This is a classic story of The Good (BMW K1200GT), The Bad (Yamaha FJR1300), and The Ugly (Kawi Concours 14). In that order, here’s my thoughts on these rides.
The Good – 2008 BMW K1200 GT – Approximately $20K
Payload – The test bike had every package option available from BMW except the alarm system and low seat.
Here’s a list of those options.
Looks: The test bike was Aventurin Silver Metallic (aka silver for us plebeians)
I’m somewhat reminded of the Ducati Moto GP bikes when I look at the front of the K-GT. The side plastics are long and visually unbroken by vents. Where the plastics end, the rest of the bike begins – except in different colors and lines, which gives the bike the appearance of a taxidermy experiment. They get away with it in Silver, but in the Blue and Graphite color options, it’s pretty eye-jarring.
The scalloped rear end of the hard bags is another eye puzzle. It may contribute to some engineer’s sense of style, but for MY touring bike, I’d have been happier with an extra few inches of cargo space instead. I think the bags ought to have extended to the end of the luggage / trunk rack.
Ergonomics:
The seating position is the most “upright” of the group. That is not to say it was straight upright – just more so than the others. For my rides, the two-position adjustable seat was in the higher “standard” position. The seat itself was reasonably comfortable, but seemed like they overstuffed the center to prepare for eventual butt-related compaction, so it was slightly (but notably) higher than the rest of the seat. This could also have been related to the electronic heating element. I can’t speak for the passenger seat, but to quote my wife as she sat on it: “Oooooh...” This is a big improvement over what she says on the Vulcan: “Owwwww.”
The handlebars were within easy reach, and can be adjusted +/- three inches within a few seconds if you prefer a sportier riding posture. For my rides, I had the adjustable handlebars in the full upright touring position. However, with all the options available on this particular bike, these were some BUSY handlebars. There were buttons, paddles, levers, and switches everywhere. Like the Harley, there are self-cancelling turn signals on both sides of the handlebars and a manual cancel above the right signal switch. This little detail took a bit of getting used to and proved a distraction that would take a couple hundred miles to cure. All of the other controls you’d expect to find on any motorcycle are there as well – just not precisely where you might expect them. The adjustable clutch and brake levers were pretty standard, easy to reach, and easy to operate. The grips were also very comfortable and didn’t beg to be changed right away.
The footpegs are rubberized and comfortable and in a very “natural” location, so there is no flailing around with your foot trying to find a peg when taking off. Your feet just want to go right there. However, I have yet to reason why they are such an impediment to moving the bike. Duck-walking backward out of a parking spot was no easy feat, and the bruises on the backs of my calves are witness to their cruelty. They don't look like they should be in the way, but they are.
The gear shift lever is also in a very natural location. The rear brake lever, however, was not as friendly. It is tucked in very close to the frame, and in order to reach it, you need to get your foot between the brake lever and a large round structure that might be the crank case cover. There is not much clearance between the two, and keeping my foot in that position felt awkward on the road. More than once, I pushed my toe forward to hit the brakes and missed the lever completely – a strange and unpleasant sensation.
Comfort:
To this moment, I am simply in disbelief at how cool this bike ran. I averaged between 5-6K RPM for over 70 miles and never felt even the slightest engine heat. The front plastics are completely sealed around the engine compartment, and the only place for heat to escape is a duct in the bottom that scoots heat out toward the rear of the bike. The gas tank cover is plastic, and the majority of the gas tank itself is under the seat, so there is no heat-collecting metal tank to wrap your legs around. Unlike any other bike I’ve ever ridden, Roasted Leg is simply not on the menu with the K-GT.
Although my ride was relatively short for a true tour evaluation, I’d just come off a 100 mile run on the FJR so I’d been sitting a while. My butt never felt achy on the BMW and I didn’t get the fidgets at all.
