I must admit when this monster of a motorcycle arrived at my door, I emitted a heavy sigh which had nothing to do with a freezing cold morning though. Oh no, I thought, another massive cumbersome bike in my life for a week. One quick trip up the road will suffice and then I’ll park it and wait for collection, or so I thought.
I couldn’t have been more wrong and, after the week with this machine in question, I’ll hang my head in shame regarding my first visual impression. It IS absolutely fantastic and, without doubt, one of the best touring bikes I’ve ever had the pleasure of riding. Yes, it costs R430,000 with the addition of those ‘cocaine dealer’ wheels, which I wouldn’t choose; rather opt for the stock BMW items which will bring the price down to around R407,000. A lot of money for sure, but you get an awful lot of motorcycle for your cash, and I don’t mean its 340kg mass or 26.5-litre tank either!
Predictably the ‘awful lot of motorcycle’ points directly towards the gargantuan 1,649cc, six-cylinder, DOHC, four-valve engine. An absolute engineering masterpiece in the world of motorcycling spitting out a claimed 160hp@7,750rpm and a huge 175Nm@5,250rpm of the torquey stuff. Now that’s more than impressive in anyone’s Top Trump card submission, right? It also has one of the smoothest quick-shifters I’ve tried to date, up or down the gearbox, especially on the up-shift where the engine has almost an ‘automatic’ feel; It is that good!
With that amount of weight to haul is it respectably quick though, you ask? Er, yes, very is the answer! A bit ‘soft’ off the line but once the revs rise and that stunning six-cylinder symphony emanates from those ‘Cadillac’ style silencers you’ll have a grin wider than a stoned Cheshire Cat. But does this bike need to be so quick? No probably, but I’m so delighted BMW has made it so. Why not inject serious performance into a massive touring bike: does this mean the BMW motorcycle design team has a sense of humor? What I’m saying is this mega-tourer is so far away from being boring that it surprised me more than the ridiculous cost of sunflower oil!
It’s not just about the engine found inside the BM’ Bagger (American term for static panniers that don’t come off on a motorbike). There’s so much more to keep the rider entertained on his/her vast excursions into the Google map zone. This is found, and used, using the immense 10.25-inch TFT display. Download the BMW App and it’ll relay a large GPS interface to plan your route, and more. Access to this App will also let the rider view his every past move when they come to a halt, or bore your mates to death with where you’ve just been. It also lets the rider access, and see, all the trickery for rider modes, heated grips and seats levels (six each from cuddly to fire in your palms), connectivity to your phone, media interface, music choice and the entire technical status of your Bagger. It’s an easy to use system and attained by using the multi-controller wheel found on all top BM’s.
The K 1600 B has two speakers inside the fairing which, to be honest, were a little disappointing. The quality wasn’t as good as I thought it’d be and that’s after I fiddled with the graphic-equalizer, bass-booster, etc… Once you’re above 100km/h you can’t really hear them clearly but through traffic you get adequate audible pleasure. Predictably they’re irrelevant at high speeds, which is another talking point.
BMW say it’s ‘clipped’ the wings of this Bagger to around a restricted 200km/h, for safety or whatever, compared to the early 1600s that would see over 260. A bit of a lie though as I saw it ticking past 220km/h, so there. Comfort pleasure is of the highest quality though, as you’d imagine. The seat for both rider and pillion is exemplary with its ‘anti-slip’ texture, and did I mention they’re beautifully heated, which on our minus-two-degrees morning photo shoot were delightful, as were the grips. Why don’t all bikes that cost a lot come with heated grips, just a thought?
The K 1600 Bagger is a focused touring bike of note and you’d be forgiven if you’d think the handling of this 340kg chunk wouldn’t ‘cut-the-tarmac’ when thrown around some twisty road. Wrong, and again I was as surprised as finding a wet flamingo in my bed. Basically, it handles like the figures do not suggest. Easy to throw around and the suspension was as impressive as the rest of the bike. Even though it carries a hefty shaft-drive it’s a lot of fun catching and passing, big adventure bikes. Like the time I caught and passed a brisk rider on a 1250 GS, but that’s another boring pub story, so I’ll save you from that proud act. 
It does make you feel grand though when cruising along and feeling a bit like Judge Dredd due to its butch build and stance, when some tourers can make you feel more like Judge Judy, if you catch my drift? Sitting back with those cool tubular ‘bars in front of you lets the rider know you’re on a special motorcycle and people who come up for a chat, think the same. It is impressive to walk around, don’t ya think? 
So my first opinion of the K 1600 B drastically changed over the week we had together and, at first, I wouldn’t have recommend owning one, but now I most certainly would, if you’re after a silky smooth touring bike that is. Want to travel our Country in motorcycling luxury do you? Then look no further as it’s Bagger Time!
Images by Sudoku.
Visit: www.bmw-motorrad.co.za for more technical information and to see the other options available for the K 1600 range. 
