#K1600gtlExclusive

If your dream motorcycle trip involves long distances and limited time, we don’t think there’s a better way to bridge that gap than BMW’s K1600 platform. Consisting of the sporty GT, luxo GTL and opulent GTL-Exclusive (which was the Best Touring Motorcycle of 2014), the K16s allow ambitious and well-heeled riders to comfortably and ably burn up miles by the thousands, no matter if the roads are straight or coiled. The K16 shrugs off every type of path its see-around-corners headlamp is pointed at, and it does so with immense grace once past the bike’s awkward phase below 5 mph.

By Evans Brasfield

Introduced on the new 2014 R1200RT and K1600GTL Exclusive is BMW’s latest electronic rider aid, Hill Start Control. HSC is a technology any touring rider who’s struggled with a weighted motorcycle at a graded stop will immediately recognize as beneficial.

I was on the glorious Pacific Coast Highway aboard the new K1600GTL Exclusive when I had a thought that might be controversial. I imagined that Soichiro Honda, if given the choice, would prefer to be riding BMW’s new flagship rather than his eponymously named company’s iconic Gold Wing.