As some will know, my ST1300 has been playing up, costing me an arm & 3 legs just to keep it on the road, so for a while I've been thinking of buying a new bike but been disappointed that Honda never made a newer version of the ST (the same disappointment many of us have). Since the 13 is over 20 years old, I fancied something new... and looking at the market, I chose to first look at the 1250 RT, with a view to looking at a GoldWing if the RT didn't work out.
So, a while back, I talked with the local BMW dealership - they didn't have a demo RT in at the time because they were refreshing their demo models and it hadn't arrived. But they agreed to let me take out one of the 2nd hand bikes from the showroom, with the condition that I didn't put "too many" miles on the clock and make them update the sale advert.
My immediate thought on the RT was "jesus the back end wallows around in Road mode, it's so soft it'll probably throw me off the damn bike when it's responding to bumps at speed" - I doubt it actually would have thrown me off, but still... Dynamic mode sorted that problem out. The model I took out had the engine bars and extra fog lights, but didn't have the adaptive cruise control. Initially, low speed control, riding around town etc... phenomenal machine. So I took it 16miles or so away into some twisty Welsh mountain roads. I grumbled to myself the whole way about issues with the bike, pulled over, had a bite to eat, had a word with myself and agreed that I should just ride the damn bike. Don't think about the purchase... does it put a smile on my face by the time I'm walking into the dealership?
Nope. No it didn't. My main gripes about it were the vibration through the bars at 70mph, and the lack of wind protection. So I told the sales guy exactly that - and that nothing was the fault of the bike, I've just been spoilt by the ST1300 engine and my aftermarket extended screen on the 13. Re the vibration - it's not horrible, unless you're comparing to the ST1300. There's simply no escaping the physics of the boxer engine - some will like it, some won't. Some will think it rides like a tractor, and I'd agree with them.
While I'm in the local Honda buying parts to keep the 13 running, I spy that they have a newer ST1300 2nd hand sitting in the showroom... I eyed it up, it had some farkles but no wind deflectors... and for a fleeting moment, I nearly rode away on it. But my wallet reminded me that in 5-10 years, I'd still have an ST1300 that was starting to have things go wrong with it, and parts would be even more unobtainable... no, not a solution.
A few weeks go by, and the dealership called me back with a "Hey, so, I know you tried the RT and didn't get along with it... I just wanted to let you know we've just got our demo bikes in.. we have the '23 models of both the RT and the K, if you want a test ride on either of those?" So I umm'd and err'd with him on the call, I knew I wouldn't like the '23 RT but hadn't really looked that much at the K, so we talked for maybe 10mins about the K... and then he replied with "look, I know you're serious about wanting a bike, I know the issues you're dealing with on the Pan... how's about I throw the K in a van, deliver it to you... you can keep it for a weekend and see how you get on with it. I'll even pay for the fuel, and because it's a demo bike, take it as far away as you like."
I mean, a free bike is a free bike, you'd be utterly insane if you had any reply to that other than a "ok, yes, please deliver me a free bike for the weekend!" It doesn't even matter what bike it is at that point.
Last Friday, BMW van arrives and they roll out the '23 K16 GT, I ask them to park it in the barn, they look a little confused about why I keep motorcycles in a barn... but they do, they give me the keys and at that point, it has 299miles on the clock.
Yesterday I fired it up. Nothing too special. No different to the RT really... sure, it revs faster, but boxer vs inline 6 will do that. Other than that, it's just a "new BMW." Around town type riding, Road mode is still too soft, Dynamic mode is OK. Rain mode only really softens the throttle, so didn't bother touching that. The horn though, that's amazing for scaring pedestrians from 60ft away. And it's a stock horn. Serves them right for trying to cross the road in front of me when I had right of way...
Then I got on the A486 heading from Chester to Llangollen, dual carriageway, opens from 30mph to 70mph limit... I had the bike in 5th gear and just because I could, I twisted my wrist hard & hit the throttle stop. Damn good job that cop had turned off just before the NSL signs, because he would have happily revoked my licence for the speed I was doing before I even had the chance to look at the speedo! The ESA realised what I was doing and sucked the bike flat to the floor (I suspect the sneaky German engineers are trying to prevent wheelies) and the bike and I just disappeared over the horizon.
So then I calmed down a little, threw on the cruise control... and giggled to myself whenever another biker came the opposite way. Mostly because they looked puzzled at me waving at them with my right hand at 70mph.
Then I was up the A5 heading for a butty when a thought struck me. I hadn't been talking to myself about the bike at all. It was literally as though the bike simply didn't exist, and just got on with doing whatever I asked of it. When I stopped for food I had to take my ear plugs out just to reassure myself the engine was in fact still running on the bike. By the time I'd finished eating, I'd already decided.
By the time I'd signed the dealership paperwork on a brand new K1600 GTL E, the loaner GT had 331 miles on the clock. That's a sneaky sales tactic... "here, have a free bike for a weekend, we know you'll be buying one in about 30miles time." But damn, it works. The money I spent last December to keep the ST13 on the road is about 8 months payments on the K.
