Best years with less issues on the K1600GT/GTL?

Put this in the motorrad section with no responses, so lets try here where it belongs

Thinking of grabbing a K1600 as a second bike for touring.

Many years have had various issues, which years had less or no issues over others? Looking for members knowledge of this model

On the K1600FB page, I'm getting 2011, 2012's seem to be more reliable, and other consensus is 2016/2017 have improvements over earlier versions but after 2017, it's mostly cosmetic changes.


thanks

Get the newest one that’s in your budget range. 2014 up most of the bugs were worked out of big K. I had a 2013 and the only problem I had was the switch cluster which BMW took care of. Starting in 2017 BMW started to make some improvements.I how have a 2018 . It has some body work changes ,hill hold, reverse & shift assist which is really slick. The 18+ BMW remapped the throttle response which some hate. You can spend $700 to retune it if you want. I can live the standard throttle. The 2011/2012 had some teething problems and a few had broken rings.I would go with 14 and up. There are some good deals on pre-owned K’s. Look on the K1600 forum as there is a lot more info on that site. Great bike to ride and tour on. Good luck!

Hands down, the '16 is the best year followed closely by the '15. The '17 and newer have a detuned throttle. Low mileage '16 are going for $13-$14k.

Duane

Just bought 2016

Duane,

I just bought a 2016 K1600GTL Exclusive with 9k miles. I am looking forward to breaking it in and chewing up some twisty roads.
Mike

gunnert said:

Hands down, the '16 is the best year followed closely by the '15. The '17 and newer have a detuned throttle. Low mileage '16 are going for $13-$14k.

Duane

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MedicMikey said:

Duane,

I just bought a 2016 K1600GTL Exclusive with 9k miles. I am looking forward to breaking it in and chewing up some twisty roads.
Mike

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You bought the best year. Hope you enjoy your bike as much as I enjoy my 2014.

A member asked me yesterday (9/9/2021) about some issues involving an NHTSA recall involving fuel pump flanges on K1600 GTs. Seems there was an NHTSA recall issued for 2011-2014 K1600s. See this PDF: https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/rcl/2021/RCRIT-21V060-3622.pdf

jonnybow said:

You bought the best year. Hope you enjoy your bike as much as I enjoy my 2014.

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John,
I am looking to buy an older R1200GSA. You said 2016 was the best year for my 2016gte. Where would I start for a GS Adventure?
Cheers,
Mike
2016 K1600GTE, 2005 K1200LTE, 1999 Honda Shadow ACE Touring, Suzuki 650

MedicMikey said:

John,
I am looking to buy an older R1200GSA. You said 2016 was the best year for my 2016gte. Where would I start for a GS Adventure?
Cheers,
Mike
2016 K1600GTE, 2005 K1200LTE, 1999 Honda Shadow ACE Touring, Suzuki 650

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I'm certainly not up to speed on the GSA bikes. I owned a 2013 GSA but so much has changed since then.
Post the question in the proper section, you'll get plenty of advice.