There was virtually no vibration through the foot pegs or the handlebars. Unfortunately, there was a very definite vibration through the seat at specific times. When just off the throttle (but not full deceleration) between 6-7K RPM, I got a pretty strong buzz in my nethers that felt, to me, outside of what I’d consider normal on a motorcycle. The salesman I reported the buzzing to said he’d never heard of that problem with the K-GT, and thought it might be some kind of resonance with that specific engine on that specific bike. He was going to ride it and get back to me.
The windshield directed airflow precisely into my visor, so riding with the face shield up and windshield down would be very welcomed on a really hot day. A few fiddles with the windshield adjustment and I was riding in a pocket of nirvana. There was no buffeting and no significant back pressure. I thought the windshield could stand to be slightly wider, and maybe a smidge taller, but it was certainly passable, functional, and easy to operate.
Engine noise was considerable. Unlike the quiet purr I’ve come to expect from stock sport bikes, this engine (especially on the right side near the foot peg) made an annoyingly audible “clackety-clackety” sound that prompted me to question the saleswoman about it. She explained it was the cam chain adjuster doing its thing. Whether that’s the case or not, I can’t say. But I can say that my initial thought was, “Whatever it is, it sounds like crap.” But I didn’t say that because I still wanted to ride it. Instead, I said, “Hmm.” Even at speed, I could still hear the clackety sound. This was a pretty major turn off for me.
A major turn ON was the cruise control. Even a nice set of grips with a throttle boss or cramp buster can’t compare to the ease and comfort of cruise control. That feature alone was grin-worthy.
Performance:
The throttle on this bike is very touchy, much more so than the others. One little dab up on the throttle and I’m combating whiplash. One little dab off the throttle and my nose is touching the handlebars. Okay, not quite that severe, but this engine has zero “coast” ability between gears. You need to flick through the gear changes fast because if you linger on the clutch for more than a blink, you’ll chirp the rear wheel. When I was hard on the throttle on the highway, this was not an issue. When tooling through town, though, I found myself wrinkling my nose at having to blip gear changes with dragster precision when I was trying to have a leisurely roll.
The engine makes satisfying power even at low RPM, and rolling on the throttle was rewarding. The gears all felt solid – none too short and none too tall – and there was plenty of RPM range to toy around in. Even though 5 gears might have been plenty for this bike, I shifted into 6th at around 95 mph and definitely appreciated having it.
During my test ride, I was averaging 42 MPG. Considering the speeds I was traveling, I think that's very respectable.
There are a zillion bike reviews that talk about horsepower and torque and all other manner of things I don’t pretend to understand, so if you’re looking for engine-speak… look elsewhere.
Handling:
Amazing. That’s the word for it. Low speed, high speed, didn’t matter. The bike was smooth as glass. It’s one of those “goes where you look” bikes so it was incredibly easy to navigate sharp turns at intersections despite its substantial weight. Heading onto the highway, I put a good lean on around the curvy on-ramp, and even on bumpy pavement the bike was solid in the turn. Swerving was effortless, and once I realized how glassy it was, I wanted to just keep swerving all the way down the highway.
It’s not without its flaws, though. Remember those solid plastics I mentioned earlier? They are something of a liability on the highway. Any kind of crosswind at all and the bike was moving laterally. Little gusts that wouldn’t budge my Vulcan had an impact on the K-GT, which is unsettling considering the speeds it’s capable of achieving. I never felt like I was getting blown into the next lane, even when riding alongside the big rigs, but there was enough motion at the wheels to keep my shoulders tense. This could be another of those “you’d get used to it” things.
Braking was absurd. I know there are some who pan ABS on motorcycles, but I really felt like I could stop on a dime, or any other currency, foreign or domestic. When I hit the brakes hard and saw how quickly the bike went from 60 to 20, I just wanted to weep. The beautiful thing was there was practically NO nosedive. The bike tracked nice and straight and just… stopped!
It's kinda late right now and I have to get up early to return the Concours, so I'll save the reviews of The Bad (the FJR1300) and The Ugly (Connie) for tomorrow afternoon. I was planning a ride on the ST1300 tomorrow, but I think the weather is going to chase me off until Saturday. Stay tuned.