What will take the wobble out?

[oldcamper]

Oh? So the K1600 is supposed to wobble? Your comment is so helpful!

I see a lot of BMW riders put down Harleys. I think it is pretty distasteful. Many of them have never ridden a Harley so they have no point to compare.

I rode Harley bagger for 15 years and abut 200,000 miles. They are solid feeling bikes on the road. Never a wiggle, except for my 2005 that would get a weird sway when ridden over 100 MPH, but as I can not legally ride that sped anywhere in the USA I don't see and issue. I will agree that Harley builds a low horse power, rough riding motorcycle, but the touring frames are decent bikes, just not rocket ships or build for high speed curves. You can ride mountain passes with one reasonably fast and enjoyably although some bikes will do it better.

There has been a lot of comments of unstable K1600s over the years. Some do it, some don't, nobody seems to know why. I have a buddy with a K1600GTLE and it rides dead solid all the way into triple digits. I have had it over 125 MPH myself a few times. If I had just dropped $30K in a new K1600 and it wobbled like some of the videos and info I have seen someone would be buying it back or talking to my attorney.

https://youtu.be/DVxkSxRx6sQ

The bagger is primarily a styling exercise with great marketing potential for conquest sales, but the resulting wobble must have proved difficult for even BMW to fix so they simply compensated with the speed limiter rather than re-engineer the bike.

Like others, I suspect the problem is airflow management and the styling mods unique to that model are to blame. No easy fixes then, unfortunately. Decent looking bike, though.

 

[bmurphw500]

In my humble opinion….

It seems to me that what with everyone talking about a speed wobble, folks are looking for something that isn’t really there. Yes, my new GA is a little twitchy in dirty air on the interstate. Entirely manageable. The Electra Glide that I traded in was indifferent in all but the wildest crosswinds in Wyoming. That’s the tradeoff you make for sport bike handling in the twisties. The GA is way more fun in the mountains, although I’m stuck to buying expensive, sticky, low mileage sport bike tires for it.
A funny thing happened. The factory Metzler Roadtec 01 front tire developed a bad leak with only 2500 miles on it. Cause unknown. Turns out those Metzlers were made in China! Seriously! I had no choice but to replace it with the Michelin Road 5 GT, no thanks to BMW roadside assistance or the nearest dealership. Suddenly, my stability issues all but disappeared. For best results, keep your windshield low.
I had a similar issue with my old K75 when I put Pirelli’s on it, now that I think of it. Tires make a huge difference.

 

[bmurphw500]

While I’m at it…

A lot of folks are saying that the GA is speed limited to 104 mph by the factory because of known instability issues. A lot of hogwash. They don’t know what they’re talking about. The GA is the only model with a fixed top box. The RT and GT have removable top boxes as an option. If you look inside the box or on the BMW website, BMW “recommends” keeping the speed below 105 mph. There’s a very good reason for this. The top box is well made but it’s still some thin sheets of ABS plastic held in place with 4 tiny screws. BMW engineers can easily guess that people are going to overload the weight limit as well. If that box comes loose at over 100, that’s going to be a serious safety issue. Don’t you think?

 

[Omega Man]

Welcome to the forum bmurphw500!

As for the comment on off shore manufacturing, IMO, it’s up to the “name brand” to make sure that any product that is “subbed out” to anywhere is made properly. Too may problems with a bad product will usually wake someone up a corporate.
In a recent (light truck) tire story, we recently needed some inexpensive 16” tires for an older, seldom driven pickup truck. This 16” size is really becoming obsolete so finding the size had limited options. We purchased 4, made in Taiwan. The looked good, spun true and required minimal weights for balancing.
We can’t see anything wrong or bad about them and time will tell.

OM

 

[mohler]

I have a 07 k1200gt for 16 years and 69000 mi. While not the same bike as the 1600, it does have the same duolever steering. At a little more than 10000 mi. It had a problem with wandering
back and forth, I wouldn't consider it wobbling, but it was even noticeable to people behind me. My thought was the ball joints were the problem. The first dealer didn't see a problem the first time it was looked at. The second time they agreed there was a problem and replaced the final drive at 20000 mi. eventhough it was within specs, the wandering was still there. The second dealer said it was a worn tire problem and wouldn't investigate any further. The Third dealer replaced the steering damper, that didn't help either. None of the dealers would consider the problem could be the ball joints when I suggested it.
Finally ordered and changed the ball joints myself an it's been a great riding bike ever since.

