Picked Up New K1600GT

Picked up my new K1600GT at Countryside, IL BMW this week near Chicago, IL. Great people and great service. Special thanks to Mike Abt for arranging to have me picked up at the airport and driven to the dealership. Jumped on the bike and drove through 20 degree temps and snow headed home for Richmond, VA. The heated seat & grips along with the electrically adjustable windshield made the trip very comfortable. Despite the lousy weather

For a bike this large, it is surprising light feeling, easy to handle and did I say SMOOTH!!! The cruise control was beautiful for the 1100 mile ride home. And the handling through the West Virginia mountains was absolutely wonderful. Running at pretty high speeds through the twistys with no drama was great! I'm used to running my Electraglide through there on a fairly regular basis and there is always drama trying to run that thing at speed through the mountains!

Bike was absolutely great. No complaints and looking forward to putting some more miles on it this weekend. Hopefully there won't be any snow! I looked for the "Snow" mode on the DTC, while driving through the mountains last night in the snow, but only found "Rain". Oh, well, guess the "Rain" mode will have to do.

Congratulations, Early Christmas present??
Enjoy the ride matthew

Picked Up New K1600GLT

I picked mine up on Saturday 12Nov11 from Cal BMW in Mountain View, CA. Due to inclement weather I have only put on a little over miles. What I can say at this point is that it is a wonderful machine.
I should mention that my previous bike was a '99 K1200LT. That too was a great bike. Everthing worked as advertised. I had it a bit over a year and put on 13K miles. Never had anything go wrong.
However; I made the mistake of test riding the K16 and that took care of that! So "X" amount of dollars later I am the proud owner of....
In addition to the much advertised diferences in the two bikes (better brakes, lighter, better handling, near instantaneous engine response,etc.) I have noticed two major differences in the two bikes. (1) There is a bit more wind buffeting in the K16 that the K12. Not a big deal, just different. (2)I also must load the K16 diffferently. Even though the saddlebags look spacious, they do not carry as much as the LT. This is due to the "stylish" upswept exhaust forcing indentures into the bags. Also the topcase is a bit wider but flatter than the previous. As I mentioned a bit before, I am not complaining at this point. I am just pointing out differences.
All in all just a wonderful machine. I am just waiting for the weather to stablize so that I may further "bond" with the bike.

Congrats!

I really like the GT over the GTL. You're right about how light the bike feels and that engine is incredible!

Okay, I'm envious!

GT Update

Ok, a little update on the GT. I've got 2800 miles on it now and it rides better each week. I had the 600 mile service done at Morton's BMW in Fredericksburg, VA at a lot more than 600 miles. But, it's done! Bike rides and runs well. No problems or complaints.

Taken a few rides down the Blue Ridge Parkway, up and over the Blue Ridge and the bike handles beautifully. It really feels like a much smaller and lighter motorcycle on good winding, curvey roads. Great fun.

I purchased and installed a 22" Cee Bailey's windshield to replace the stock GT windshield. There really wasn't anything wrong with the stocker. But, I put a Cee Bailey's on my Electraglide and really liked it. So, figured I'd give it a try. Huge difference between the Cee Bailey's and the stock GT windshield. The air flows up and over my helmet much better with the Cee Bailey's windshield in a lower position. Less turbulence behind the windshield. Just a much better ride. So, if you're thinking about changing the stock GT windshield to a Cee Bailey's, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at the result.

Installed a Gerbing's wiring harness on the battery for my Gerbing's jacket liner and gloves for those rides when it's in the 20's. Couple those items with the heated grips and seats and it's always a comfortable ride, unless of course there's ice on the road. Then you've got to go slower!!!!

Gotta go, time for some more riding, it's nice in Virginia today!