• Welcome, Guest! We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMW MOA forum provides. Some forum content will be hidden from you if you remain logged out. If you want to view all content, please click the 'Log in' button above and enter your BMW MOA username and password.

    If you are not an MOA member, why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the BMW Owners News magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMW MOA offers?

K1600 head to head with Goldwing

Please go to K1600 group site and read lengthy, multi-post analysis by Mingo, claimed to have bought BOTH a 2012 K1600GTL and a '12 GL1800 level 3 which he had re-worked by Traxxion Dynamics of Georgia.

Mingo must be independently wealthy.

CycleHead
 
GTL vs Goldwing

First of all, make no mistake-The Goldwing is VERY good at what it does. Americans will buy silly farkle for a limited time and then if it's all sizzle and no steak they will not continue to spend their hard earned dollars. Last I knew, people were still buying Goldwings

Secondly, The comment about the "tired old flat 6 design" was obviously someone who never owned/drove a Porsche; having done both I can tell you that the boxer 6 is one of the best and most proven designs ever put in any motor vehicle including aircraft.

The Goldwing is as American as apple pie (despite it's heritage) and was designed for American tastes and priorities which to my way of thinking is partly responsible for it's success. For the same reason people like Buicks and Lincoln Town Cars they like Goldwings.

Folks in the BMW fold tend to think in a more European/worldview manner (IMHO) and as such gravitate toward European machinery.

As for myself, having ridden both, the Kraut in me prefers the GTL but that having been said, the Goldwing is a hell of a machine, albiet a different type of machine
 
Secondly, The comment about the "tired old flat 6 design" was obviously someone who never owned/drove a Porsche; having done both I can tell you that the boxer 6 is one of the best and most proven designs ever put in any motor vehicle including aircraft.

Neither for or against GLs and/or the people who like them, but "flat sixes" are not all alike. There is a big difference between a 6-cylinder boxer and a 180? V-6. And while the Porsche flat six was/is a great motor, how about the Corvair?
 
Neither for or against GLs and/or the people who like them, but "flat sixes" are not all alike. There is a big difference between a 6-cylinder boxer and a 180? V-6. And while the Porsche flat six was/is a great motor, how about the Corvair?

I owned seven of the very misunderstood and misrepresented Corvairs. The engines were great if they were driven properly. As with any air cooled engine, life of the engine is dependent on proper cooling. People lugged them around at slow speeds and the pushrod tube seals hardened due to the heat (the pushrod tubes were below the hot cylinders) and they tended to leak. The 102, 110 and 140 HP engines would float the valves at 92 MPH in third gear with a 4 speed transmission (late teenage years). The 64 only registered 100 but I had the speedo needle bouncing back to 60 from the peg. I later had a 140 HP 4 carb. Corsa that was a performance car for the time when compared with the competition (Falcons, Valiants, Rambler Americans, etc).
 
...the engines were great if they were driven properly...osbornk

And each series of Porsche's flat sixes has its issues. But both Porsche and Corvair sixes have found their way into airplanes.
 
Last edited:
I'm not going to read this entire thread so I'll just submit the following...

When BMW gets their head out of their A$$ and builds a serious long distance full on touring motorcycle (revised/updated LT) then the Gold Wing will remain the only luxury touring motorcycle for sale in the US. Harley folks, close your eyes and ears and don't read this.

This comes from someone who has just ridden a 2013 GTL nearly 5K across the USA and on more than one occasion wished that I would have bought a wing...

As good a bike as the GTL is, it's still just a large sport touring motorcycle. This is my opinion, YMMV.
 
I'm not going to read this entire thread so I'll just submit the following...

When BMW gets their head out of their A$$ and builds a serious long distance full on touring motorcycle (revised/updated LT) then the Gold Wing will remain the only luxury touring motorcycle for sale in the US. Harley folks, close your eyes and ears and don't read this.

This comes from someone who has just ridden a 2013 GTL nearly 5K across the USA and on more than one occasion wished that I would have bought a wing...

As good a bike as the GTL is, it's still just a large sport touring motorcycle. This is my opinion, YMMV.

You are correct. As fantastic a bike is as the GTL it really is not the equivalent of a Wing, particularly for the passenger. A Gold Wing still represents the best, if there is such a thing, in long distance, comfortable, slab-oriented touring. And, it's really not bad on the secondary roads either. Also, far more dealers if the need arises and an accessory marketplace that can't be topped with the exception of Harley. Absolute incredible reliability as we all know.

The GTL certainly has its own pluses without a doubt. A sport touring orientation is one of them as no one would ever classify a Wing as a sport tourer. In addition, horsepower that is absolutely intoxicating! I happen to think 6-cylinder bikes are just too big to begin with except if long distance touring 2-up is frequently done. Driver comfort on the RT's is exceptional as it is on a Wing or a GTL especially once the OEM seat is replaced. RT passenger comfort is up for debate. Have any woman (yea, I know that's sexist but who cares) sit on the back of all 3 of those units and the Gold Wing is taking the prize. We all know that. The solution? Never allow your lady to sit on the back of a Gold Wing. The problem is that Gold Wing back seat looks so wonderful from a woman's point of view it's really difficult to keep them away from a Wing for a test-sit!!

Both bikes are great bikes. You're going to find people in both camps. You are in control of your own destiny.
 
This comes from someone who has just ridden a 2013 GTL nearly 5K across the USA and on more than one occasion wished that I would have bought a wing...

As good a bike as the GTL is, it's still just a large sport touring motorcycle. This is my opinion, YMMV.

That may be a valid statement, but without specifying any details, it is just another opinion. What exactly did you miss, riding your GTL, that you would have had on the Wing?
And more important, what did the LT have that the GTL falls short of (other than the fall-over protection) ?
 
That may be a valid statement, but without specifying any details, it is just another opinion. ............

Actually, "opinions" are what drive the world to do what it does. Opinions frequently have no basis in fact. Although they should there is no such requirement because no matter what you do people will have still have opinions.
 
Since now we're talking opinions, I took my wife for a test ride on a gold wing and she said "I'm sure glad I don't have to ride on that all the way home." Both of us were glad to get back on the old LT (each for our own reasons) and carry on. As the miles pile up, it may cost a bit to keep the LT, but there is definitely not a gold wing in our future.
 
Fuel Economy and range. (Although the GTL isn't very far behind)

Well, I was interested in hearing an answer from the person who rode a GTL 5000 miles across the U.S.

And for what it's worth: I own 16 bikes. None of them was purchased with fuel economy in mind. Not even a minor part of the consideration.
 
A friend on a GTL and I rode from Edmonton to Yellowknife and back last summer. The GTL was way better in comfort mode on the rougher parts. And you are correct, neither one was bought for fuel economy, it was only a marginal difference in a side by side comparison. I wouldn't want to push either one if the range was not long enough.
 
Back
Top