 

[pauls1150]

I believe that the lower ball joint on those (K12 & K13) DID have a Recall.

 

[PoorUB]

A lot of folks are saying that the GA is speed limited to 104 mph by the factory because of known instability issues. A lot of hogwash. They don’t know what they’re talking about. The GA is the only model with a fixed top box. The RT and GT have removable top boxes as an option. If you look inside the box or on the BMW website, BMW “recommends” keeping the speed below 105 mph. There’s a very good reason for this. The top box is well made but it’s still some thin sheets of ABS plastic held in place with 4 tiny screws. BMW engineers can easily guess that people are going to overload the weight limit as well. If that box comes loose at over 100, that’s going to be a serious safety issue. Don’t you think?

Back to the speed, I have a buddy with a 2016 GTLE. If I remember correctly it is electronically governed to 135 MPH. I know BMW limits the top speed, but the specific number might be different, but 135 is what I recall. It has been years, but we were out riding on quiet side roads and we cranked our bikes up. At one point I rolled right on by on my 2018 R1200RT. He told me it just hit 135 and that was all.

Also, it is funny how short our memories can be. Riders have complained of k1600 instability ever since the bike was released back in 2010. Some do it, some don't. It doesn't even follow the various model variations. Some GTs will, some won't, some GTL's will, some won't.

It seems to me the B model gets even more complaints.

I find it odd that BMW simply doesn't change the steering angle a tiny but. Add one more degree, or perhaps 1/2 of a degree would do wonders. Slow the steering down a tiny bit and it should settle down.

 

[motormike]

BMW never "fixes" anything on their bikes, until the threat of litigation forces their decision.

 

[Hodadd]

Back to the speed, I have a buddy with a 2016 GTLE. If I remember correctly it is electronically governed to 135 MPH. I know BMW limits the top speed, but the specific number might be different, but 135 is what I recall. It has been years, but we were out riding on quiet side roads and we cranked our bikes up. At one point I rolled right on by on my 2018 R1200RT. He told me it just hit 135 and that was all.

Also, it is funny how short our memories can be. Riders have complained of k1600 instability ever since the bike was released back in 2010. Some do it, some don't. It doesn't even follow the various model variations. Some GTs will, some won't, some GTL's will, some won't.

It seems to me the B model gets even more complaints.

I find it odd that BMW simply doesn't change the steering angle a tiny but. Add one more degree, or perhaps 1/2 of a degree would do wonders. Slow the steering down a tiny bit and it should settle down.

I just test rode a used K16BGA. I took it for a long weekend evaluation from my local dealer. (I'm thinking about buying one and doing my due diligence.) It was a 2018 with 19k on the clock. The top box said it was top speed limited to 110 MPH. The sticker was showing all of the different K16 models with their respective top speeds. On a long open stretch of semi deserted road I can tell you it cuts out at an indicated 110, with the NAV 6 saying 104.

The bike wobbled in the wind, but honestly it wasn't anything scary. It was quite windy, with the wind gusting up to about 35 MPH in all different directions.

The dealer also has a 2019 K16GTL that I rode. It was worse under the same general conditions. I noticed the top box on the GTL wobbled and shook under the wind, which could have contributed to the effect. The top case shook enough that I could feel it through the chassis. Also, the BGA had new Pilot Road 4 tires, while the GTL had fairly well worn Dunlaps (I couldn't read the model).

So, it could be a very sensitive chassis set up/design. Like a very twitchy rake/trail figure, as has been discussed.

 

[motormike]

Watch the video!!!

https://youtu.be/DVxkSxRx6sQ

Would you want to ride a motorcycle that did that mile after mile??

 

[pauls1150]

The music makes me want to go watch Benny Hill... the wobbles are much more interesting.

 

[navitas]

What PSI?

What helped me.. reduce tire pressure a few PSI. It's pretty much gone. It's not and never was a 'wobble', more of a riding on water feeling at times. Coming off a HD street glide myself, you can't compare the two. They are both different machines. It's like comparing a F-16 fighter to a C-5 airplane. They both have different characteristics. If you want that solid tank feeling, and a BMW, look at the R-18 TC.

Thanks for the suggestion. What PSI did you adjust to?