I have video's recorded of my test rides, on both the RT and K... but haven't had the time to edit etc.
So, a while back, I talked with the local BMW dealership - they didn't have a demo RT in at the time because they were refreshing their demo models and it hadn't arrived. But they agreed to let me take out one of the 2nd hand bikes from the showroom, with the condition that I didn't put "too many" miles on the clock and make them update the sale advert.
My immediate thought on the RT was "jesus the back end wallows around in Road mode, it's so soft it'll probably throw me off the damn bike when it's responding to bumps at speed" - I doubt it actually would have thrown me off, but still... Dynamic mode sorted that problem out. The model I took out had the engine bars and extra fog lights, but didn't have the adaptive cruise control. Initially, low speed control, riding around town etc... phenomenal machine. So I took it 16miles or so away into some twisty Welsh mountain roads. I grumbled to myself the whole way about issues with the bike, pulled over, had a bite to eat, had a word with myself and agreed that I should just ride the damn bike. Don't think about the purchase... does it put a smile on my face by the time I'm walking into the dealership?
Nope. No it didn't. My main gripes about it were the vibration through the bars at 70mph, and the lack of wind protection. So I told the sales guy exactly that - and that nothing was the fault of the bike, I've just been spoilt by the ST1300 engine and my aftermarket extended screen on the 13. Re the vibration - it's not horrible, unless you're comparing to the ST1300. There's simply no escaping the physics of the boxer engine - some will like it, some won't. Some will think it rides like a tractor, and I'd agree with them.
While I'm in the local Honda buying parts to keep the 13 running, I spy that they have a newer ST1300 2nd hand sitting in the showroom... I eyed it up, it had some farkles but no wind deflectors... and for a fleeting moment, I nearly rode away on it. But my wallet reminded me that in 5-10 years, I'd still have an ST1300 that was starting to have things go wrong with it, and parts would be even more unobtainable... no, not a solution.
A few weeks go by, and the dealership called me back with a "Hey, so, I know you tried the RT and didn't get along with it... I just wanted to let you know we've just got our demo bikes in.. we have the '23 models of both the RT and the K, if you want a test ride on either of those?" So I umm'd and err'd with him on the call, I knew I wouldn't like the '23 RT but hadn't really looked that much at the K, so we talked for maybe 10mins about the K... and then he replied with "look, I know you're serious about wanting a bike, I know the issues you're dealing with on the Pan... how's about I throw the K in a van, deliver it to you... you can keep it for a weekend and see how you get on with it. I'll even pay for the fuel, and because it's a demo bike, take it as far away as you like."
I mean, a free bike is a free bike, you'd be utterly insane if you had any reply to that other than a "ok, yes, please deliver me a free bike for the weekend!" It doesn't even matter what bike it is at that point.
Last Friday, BMW van arrives and they roll out the '23 K16 GT, I ask them to park it in the barn, they look a little confused about why I keep motorcycles in a barn... but they do, they give me the keys and at that point, it has 299miles on the clock.
Yesterday I fired it up. Nothing too special. No different to the RT really... sure, it revs faster, but boxer vs inline 6 will do that. Other than that, it's just a "new BMW." Around town type riding, Road mode is still too soft, Dynamic mode is OK. Rain mode only really softens the throttle, so didn't bother touching that. The horn though, that's amazing for scaring pedestrians from 60ft away. And it's a stock horn. Serves them right for trying to cross the road in front of me when I had right of way...
Then I got on the A486 heading from Chester to Llangollen, dual carriageway, opens from 30mph to 70mph limit... I had the bike in 5th gear and just because I could, I twisted my wrist hard & hit the throttle stop. Damn good job that cop had turned off just before the NSL signs, because he would have happily revoked my licence for the speed I was doing before I even had the chance to look at the speedo! The ESA realised what I was doing and sucked the bike flat to the floor (I suspect the sneaky German engineers are trying to prevent wheelies) and the bike and I just disappeared over the horizon.
So then I calmed down a little, threw on the cruise control... and giggled to myself whenever another biker came the opposite way. Mostly because they looked puzzled at me waving at them with my right hand at 70mph.
Then I was up the A5 heading for a butty when a thought struck me. I hadn't been talking to myself about the bike at all. It was literally as though the bike simply didn't exist, and just got on with doing whatever I asked of it. When I stopped for food I had to take my ear plugs out just to reassure myself the engine was in fact still running on the bike. By the time I'd finished eating, I'd already decided.
By the time I'd signed the dealership paperwork on a brand new K1600 GTL E, the loaner GT had 331 miles on the clock. That's a sneaky sales tactic... "here, have a free bike for a weekend, we know you'll be buying one in about 30miles time." But damn, it works. The money I spent last December to keep the ST13 on the road is about 8 months payments on the K.
I have video's recorded of my test rides, on both the RT and K... but haven't had the time to edit etc.
