wbrownell9
New member
I'm not sure what fraction, if any, of Indian's sales are in the EU but their fully water-cooled Challenger engine may have an easier time meeting Euro5 than their air-cooled one.Triumph has released a number of Euro 5 compliant models already. Rocket 3, Tiger 900 range, Street Triple line-up and the Thruxton RS are all Euro 5-compliant.
No idea what Harley is going to do. Seems to me their current motors struggle meeting Euro 4 standards. They have incorporated "targeted" liquid cooling for the heads and top part of the cylinder like the 1250 boxers but it's only on their top end models and is optional I think. Seems to me they could better meet Euro 5 by putting the targeted liquid cooling on all their motors. Of course, this means Harleys will have to have a cursed radiator. If they keep it air-oil cooled like the R18 that means an unsightly larger oil cooler. Even then keeping the thing cool and have decent power is pretty much impossible. A 45 degree V Twin is a lot harder to keep cool than a boxer and continuing that design going in an air cooled/primary air cooled format is really impossible. At some point, Harley will have to go to liquid cooling to meet ever tightening emissions standards if they want the engines to have more power than a lawn mower. The R1250s get away with targeted liquid cooling and primary air cooling because they are longitudinally arranged boxers which are inherently easy to cool with air flow.
Back to the K1600. Long term, I think BMW have to revamp the motor to keep up. Right now, performance wise, the K1600 is about even with the 1250 RT. I number of K1600 riders have made the switch to the RT and I think the performance and increased smoothness of the 1250s is a big factor. I think this has or will kill the K1600GT. Maybe even the GTL. I think the K1600Bs will continue. That's just my opinion.
What I do know, is the K1600s have never sold as well as the boxers, and it was the R1250RT which got the new LED lighting, adaptive cruise control, and new 10.2 inch display. Not a K1600 model. This tells me that the the current K1600 iteration may be at the end of the line.
By the time gasoline powered bikes have gone the way of the buggy whip, I'll be long dead. This bike is probably my last one. I'm closer to 70 than 65, not much interested in riding unless I can tour, and I can't think of a bike smaller than a GS that I'd be interested in touring on.