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Six cylinders in the world of motorcycles always seems to point to something special.
There have been V-eights in the two-wheel world, even exotic V-fives and the odd inline-seven. Six, somehow, is the number of cylinders that carries more presence than any of the others. There are legendary models — Honda’s RC166 and CBX come to mind — and of course there are the similarly intriguing but slightly less-celebrated machines, like Kawasaki’s Z1300, Laverda’s V6, or the Benelli Sei. Remember the Horex V6? Me neither.
K 1600 technology and updates
BMW’s six-cylinder fame came in the automotive world, via aviation success back 100 years or so when planes were made out of wood, and it wasn’t until 2010 that the Bavarians debuted an inline-six for use in a motorbike. Which was basically this one, the K 1600. It offered 160 horsepower from the 1,649 cc engine, along with some other firsts for motorcycling — not least of which being a TFT screen in the cockpit and an “adaptive” headlight that pivoted based on the lean angle of the bike to point through corners.
The 2022 model still has all of those things but, to be fair, some things have changed. There’s a wider spread of models, for starters. The bike you see in photos here is a K 1600 GTL, paired in the lineup by the K 1600 GT, which has no top case and a taller, adjustable rider seat. A K 1600 B (for “bagger”) and Grand America mimic some of the GT/GTL options but offer a whiff of American-touring style, most notably in the wheels and the shape of the exhaust and luggage.
This refresh includes an update for Euro 5 emissions regulations, full LED lighting, the adoption of BMW’s 10.25-inch dash, and some tweaks to the electronic suspension. The engine squeezes out a bit more torque than previous models (133 foot-pounds, up from 129), and thanks to some tuning wizardry the maximum of 160 ponies arrives 1,000 rpm lower than before.
The biggest cockpit change is that huge TFT screen. Combined with one rocker switch and BMW’s rotating multi-controller wheel, the command center menus are vast and varied, containing everything from software update info to tire pressure and battery voltage. It’s all intuitive enough once you learn the dance, and the aforementioned shortcut buttons help for quick access to stuff like heated grips or trip mileage reset.
The basic display is large and clean, crucially not overpacked with numbers, and the face is big enough that there’s an option to show additional information on the right side without cramping the main display’s speedo, tach, and gear-position data. That’s also an important feature for showing media and navigation, which can be toggled to take up the same 30 percent of the dash’s real estate. Phone connectivity is required for those items, though, and that’s where the system goes a little sideways.
Understandably, BMW has chosen to use the cosmic power of a modern mobile device to do all of the heavy lifting — meaning the phone plays the music or gets the directions and the connection to the bike allows everything to be shown in the K 16’s cockpit. The phone doesn’t have to be plugged in to do all of this, which is nice, but the screen on my iPhone needs to stay on to cast the info to the bike’s display, and that uses a lot of precious Apple juice.
After connecting a phone and a headset, making sure there’s a wifi link between bike and device, confirming the screen is still up, plugging it in, and stashing it in the nifty dash-mounted charging pouch, I did successfully see turn-by-turn directions on the bike’s dash. I could swipe swiftly between directions taking up the whole screen, or part of it, or none of it. And I could see what I was listening to, after pairing my Sena headset to the K 1600’s brain and making sure the audio came through, on the second try. But by then I had sweat running down my back from standing in a parking lot for 20 minutes and the salty, moist T-shirt under my jacket had taken over as my only emblem of “connectivity.”
The GTL on the open road
Bear with me, there is good news. If you start the bike and put it in gear you can actually ride it like a regular motorcycle without, believe it or not, navigation or music being displayed. In fact, it’s really good news because the K 1600 is a fabulous machine. There’s no denying the large numbers after “weight” and “price” but we’ll get to that later.
For now, let me tell you about the smoothest engine you’d ever wish to know. If you’ve ridden a high-quality electric motorcycle, you have experienced the bizarre sensation of rushing forward maniacally for almost no apparent reason, which is unique. Then again, while a Zero or a LiveWire can deliver silky thrust, a K 1600 with the throttle wide open also howls like Janis Joplin stepping on a Lego. It's a noise that begs for me to use more words to describe it. Just know that it’s awesome.
Apart from Dodge Viper acceleration numbers and that raspy wail, this bike steers and stops amazingly well, too. The girder-style, Duolever front end is a different design than the Telelever setups on BMW’s R 1250 GS or RT models but offers the same anti-dive qualities on the brakes and good feedback on a twisty road. There’s no need for hyperbole like “the weight just disappears at speed” because it doesn’t, but it is amazingly agile and willing. The K 16’s chassis is much more capable of sport riding than the bolt-upright riding position suggests, and that’s enough to be impressive.
