#k1600gt

If you want to eat up miles in absolute comfort and travel at highway speeds effortlessly, with tons of power and a six-cylinder purr at your command, this 2019 BMW K1600GT is calling your name. This one comes to us from our sister site K1600forum.com, wherein the seller bought it with intentions of grand touring in mind, but life had other plans for him. This particular K1600GT has some choice upgrades like a Bren tune for added power, a top case, handlebar risers, and crash bars. Just to name a few. It looks like a great touring machine and is priced to sell at $16,000.

BMW announced new color options for returning 2024 models plus the introduction of Intelligent Emergency Call for the U.S. and Canadian markets.

Chrissy Rogers and I were toying with the idea of a pre-Christmas blast up the Pacific coast to Hearst Castle for a few days while business was slow, since the weather was an impeccable partly cloudy and 60-ish degrees. That or maybe the Ruta de Vino down Mexico way? Maybe hop in the new-to-me 23-year old Jaguar? Take the train? At the same time, we’re both aware that the two of us in a sealed container works best if the container is at least 1500 square feet, compartmentalized into rooms, and stationary. I tend to get a little worked up driving a car in and out of SoCal when there’s traffic (there’s always traffic), followed by Christine getting worked up at my getting worked up, followed by, why don’t we just hang out here at home and eat and drink and save the money? Because we’re chiselers.

As we previously reported, BMW has updated its K1600 models for 2022, revising the six-cylinder engine to meet the Euro 5 emissions standard and adding a number of small but notable upgrades.

The R18 Transcontinental and R18 Bagger have been getting a lot of attention lately, as BMW‘s foray into large-displacement cruiser touring segment. Getting somewhat lost, however, are BMW’s existing  K1600 range, which used to be the company’s representatives in the touring category. While still part of BMW’s lineup, the six-cylinder models have not been updated since the 2017 model year, not even receiving any changes to meet Euro 5 standards that came into effect last year.

BMW announced its initial batch of models returning for 2018 with new colors and optional equipment. We’ve already written about the two most notable changes, a new ex works customization program called BMW Motorrad Spezial for RnineT and touring models, plus a new optional Bluetooth-connected 6.5-inch TFT display for the R1200GS and R1200GS Adventure, called the “Connectivity Option.” Several models also receive Emergency Call feature, though this will only be available in Europe. The rest of the announcement includes cosmetic changes and revisions to BMW’s various optional packages

BMW announced a new factory customization program for its Heritage and Touring models. The new BMW Motorrad Spezial program expands on the customization concept of the RnineT, adding a number of factory-installed options for the RnineT Pure, Racer, Scrambler and Urban G/S variants, as well as the K1600GT, K1600GTL and R1200RT.

BMW hasn’t slated a ton of changes for the 2017 K1600GT, but then it didn’t need to. The K16’s inline Six engine delivers power, sound, and smoothness that other touring bikes can only dream of. In 2015, the GT and the GTL gained traction control for the claimed 160 hp and 129 lb-ft cranked out by the six cylinders. For 2017, the engine stays functionally the same as last year with the exception of meeting Euro 4 emission requirements. If that were the only change for the GT, it’d still be on the short list of bikes we’d want to take on a cross-country tour. Fortunately, BMW added a few changes that make the GT even more desirable.

The touring segment is slow to change. Honda’s Gold Wing is always a contender and could easily take the win or the runner-up, and so too could numerous full-dressers from cruiser manufacturers. But in our opinion, nothing matches BMW’s K1600GT/GTL when it comes to combining all the comfort and amenities expected of modern mileage gobblers, with the performance and handling capabilities of more nimble sport-tourers. We even included the GT model in our 2014 Heavyweight Sport-Touring Shootout and the Beemer crushed ’em.

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.

The history of motorcycle engines powering other vehicles goes back a long way. Look at the original Morgan 3 Wheeler, for example. Almost a century ago, J.A.P. bike engines were plunked onto the front of a strange piece of machinery with two wheels in front and one in the back. It proved to be popular and a rather high-performing vehicle in its time. For this Top 10 list we take a look at other applications for motorcycle engines. As you can imagine with a list like this, there are a wide variety of vehicles. Some are production cars, while others are one-offs or boutique items. And yes, even though this is Motorcycle.com, I want to get behind the wheel of every single one of these! So, if you’re a rep from one of the below companies (or are simply a kind soul who owns one), give me a jingle and let’s make it happen!

When the new BMW R1200RT fell through, recalled because of a possibly faulty rear shock shaft of all things, we almost decided not to take these four lovelies on a little three-day binge up along California’s eastern Sierra, through Bishop, Yosemite and back the long way. But we’re glad we did. The weather and scenery couldn’t have been more perfect, and it’s hard to imagine motorcycles more cut out for a long weekend than these four – all with hard sidebags, great wind protection, shaft drive and everything you need to take your show on the road.

Ever since man bolted a motor to a bicycle, touring has been one of the true joys of motorcycling. Sure, bouncing around town from errand to errand is easy, and commuting to work is practical – but travel by motorcycle expands the mind, relaxes the spirit and enriches the soul. There’s nothing quite like it.