cajunrph
New member
New BMW owner here. I've wanted one for quite some time. I was all set to buy one back in 2008 when I was looking at a 2006 K1200S a now closed dealership in Houston. I can't tell you why I didn't get that bike that day. I ended up spending the money I had set aside on a Rainbow swing set for my kids. Yes it cost almost as much as the bike. That was at the insistence of my wife at the time. She is my ex wife now. I had the BMW itch ever since then. I'd often come to this website and look around. Thinking it would be grand to have one. It's not like it was a money issue. As I have bought three new Harleys well into the price points of BMWs. And I thought of that was I was dreaming of owning a Beemer.
I came close again in 2013 after my divorce. I was without a bike at the time as I sold my Harley Ultra Limited, one of those big Geeser Glides, in 2012. I set a budget and ventured out to look. I stopped at a long time BMW dealership to check out their stock. I was in the market for a R bike RT of some sort. They had only one in my preferred price point and it didn't have the bags. Which would have cost $$$ to add. I ended up with a Triumph Sprint GT. That bike felt tall and top heavy to me. I was single at the time and had no woman to ride on the back. Well in late 2013 I start to date a wonderful woman. She wanted to go on rides with me. As I said the Triumph felt too tall for me. I'm 5'9" with a 32" inseam. I never rode her on the Triumph because of it not fitting me right. In 2014 I set out to find a cruiser. I was going to get a Harley Road Glide when I stopped at an Indian dealer to dismiss the Indians. I ended up leaving there with a Victory Cross Country. That sucker was a fun bike and she rode on that bike with me. The Victory didn't last a year till I ended up getting the Harley I was after the first time. A slight variation as I got the Street Glide instead of the Road Glide.
Lesson learned to buy what you go out to buy, because you'll end up getting it anyway. With that in mind I set out to find a BMW. Not a Triumph,nor a anything else. I visited the dealer I purchased the Triumph from back in 2013. They are a Triumph and BMW dealership. I had also searched craigslist and cycle trader for individuals selling their bikes. Unfortunately the local market for used bikes is a little slim at the moment. I live south of Houston and was looking locally. Austin, San Antonio and Dallas had many more. I just didn't want to go that far. The dealership had a few RT's and I had expanded my search into the K bikes. I didn't really consider the K1600 bikes because most were out of my comfortable price range. I wasn't financing the purchase, buying it outright so my price range was not too flexible. The dealer bikes were above my price range. My girlfriend tagged along. She fell in love with the K1600 GTL. That was a land yacht. It looked just so freaking huge. The K1600 GTs were right beside them. And the R1200RT beside the K bikes. They looked great, but I'd have to finance them and I didn't want to do that. I escaped the dealership with out incurring any new debt.
The next dealership had a 2012 K1600GT for $1509-2000 less than anywhere else I found them. Intrigued by the price we headed up there to check it out. One of the reasons it was so cheap was the mileage(47k) the other was because it didn't have a radio. Which no big deal for me. I have the much lauded Boom Infotainment system on my Harley. And truth be known, I've used it less than 10 times. There isn't anything on the radio consistent enough for me to warrant a radio. Heck I don't even turn the radio on in my car because of the same reason. I use my ride to work for prayer and for thinking things out. Sorta a peaceful time. Secondly, the Bluetooth of the Harley interferes with the function of my Sena Bluetooth when I have my phone paired to the Sena. So I have the Harley Bluetooth turned off. In a sense the infotainment system is useless to me. About the only time I'd use it is to show it to someone. And the speakers are crappy. They distort at any audible levels at speed. If want music I'll play it through the Sena. Even then the quality isn't that good. So I ride in silence.
The dealership was brand new in The Woodlands Texas. Which is north of Houston. Way north as I would find out later that evening. The mother ship is located in Oklahoma City. I took the bike for a test ride. First impression was that I wasn't crouched over like a crotch rocket. I was sitting very upright in an upper body position not too different than my Street Glide. That was one of my concerns with the K1600GT. I didn't want to be learned up against the tank all day long. Now of course my legs were in a much different position than the Harley. An arguably better position. My butt would hurt on the Harley in the 45 minutes it takes me to get to work. Not so on the K GT. The bike is still at the very highest of my budget. So I'm still thinking about it. The reason my girlfriend liked the GTL so much was the passenger accommodation. That necessitated a top box to be added into the equation. This pushed the price well beyond my preferred max. So I'm sitting in the dealership thinking. I was going to also get pipes for my Harley. So says to myself, self, you just won't get the pipes for the Harley now. With that little shift in thinking, in my mind I justified spending more than I intended to when I left in the morning. And they took a personal check. As I was having my picture taken by the salesman he informed me I was his first sale. He started at the dealership two weeks ago and was still in training. Good deal.
The ride home through Houston traffic was good. I was comfortable on the bike. Some gal came into my lane and I had to hammer it to get by her. I'm sure she soiled her pants when she saw me. I didn't get a chance to hammer it on the test ride. As it was rush hour and no real place to test the acceleration of the bike. That wasn't so on the ride home. It was after 7pm that we left the dealership. I hammered it on the entry ramp to I 45. My goodness the acceleration. It not a Harley that's for damn sure. It's more akin to a jet taking off. It woke up the butterflies in my stomach. My girlfriend was way ahead of me as I had to stop and put my gloves on. I didn't catch her till about 10 miles from home. I have a Sena Bluetooth for my helmet and we were talking all the way home. I was having to go 90 to catch her. As I blew past her she reminded me of the speed limit. Haha.
The suspension is light years ahead of the Harley. The Street and Road Glides are bashed for having such short suspension travel. Somewhere around 2 inches. You better have the preload set right or every bump will be transmitted to your spine. Even with the preload set correctly, much force is transmitted to your spine and surprisingly small potholes bottom it out. The ride home on the K GT was like a ride in your grandma's Crown Vic compared to the Harley. Pavement irregularity that in the Harley would rattle my kidneys were not bad at all. I found myself quite often bracing myself for a bump that turned out to be hardly noticeable. I've been beating up my back for no darn reason. Haha.
So far only one hick up. I couldn't get the cruise control to work. I know that's a known issue. In taking the bike back to the dealer to check it out Monday. That and another key and an owners manual and I'll be set.
My initial impression is that I'm going to like the bike. I do understand some have had extensive issues with earlier K1600GTs. Which this one is. And the fact the cruise control is not working is somewhat of a concern. Hopefully it will be fixed by the dealer. I read somewhere that the cruise control is a known issue and they will replace them even for out of warranty bikes. I'll find out Wednesday when I take the bike in. I look forward to the journey.
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