Silverbullet
Well-known member
Personally, I don't really care what anyone else rides. When I moved to Arizona, My Realtor now best friend, came from a long line of BMW ownership but bought a Harley Street Glide Rushmore edition. He spent a fortune on it, upgrading the motor and customizing and while it sure looked cool, it was still one slow, poor handling pig and he was made full well aware of that on our road trips. But, I love riding with the guy and we had some great adventures. Recently, he picked up a low mile 2015 K1600GT for a pretty good deal. He got a great deal because the previous owner was an idiot and we suspect the crap tires he had on it had him thinking the bike had issues. It's a great looking bike without that barcolounger on the back.
When I took him to pick it up, the owner pointed out to me that this thing would smoke my lowly FJR. I knew better as my buddy had already done a test ride on a new 1600 and we ran even. Freeway onramp launches, passing, whatever, the bikes seem to be equally matched. I have a weight advantage, both in the bikes and personally and he has a horsepower advantage. We haven't had the opportunity to see how they compare in the twisties yet but I suspect that like most modern well build bikes, it will be more a matter of nerve and skill as the bikes will probably both be up to whatever we ask of them.
I love his bike, it looks cool and like the FJR, goes like stink. It sounds gnarly on the throttle. But for me, I would need to see an obvious advantage to owning it over the FJR. I go back to Washington twice a year on the bike as well as now having been to the east coast in addition to my never ending tramping around west of the Rockies. I put 25k on my current FJR in its first year and at the advanced age of 60 I can still knock out 1k days on a whim and all I've done is change the seat. So while I could afford to "join the club", I can't see why I would. I can service absolutely everything on the FJR. (ok, I admit that now that I'm a geezer I leave the valve check to the dealer) And even though like most newer bikes, the weight seems to sort of go away over 5MPH, the FJR is a fat as I want a bike to be.
So, it isn't as much a cost factor as it is bang for my buck. I could be Bill Gates and I will still be that way. My bikes are my one big vice in life so I will ride what I want to ride. But, having ridden both I don't see the value in the BMW over my FJR. As always, it's a YMMV kinda thing. I think the K1600 is a wonderful motorcycle, I just don't see where it is 10k plus more wonderful. I do however appreciate my buddy buying his. When he is riding lead, I no longer have to do a power braking maneuver after a long multi vehicle pass so I don't run over him.
When I took him to pick it up, the owner pointed out to me that this thing would smoke my lowly FJR. I knew better as my buddy had already done a test ride on a new 1600 and we ran even. Freeway onramp launches, passing, whatever, the bikes seem to be equally matched. I have a weight advantage, both in the bikes and personally and he has a horsepower advantage. We haven't had the opportunity to see how they compare in the twisties yet but I suspect that like most modern well build bikes, it will be more a matter of nerve and skill as the bikes will probably both be up to whatever we ask of them.
I love his bike, it looks cool and like the FJR, goes like stink. It sounds gnarly on the throttle. But for me, I would need to see an obvious advantage to owning it over the FJR. I go back to Washington twice a year on the bike as well as now having been to the east coast in addition to my never ending tramping around west of the Rockies. I put 25k on my current FJR in its first year and at the advanced age of 60 I can still knock out 1k days on a whim and all I've done is change the seat. So while I could afford to "join the club", I can't see why I would. I can service absolutely everything on the FJR. (ok, I admit that now that I'm a geezer I leave the valve check to the dealer) And even though like most newer bikes, the weight seems to sort of go away over 5MPH, the FJR is a fat as I want a bike to be.
So, it isn't as much a cost factor as it is bang for my buck. I could be Bill Gates and I will still be that way. My bikes are my one big vice in life so I will ride what I want to ride. But, having ridden both I don't see the value in the BMW over my FJR. As always, it's a YMMV kinda thing. I think the K1600 is a wonderful motorcycle, I just don't see where it is 10k plus more wonderful. I do however appreciate my buddy buying his. When he is riding lead, I no longer have to do a power braking maneuver after a long multi vehicle pass so I don't run over him.
