Anyone Own a K1600?

[F6Dave]

I've seen several BMW K1600s on the road recently.  All were the GTL model; I haven't seen a GT yet.  So, I stopped by a dealer and took a more in-depth look.  The salesman showed me many of the features, including lots of the high tech stuff.  It is a very impressive and comfortable bike, even if the colors don't get me very excited.  And, 160 HP would be a blast!  He offered a test ride and I'll probably go back for one.

But then I read a BMW owner's message board and there appear to be quite a few problems.  Most are minor electronic things, but the scary part is that BMW's parts pipeline doesn't appear up to the job.  Owners have had bikes down weeks and even months waiting on parts.  With the exception of the U-joint problem, we Valk owners have generally had good access to parts from Honda.

So my question is, does anyone on this board own one of these?  And if so, how reliable has it been?  I'm thinking seriously of buying one, but don't want to give up the level of reliability my 2 Valks have provided for more than 225,000+ (combined) miles!

[RudyF6]

I test rode one last spring. Very comfortable, mucho power - the thing's a rocket. Feels much lighter than it really is, but that's what I didn't like. It may just be my preference, but I think the Valk feels more stable running down the road - the BMW just didn't feel as "planted" to the road like I'm used to. If I rode mountain twisties all the time, that might be different. Let your test ride decide! 

[Clark]

my buddy was just given a reeeealy nice BMW.. his brother inlaw passed away and his widow gave it to him. battery went dead.. had to pull the damn gas tank to charge the battery.. my gal friend has a VW somethin or other w a V8.. cost her $800.00 to have the headlight replaced. had to tear the whole front end of the car off to do it.. german engineering????  not 4 me... BMW= BRING MORE WALLET

[solo1]

You might want to check into the electronic problems.  The reviews that I've read said that it was a fine motorcycle but overly complicated electronically and would have electronic problems until BMW 'sorts it out' or if they do.  Just a thought.  A "minor" electronics problem might leave you stranded at the side of the road and then it's not minor.

Consumer Reports give Mercedes Benz the same rating.  Mercedes is an engineering marvel of a car but its electronics have downgraded its reliability.

[X Ring]

I couldn't figure out how to get to the fog lights to change one of the bulbs on my Mom's Mercedes.  When I took it to the dealer I added that to the list of stuff that needed to be done.  Service Writer told me what bulb it was then took me into the shop and had a mechanic show me how to get to it.  Had to put the car on jackstands and remove an outer and an inner access panels to get to it.

Buddy of mine kept having the final drive bearing go out in his K1200LT.  You had to set the preload with shims and if you goofed by the least little bit it would have premature failure.  Saw him take off the plastic to get to something.  He had a box label with all the location of all the fasteners.  By the time he finished pulling off the plastic, I had pulled my tank, cleaned and reoiled the air filter then reassembled it.  Superior engineering my

Marty

[Gangman036]

http://www.topspeed.com/motorcycles/motorcycle-reviews/bmw/2012-bmw-k-1600-gt-and-k-1600-gtl-ar97581/picture376678.html

[Bigdog]

no but I'd like to....

Going tomorrow to ride one

[Robert]

Was thinking about one,but probably wont buy one but maybe will do the Kawi Concours. Let me explain the electronics are a real problem if they are not rock solid. I work on Mercedes,Bmws and they wont sell certain parts to anyone. I have replaced them before they initiated this new policy which I believe violates the law. These are parts that do break on a regular basis like the shifter that they made electronic, part 600, fail regularly, key switch 450. fail regularly, ECU for engine, trans valve body, plus more. These parts have to coded once installed on the vehicle and you cannot put one on from a junk yard car either. These are to be coded once and that's it. Battery power is critical for these to run properly and like a computer sometimes do have to go through updates at the dealer. The battery change on some BMW s can run 800.00 dollars when done. Now I told you that to help those understand that this is the same technology that is used on this bike. Keyless go, windshield, engine electronics. The scanner that will tell you the codes of what is wrong is more than 13k and not readily available if at all. The Kawi has a screen and the ability to diagnose by pulling the codes on the display by the owner. BMW makes no such provision. Labor rates are 140 a hour and may be the same for motorcycles. I don't want to let a dealer work on my bike let alone a BMW dealer that they don't see many bikes and the tech may not be that familiar with them. I would hate to have something happen out on the road and there is no dealer around. You will not be going on that road trip unless it was something minor. I am not that familiar with the mechanicals on these bikes but the info about the diagnostic end I am sure of. I have checked this out and called around to find places to repair it and the cost of the diagnostic equipment.  Because one of the things I like about the Valk is if there is a problem you can usually either repair it yourself or limp to the next stop. So hopefully these bikes will not be problematic but the truth be told manufactures don't care about what you have to spend to repair it just that it has all the bells and whistles that are really eye candy. So I will be interested to hear from those who buy them. But the real test will be over time.
  The auto industry is putting out a product that is unsustainable in the upper end cars. The reason, the cost of repairing them and the availability of electronics. There is going to be a new ac system in future cars that will cost more than you house ac to repair if it goes out. If you think that this is not a problem now look at used car prices its just a joke. The dealer offered a good customer wanting a new BMW a trade in price of  19k for his 05 BMW purchase price 95kafter 5 years with 45k on the clock. The new cars will be fiber optic also and if you are in a accident the repair on the cable can run in the 25k range. There is no need to make a auto or bike so complicated that and you have to take it to the dealer and only new parts can be used and the cost of repair is so high. There is also one other catch that is interesting the extended warranty. Yup good if you switch cars often bad if you keep yours. The dealers had to do this because of the excessive cost and frequency of repairs. With the new tech there is always problems and effectively you are the test dummy. So when the warranty expires the true cost of ownership comes to light. Remember this when you purchase any vehicle new car or bike.
   Thanks, Ive wanted more to know this for awhile.

[Chrisj CMA]

I too would be concerned with the amount of technology on this thing, but there are two aspects that repeatedly come up in the reviews that make ne not want one until BMW fixes them and they are:

-the fly by wire throttle is known to be hard to manage at slow speeds, unresponsive and cunfused are some of the descriptions I have read.

-there os more than youd like to have in the way of drivetrain lash so its jerky at times

Add that to a very powerful machine and unruly throttle at slow speeds where the drivetrain lash is going to be its worst and you have a hard bike to push around a parking lot

[f6john]

   I would assume that once the insurance industry finds out the repair cost associated with all the advanced technology the cost to insure will skyrocket too???