Migrating to BMW ...?

[SkooterG]

And I have no idea why my moronic step-pappy is quoting Meese - that bastard has had SEVERAL final drive failures. Many of them keeping him from finishing or even winning a rally.

Worse yet was when his Spirit Guide appeared before him during a rally and, instead of accepting and embracing it, he ran into it.

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

 

[RadioHowie]

First, to clear up a bit of a misconception; despite the price the K1600GT is directly targeted at the Concours 14, FJR and ST1300...

Great write-up, BTW, but I can't help but think your misconception is a misconception...

If the K1600GT is "directly targeted at the c14, FJR and ST1300" then wouldn't the price points between the 4 be MUCH closer?

HERE is the price of a K1600GT at my nearest dealer.

HERE is the current price of an FJR at a dealer 5 miles from my house.

$25,000 for the GT, $15,000 for the FJR. That's not just a little bit. That's not even a big bit. That's a HUGE difference in price...$10,000 more!

Even though you mentioned "despite the price" I don't think any one from BMW, from the CEO to Hanz and Dieter in Crowd Control can say the K1600GT is "directly targeted" at the FJR and it's Japanese cousins.

Borrowing again from what you wrote "the Wing really exists almost in a class of one" the K1600GT (& GTL) are "almost in a class of one" just because of the price.

I'm sure no one at Yamaha, Honda or Kawasaki are losing any sleep over sales lost to the K1600s any more than GM or Ford is sweating losing sales of Mustangs and Camaros to BMW M5s.

I'm sure it's a wonderful motorcycle, but I surely can't imagine anyone thinking "Hmmmm...$25k or $15k...what should I spend???"

 

[SkooterG]

Great write-up, BTW, but I can't help but think your misconception is a misconception...

If the K1600GT is "directly targeted at the c14, FJR and ST1300" then wouldn't the price points between the 4 be MUCH closer?

I bet in Yerup and other places other than North America the pricing IS much closer. But considering the heft and physical size of the K16 I'm not sure it's a direct comparison either.

 

[RadioHowie]

I bet in Yerup and other places other than North America the pricing IS much closer. But considering the heft and physical size of the K16 I'm not sure it's a direct comparison either.

Maybe not...at THIS London BMW dealer, the K1600 with "the goodies" is a tick shy of 30,000 U.S. dollars.

At THIS London Yamaha dealer, the FJR is 24,800 U.S. dollars. Damn, what a deal we get hear in the U.S., but still, that's almost a $6000 difference. Closer, yes, but not MUCH closer.

And you are right about "heft and ...size".

 

[Sinister Crayon]

I do definitely agree that in theory the K16 should be cheaper... but you're really not comparing apples to apples here. Similarly equipped, a K1600GT base is $20,900. That is a bike with the same equipment as the FJR plus a few other niceties. Comparing it to the fully loaded GT is not really fair as to add all the features you're talking about on that GT you'd have to spend several thousand dollars more on that FJR. Some things (like traction control and electronically adjustable suspension) are not available at any price. You don't HAVE to load up a GT, and in fact the first bike I rode and almost purchased on the spot was a base GT with no options. I ended up adding all the toys because... well... because I wanted to actually. That brings the difference down to around $6K.

Yes, that's a good chunk of change... but BMW likes to position itself at the top of their market segment. BMW with the M3 competes against the Mustang Shelby GT500; similarly equipped they differ in price by more like $15,000 so this positioning of the K1600GT is really no different than BMW's modus operandi in the car division. Yes the Motorrad division is run as a separate company, but there's no doubt that they will tend to follow what Corporate does.

As for heft and size... wet weight of the K1600GT is around 725lbs compared to 641lbs for the FJR. That's a difference of 84lbs. Sounds significant until you realize that suspension and good tires can offset a lot of the handling deficiencies caused by that weight and the power delta between the two bikes is huge. And size? Well, I can't refute that point except to say that size is only a problem when combined with weight. The weight in the K16 is really low down which means that moving it around in the garage is actually pretty easy. Easier than my old Concours was (though definitely not as easy as the FJR was). Height-wise, again the K1600GT's seat is actually lower than the Connie's so I actually fit better on it... and that's with the seat in the high position. Having said all that though, it is a LONG bike but that does lend itself to an extremely composed highway ride (which let's be honest is probably north of 90% of most of our riding). Still, not had a problem parking or maneuvering the K1600GT in any situation and I have yet to find myself in a situation where the K1600 felt at all discombobulated by my riding it hard.

So yeah, I do like the big Beemer. It's probably not to everyone's tastes and I'd say it's one that needs to be ridden and NEVER purchased blind. I am glad I was able to ride one before I committed my cash because it meant I was more sure of my decision. Of course, I think I'd decided in the first 5 minutes of my test ride that I liked it. For others though the FJR is definitely the right choice and I would never steer anyone away from it. As I said it was a great bike and didn't do anything wrong... but riding a motorcycle is not about getting from A to B, but rather how one gets from A to B. In order to make motorcycles work best you must feel like you're one with the machine... I just never got that with the FJR but felt it almost immediately on the K1600GT.

And for the record, there's no shame in owning a Mustang Shelby GT500, either

 

[Sinister Crayon]

I should also say (and this deserves a new post in my opinion) that dealer network was also a factor. Seriously, I don't know how many here are familiar with St. Louis but the nearest Yamaha dealer I would even let look at my bike is in Collinsville. Donelson... well, let's just say I've had run-ins with them... Chesterfield Valley Powersports are frankly a bunch of yahoos who would rather you trade your motorcycle for their highly profitable ATV's... and Big St. Charles Motorsports only grudgingly sells anything other than Harley Davidson stuff. Even then I never actually took my bike to ANY Yamaha dealer in town because I never needed to... but I dreaded the idea.

Gateway BMW Motorcycles are a fantastic dealer, and in fact where I got my FJR originally (and traded it). Granted, my experience with BMW bike dealers in other cities is almost non-existent... but having the support of a home-town dealer I can trust and actually like is worth its weight in gold to me.

 

[TILAM]

I have often heard about FD failure on the net but now the only guy who I know how has a modern BMW (2005,R1200RT) experienced an FD failure while touring 1500 miles from home. He and his wife were on the way to the BMW rally, in Arkansa I think, and it packed it in 80 miles from a dealer. Had to rent a car and add two extra days to his vacation. Saddest part was when he got home and was washing it he found the rear wheel was loose and needs to be trailered to the dealer here for another repair. He is ready to pack it in after owning BMWs for over 25 years.

I suggested an FJR as the suitable replacement.