New guy, have never had a BMW, have questions about the K1600B

Greetings, everyone

I've been riding for going on 50 years now, but have never had a BMW. In my youth I had Hondas, both dirt and street. I've had Yamahas, both dirt and street. I've had numerous Harleys (still do) and I also currently own a Victory Cross Country Tour. I hope you'll pardon my questions, but the closest BMW dealer to me is 3 hours away, so I'd like some info before I decide to devote a day to that trip.

I love my Harley Road King, and part of that is I have a phenomenal dealer. I really like my Victory, mainly for the better ride and more room that it has over the Harley. I tend to take the Victory on road trips and use the HD for short jaunts and around town. I'm 6'5", and the Victory fits me much better than the Harley. Which brings me to the BMW. I had a bit of an epiphany last week. I had taken the Harley in to an independent shop for an oil change. (the Harley dealer is a ways away and I was pressed for time). I had some work to be done on the Victory also, so I rode it over to the indie shop and dropped it off and picked up the Harley. I suppose this is the first time I have ridden them back to back, but as soon as I got on the Harley, I thought, man this thing is small.

I won't get rid of the Victory, because I can't replace it if I decide I made a mistake by selling it. I did that once with my Valkyrie. So I'm considering selling the Harley and buying a K1600B. The reviews on You Tube have been very positive. However, I do have some questions.

1) The wheel base on the B is about the same as the wheel base on the Victory, and two inches longer than the Harley. Am I going to have the same amount of room on the B as I do on the Victory?
2) Do the floorboards on the B have controls as the Harley does, or are they merely highway pegs?
3) The idea of the bags opening from the side seems odd to me. How do you keep stuff from falling out when you open them?
4) I will likely do my own maintenance on the B, and since the closest dealer is 3 hours away, hope there are no warranty issues. Any problem areas on the B that I need to be concerned about?

I would appreciate any input, especially from those of you that have owned a Victory tour bike. Thanks!

jonw said:

1) The wheel base on the B is about the same as the wheel base on the Victory, and two inches longer than the Harley. Am I going to have the same amount of room on the B as I do on the Victory?
2) Do the floorboards on the B have controls as the Harley does, or are they merely highway pegs?
3) The idea of the bags opening from the side seems odd to me. How do you keep stuff from falling out when you open them?
4) I will likely do my own maintenance on the B, and since the closest dealer is 3 hours away, hope there are no warranty issues. Any problem areas on the B that I need to be concerned about?

Click to expand...

Welcome to the forum.

1 I don't know
2 The K1600B does not have forward foot controls.
3 We have always used bag liners with our side opening bags. This makes it easier to carry stuff into the tent or motel.
Our R1200RS bags have a bottom shelf and elastic straps that prevents loose items from falling out. I don't know if the B has a shelf in the bags.
4 You can do your own service and not affect your warranty. It's a good idea to keep receipts for service items like oil, filters ect.

Hi Jon, welcome to the forum! I would suggest asking the question over on the K1600 section, there will be guys there that are more familiar with the K1600B specifically. From what I have read, I do not think the floorboards have controls. BMW's have had side opening bags for years, as Lee mentions bag liners make it all easy to use at the end of the day. We use tankbags for the smaller things we need to get into during the day.

jonw said:

3) The idea of the bags opening from the side seems odd to me. How do you keep stuff from falling out when you open them?

Click to expand...

Jon - I read your post yesterday, and was pondering your question and the means to an answer. It jumped out at me on page 43 of April ON in the form of a photo in the advertisement of RKA Luggage. The photo shows the right luggage piece open on a K1600B with RKA bag liners inside. Perhaps this will give you some more information about that one thing:



On my RT, there are elastic pieces which hold in the bag liners I have. I looked at the MAX BMW parts fiche, and there are lots of pieces to the luggage. I made a screenshot of one of the diagrams for the case. It shows a small net at the bottom of the case (#16 in the photo) which is designed to hold bags in the case itself.

Jon, I'm not a B rider so I can't comment directly on the B itself but the bike has been a hit. Like the guys above have said, you need to go take one for a ride and while you're at it, try the GT and GTL.
I rode the GT and GTL (the B wasn't built yet and I absolutely hate the GTL and LOVE the GT purely based on ergonomics. There are guys who are exactly the opposite of me based on ergos. You have to ride em all.

Maintenance is easy enough, I won't do the valve checks but all else is pretty simple.

Good luck finding the one that fits you, should be a fun search

3 hours to a BMW dealer and no prior experience with the brand? My recommendation; look at the Yamaha cruisers... Just being honest, I don't think you are likely to have a great experience with the K1600B. Oh, and price the maintenance too.