BMW K 1600 GT SE
Posted: 07 Jul 2015, 17:35
Unlike our illustrious Mr Kwacky my review is not quiet as polished, but does come with a video 
The K 1600 GT SE part of the ultimate touring range of bikes that BMW produce, not something most of us on here ride right now, but hey you never know. I spent two hours on one on the way up country on Saturday morning and another 4 hours on one on the way back, I kid you not
traffic was a night mare and filtering was a challenge on these babies when you have full luggage fitted and near on 335kg to chuck about.
The bikes in-line six cylinder engine is a peach, so much power, and the noise is lovely, just a shame the camera does not pick up sound well at all, hence the sound track over the top rather than.... noise!!!. The technical bit is that the engine produces 160hp (118kw) @ 7.750 rpm - 175Nm @ 5,250 rpm.
What can I say the bike will let your tour for hours and hours, I was not uncomfortable, or twitching, the seat position was just right, I did not bother with the heated seats or grips, not really needed, but I did use the cruise control a few times, as well as messing about with the settings to see how they compare. My favourite was dynamic engine map with comfort setting on the ESA Suspension, very responsive and, well comfy lol.
I wont go into the extras in terms of bells and whistles, but this baby has plenty to match the actual performance of the bike, it was very nimble, not what I expected at all for a big touring bike, to be honest I am not sure what I expected.
The only thing I have an issue with on most bikes of this type with a screen, is getting it just so, to stop direct buffeting, but also that side buffet you get behind the screen which tends to make your head shake and arms wobble. It took me a while to get it into a good position, luckily it is all electronic so it was only a push of a button to trim it and dial it in. Clocks, sat nav all very easy to read and see, controls once understood are simple to set up.
In terms of my score card for bikes, it made me smile a lot, so that's a positive for sure.
On the return journey I rode the GTL model, almost the same, but not quiet, seat was lower which made the screen higher, I really did not get on with that at all, I could not get it to a position that worked for me to stop the buffeting. I dont know if by now (4 hours in the saddle non-stop) was having an effect, but it was getting on my nerves, my back started to hurt a bit too as the seat was not the same as the GT in terms of the arm reach to the bars, seat height and style, all of which were know way near the feel or the ride of the GT which I could have rode another 4 hours quiet happily.
Anyway if you have around 18K you want to spend on a full on touring bike you could not do much better than getting on this baby.
The vid is peppered with the normal numpties we all come across daily on our rides
[video]https://youtu.be/UyL79vmGvN8[/video]
The K 1600 GT SE part of the ultimate touring range of bikes that BMW produce, not something most of us on here ride right now, but hey you never know. I spent two hours on one on the way up country on Saturday morning and another 4 hours on one on the way back, I kid you not
traffic was a night mare and filtering was a challenge on these babies when you have full luggage fitted and near on 335kg to chuck about.The bikes in-line six cylinder engine is a peach, so much power, and the noise is lovely, just a shame the camera does not pick up sound well at all, hence the sound track over the top rather than.... noise!!!. The technical bit is that the engine produces 160hp (118kw) @ 7.750 rpm - 175Nm @ 5,250 rpm.
What can I say the bike will let your tour for hours and hours, I was not uncomfortable, or twitching, the seat position was just right, I did not bother with the heated seats or grips, not really needed, but I did use the cruise control a few times, as well as messing about with the settings to see how they compare. My favourite was dynamic engine map with comfort setting on the ESA Suspension, very responsive and, well comfy lol.
I wont go into the extras in terms of bells and whistles, but this baby has plenty to match the actual performance of the bike, it was very nimble, not what I expected at all for a big touring bike, to be honest I am not sure what I expected.
The only thing I have an issue with on most bikes of this type with a screen, is getting it just so, to stop direct buffeting, but also that side buffet you get behind the screen which tends to make your head shake and arms wobble. It took me a while to get it into a good position, luckily it is all electronic so it was only a push of a button to trim it and dial it in. Clocks, sat nav all very easy to read and see, controls once understood are simple to set up.
In terms of my score card for bikes, it made me smile a lot, so that's a positive for sure.
On the return journey I rode the GTL model, almost the same, but not quiet, seat was lower which made the screen higher, I really did not get on with that at all, I could not get it to a position that worked for me to stop the buffeting. I dont know if by now (4 hours in the saddle non-stop) was having an effect, but it was getting on my nerves, my back started to hurt a bit too as the seat was not the same as the GT in terms of the arm reach to the bars, seat height and style, all of which were know way near the feel or the ride of the GT which I could have rode another 4 hours quiet happily.
Anyway if you have around 18K you want to spend on a full on touring bike you could not do much better than getting on this baby.
The vid is peppered with the normal numpties we all come across daily on our rides
[video]https://youtu.be/UyL79vmGvN8[/video]
Thanks for the review.
