And lastly my bikes are not new.....if they were brand new I would still do the maintenance myself, but would take all warrantee work to the dealer even if I know how to fix them and 3 years/36,000 isn't bad.

 

Hope that was helpful in some way. The new K1600b looks like it is an awesome bike! Life is short, enjoy the ride no matter what bike you are on!

 

Here is a picture of "Fifi" my 1999 BMW K1200LT "naked" trying to get at the airfilter and of course another when she was all put back together again after all my preventative maintenece was done.

 

[BlueSky]

The BMW dry clutch is probably a good design too since it isn't contaminating the engine oil. It just makes replacing it a major operation. I think the new BMWs have mostly wet clutches too though.

[cowpuc]

Hi Sailor, yup cowpuc is correct, I recently added a BMW K1200LT to my "collection". I suffer from an illness where I only have the ability to buy motorcycles and never sell them, so the Beemer was an addition rather than a replacement. Plus, my bike is well out of warranty so the responsibility of fixing her up and doing maintenance is on my shoulders as I will be "gosh darned" to even dream of taking it to a dealer. I feel this same way about all dealers, not just BMW.

 

So here is what I have learned over the last 4 months of BMW ownership......I was always taught that German engineering was the "Ultimate" and that owning a BMW motorcycle was the epitome of riding! Well I have figured out that no matter what badge is on the side of the tank, every motorcycle and mechanical thing in general has it's strengths and weaknesses. Just like our Ventures have flaws, so does my BMW. Case in point, my K1200lt has a known issue of early rear differential failure because some bikes were shimmed incorrectly at the factory! Yes the German engineering and manufacturing wizards actually put the wrong shim in around 4% of all K1200 Diff's that made the bearings fail very early! Also on my bike, it is around a 4 hour job to replace the air filter.......they actually located the air filter under the fuel tank on my K1200LT.....so that means you need to remove all the "Tupperware" on the bike, remove the stereo and communications system, and finally completely remove the gas take...... yes completely take it off the bike...... to simply install a new air filter!

 

Next is the cost of parts.....if it has "BMW" printed on it, it is usually triple the price. But the good news is manufactures like Bosch and Mann actually make most of the parts for BMW so the trick is to purchase the identical "Bosch" version of the same part/filter and the price comes down significantly for the exact same item and quality.

 

The last thing is all bikes have quirks and BMW's are no exception! You know how our Ventures whine since they have straight cut gears, well guess what so does the BMW "ultimate driving machine"....5th gear between 90km and 112KM per hour she whines the same way......and K1200LT riders all report the same thing. All BMW K1200 motors also smoke to the point that it can be extremely embarrassing if you don't turn your bike off and wait 30 to 45 seconds before you put it on it's side stand, it even tells you that in the owners manual!!!! This is because oil seeps into the cylinders of the horizontally positioned 4 cylinder motor when it is tilted on the side stand which just happens to be the same side the heads are on (great German engineering)!!! I have had people make fun of me because I forgot to turn the key off and then wait a minute straddling my bike keeping it upright to let the "Oil settle" before I put it on the side stand......"Dude there is something wrong with your bike", as I speed away riding through the cloud that my bike just created to avoid having to explain that my bike is not broken......and this is all documented stuff that all BMW K1200 riders experience and are in some way proud of! But to be honest I find that with many "luxury items".....the more you pay for something the more willing I find people are to accept these quirks! I currently own Mercedes and BMW cars and SUVs as well and they all have some really weird things to them that when you complain to a mechanic or dealership they say "thats just how it is owning a Mercedes" and I need to accept the "Uniqueness of my ultimate driving machine".......but if that same "quirk" was in a bargain economy Kia sub compact car I would say that it was a piece of crap!!! Funny how the human brain works!