Still, it’s best at going straight, and at its core the K 1600 is the same behemoth of luxury that it has always been, dripping with features and answering questions that haven’t been asked. A compartment to charge your phone, and an integrated fan to keep it cool? Sure. LED lighting in the top case? Naturally. Shortcut buttons to access your most used features, otherwise buried in dash menus? Just to the left, there. Perhaps there is too much weather protection, and you would like to channel some air onto yourself? Why, simply fold out the “slipstream deflectors” on either side and bathe in cool country atmosphere.
The complaints department
With all of this gushing over the K16’s opulence, it’s only fair to talk about the two major complaints about this GTL model. First, it is enormous — 801 pounds on our scales, and there’s no hiding that kind of tonnage. Then there’s the price which, in the case of our test bike, starts with the number three. MSRP is $26,895, plus about $2,000 in upgrades (keyless starting/locking, quickshifter, crash bars, alarm, fog lights, ground lighting), a destination charge, and blue paint with some chrome trim.
But I don’t mind the price, and even if I were buying one I don’t think I’d be bothered. Thirty grand is about the same as a similarly equipped Honda Gold Wing, Indian Roadmaster, or Harley-Davidson Ultra Limited, plus a K 16 customer gets some things those other bikes can’t deliver. I don’t wish this K 1600 were cheaper, I wish it were better. For starters, no backlit switchgear?
Most of the issues are as small as that, and frankly I could be convinced not to care. BMW says it doesn’t believe in touch screens on motorcycles, which is part of what ruled out Apple CarPlay (or Android Auto), and as a result there’s the imperfect in-house app. Also, that cooled phone cubby built into the dash can only be accessed with the windscreen up, but the windscreen automatically lowers fully when the bike is shut off. It’s clumsy, but unlikely to be a huge problem.
The big miss with this update of the K 1600 platform is the lack of radar-assisted adaptive cruise control. Setting aside personal feelings for or against adaptive cruise, it is the pinnacle of comfort accessories on motorcycles in 2022 and a bellwether for safety technology. The K 16 is undeniably a Bavarian flagship, and the fact that the R 18 Transcontinental and R 1250 RT models have adaptive cruise and this one doesn't is suspicious. When asked, BMW cited a lack of fully linked brakes, a trick headlight that complicates mounting the radar system, and extra software development needed to make it viable, all of which seems flimsy. Even the BMW rep admitted it could have been done.
The gift of six
Circling back to my opinion of radar cruise, it’s amazing, as I found when I tested Ducati’s Multistrada V4S last year. Beyond being useful and fun, it’s extravagant, which is precisely the kind of equipment a bike like the K 1600 should have. This bike is decadent, as unnecessary as a frosted and gilded dessert, and just as delicious.
Essentially, there is nothing that is too good or too much for this machine and I can’t help but be a little sad that any corner was cut. If anything, the K 16 could be more expensive and more deluxe. To have raw, fiery power wrapped up and presented with such elegance is a gift, and all of the pieces built onto and into the K 1600 should live to serve the heavenly being at its heart: that six-cylinder engine.
| 2022 BMW K 1600 GTL | |
|---|---|
| Price (MSRP) | $26,895 ($30,435 as tested) |
| Engine | 1,649 cc, liquid-cooled, 24-valve, inline six |
|
Transmission, final drive |
Six-speed, shaft |
| Claimed horsepower | 160 @ 6,750 rpm |
| Claimed torque | 133 foot-pounds @ 5,250 rpm |
| Frame | Die-cast bridge-type aluminum, engine as a stressed-member |
| Front suspension | Duolever double-wishbone with Tenneco shock, electronically adjustable for compression and rebound damping; 4.5 inches of travel |
| Rear suspension | Tenneco shock, electronically adjustable for spring preload, compression and rebound damping; 5.3 inches of travel |
| Front brake | Tokico four-piston calipers, 320 mm discs with ABS |
| Rear brake | Brembo two-piston caliper, 320 mm disc with ABS |
| Rake, trail | 27.8 degrees, 4.2 inches |
| Wheelbase | 63.7 inches |
| Seat height | 29.5 inches |
| Fuel capacity | 7.0 gallons |
| Tires | Bridgestone Battlax T30; 120/70-ZR17 front, 190/55-ZR17 rear |
| Measured weight | 801 pounds |
| Available | Now |
| Warranty | 36 months or 36,000 miles |
| More info | bmwmotorcycles.com |