 

So have I scared you yet? I hope not.....now the good news. There is NOTHING on my BMW that is more complex or mechanically challenging then what is on my first-generation Venture's. Actually, I personally believe that once you get past removing all that plastic "Tupperware" the BMW is actually simpler then my Venture to troubleshoot and repair (aside from getting to the air filter! Plus there is a huge BMW community out there to help support you, similar to the fine folks we have here at VentureRider.org. Case in point about simplicity.......my BMW is almost identical to the engine in my BMW 325 convertible car I also own (they event use some of the same electronic components). If she doesn't run right I just plug in my diagnostic tool into the diagnostic port and it will tell me how she is sick. Gas mileage is poor, oh look my GS911 diagnostic tool says I have a bad O2 sensor on my Bike, guess I should replace that!........Compared to our Ventures, it took me weeks, pages of wiring diagrams, and finally some expert advice from the fine folks her to figure out that I had a bad ECU on my Venture causing 2 cylinders to periodically not fire. That would have been a 5 minute test on my BMW motorcycle. Another example is checking and adjusting your valves, the process is very similar between the BMW and the Yamaha with the exception that things are easier to access on the BMW since the heads are on the side rather then then busting your knuckles trying to access the top on the Venture. etc etc.

 

Lastly, she rides nice and has so many amenities that I didn't know I was missing in my life with the Venture until I rode the BMW on some day trips. Things such as the power adjustable windshield is amazing! Adjustable seat height is great of a guy like me with a bad knee. Heated grips, heated seats front and rear and backrest, wow that is nice too, fuel injection so no more futzing with carbs and I get 54 miles to the Gallon! But I need to feed her premium gas as per the BMW manual......"FiFi" likes high octane!

 

So I know this was a very long post and hopefully you have made it to the end! Long story short I totally respect both Yamaha and BMW, and there is no clear winner or perfect motorcycle in my mind. I would be happy to hop on either one of them and ride across the country! I'm also not scared anymore of them breaking down as I know that even my personal rudimentary mechanical skills can maintain them and fix them both. If I break down or need parts I can buy anything over the internet and never really need to rely on a Dealer (Mother Yamaha or Mutter BMW) And lastly my bikes are not new.....if they were brand new I would still do the maintenance myself, but would take all warrantee work to the dealer even if I know how to fix them and 3 years/36,000 isn't bad.

 

Hope that was helpful in some way. The new K1600b looks like it is an awesome bike! Life is short, enjoy the ride no matter what bike you are on!

 

Here is a picture of "Fifi" my 1999 BMW K1200LT "naked" trying to get at the airfilter and of course another when she was all put back together again after all my preventative maintenece was done.

 

http://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=110370 http://www.venturerider.org/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=110371

 

:bowdown::bowdown::bowdown::bowdown: Now THATS what I am talking about!!

 

Very very well put there Riv!! THANK YOU for the feedback!!

 

By the way,, I LOVE FiFi and can see why you couldnt pass er up brother!! She's got that look of "feed me some open road - I'm hungry" written all over her purdy face!!

[RandyR]

Since we're on the subject of BMW K bikes. Here's a pic of my dear departed 1997 K1100 rt/lt. I don't have a saved picture of it with the matching top box and saddle bags which were removable and I usually didn't leave them on the bike unless I was taking an overnighter somewhere.

 

 

This was a really sweet bike for gobbling up the miles. And YES, it had a cassette player.

[leroy]

I like the R1200 RT, just like the engine design and the ride. However, the K1600 is one heck of a ride. A good friend has the K1600GTL and a almost new R1200 GSA lowered. All three are great motorcycles. I am short so the 1200 test my comfort level. The K1600 fits me.

 

I'll probably never own either the 1200 or 1600 as I almost have my two year old RSV farkled to where I want it. At 68 another new motorcycle may be out of the picture. At least a high end tourer. I not saying it is not out for sure. My uncle still rides at 84.

 

That said, the K1600 is so technical that I would be limited on how much work I could do myself. The nearest BMW dealer is an hour away. BMW is very proud of their work = $$$.

 

Of course I have been know to change my mind. And if I were to buy a new, current model year, luxury tourer today the K1600GTL is the only one that fits me and at the same time has what I would want except for some of the gee whiz stuff.

 

My two cents.