@ad.hom so 4 months in. What say ye now? (I'm looking at a new K1600 or a new Wing)
4 months huh? Wow time flies. I bought it on a PCP that has a mileage limit per year... I should probably check that... oh. BMW have an app for that. So, the BMW Connected app reports that I've done 2262 miles, the next service is in 4625 miles, and the fuel tank is full. That's a nice touch sitting in my office while the bike is in the barn.
The headline really, I guess: absolutely no regrets buying the bike, it's yet to move without producing a smile on my mug.
That said, there has been a few "niggles" on the journey. These might be specific to the UK, they might not be, but they're worth sharing for those that might benefit from it.
The 600 mile service, that I booked in with BMW before I actually took the bike away from the showroom, is a damn expensive oil change. In truth, it's not JUST an oil change, they do a software update on the bike too. Before 600 miles the bike will not allow you to exceed 5k RPM. No warning messages, no popups, it just refuses. I took the bike in for its service, they offered me the choice of absolutely anything in the show room that I fancied as a curtsey vehicle - but for the hour and change, I refused. Instead, I pulled out my work laptop & headed for one of their free office suites to do some work and make use of the free coffee. Afterwards, the chap on the desk tried to charge me £230, until I asked him to check the records, because I had paid for a 3 year service plan. He verified, handed me the keys, and I left. That was my first clue about how disconnected BMW Corp are from themselves.
During that service, I'd mentioned to the chap on the desk that when using the quick shifter AND hard on the gas, between 3rd & 4th, there's a loud bang from the exhaust, almost like blow back happening... not really a problem, but definitely would scare the elderly into a heart attack while I'm overtaking them. The tech took it for a test ride and reported "unable to reproduce" - and funnily enough, I haven't seen it again. There is however now a lovely burble at idle as I'm gently braking towards a junction. So I reckon he fettled with the exhaust a little.
Randomly one day, I noticed that the cruise control refused to engage. Nothing else wrong with the bike, so meh... finished my ride, parked up... next ride it worked again. Presumed glitch, and spoiler alert, I was wrong.
Randomly another day, cruise control refused to engage. But this time the indicators had clearly reverted back to BMW defaults (ie, optional extra that hadn't been paid for), switch completely unresponsive. I also noticed that the horn and PASS switches had become less useful than your average ornament. OK, I thought to myself, this is a problem and it needs them to get it sorted.
Next time I fired it up, problem gone, so I didn't report it.
Then came the day I was headed over to visit my old man for a week, and I was taking the bike. Loaded everything up, headed out, everything working perfectly - right up until I got on to the M56 motorway... at which point, no cruise control / indicators / PASS / horn... and now, no Wunderwheel, so I can't access anything at all within the onboard computer. So, me being me, I continued the 400mile or so journey (UK highway code permits hand signals, even if most people would look at me daft for it, because a) they don't understand the hand signals and b) why the hell own a BMW and bother to indicate your intentions?). I arrived at the AirBnB and had 3 options (2 breakdown policies on the bike - one from BMW and one from my insurer) and the bike has the SOS button on it. So I called the 0800 BMW number and told them the problem, that I knew it would have to go to a dealership and they might as well just send someone to come pick it up on a flatbed.
So a guy in a transit van comes out, local recovery firm, not BMW. I immediately turned to him with a "I hope the back of that van is empty, because you won't be fixing this here." He says that no-one has told him what the problem is other than electrical, and have I checked the fuses? So I pull the seat off and gleefully reply "well, you've got 2 choices for fuses - the 40A starter fuse, or the 15A ECU fuse. There isn't any other fuses on this bike, because everything is fly-by-wire." He then grumbled about his office wasting his time, and called them to ask for the flatbed, which wouldn't arrive until the next day.
Me being me, I hit Google, and there's a very detailed thread on the BMW forums alleging what the problem might be (copper tracks embedded in plastic within the LH switchgear, and the side effect of leaving the bike exposed to sunlight in 30C or so temps causing thermal expansion, leading to cracks in the copper). BMW called me a few days later to say that the bike was fixed and ready to pick up.
So off I go to that BMW dealership (not my local one, of course). Really helpful young lass on the service desk responds to my "I'm here to collect the repaired K1600" with a "Oh, I don't know who you talked to yesterday, but no-one with that name works here, and I'm pretty sure they haven't actually fixed your bike." I choose to see the humour in life, so I laughed with a "well, I spoke to her, and she made the service chaps double check it was working again, and I definitely heard the horn working over the phone. So maybe have someone pull the bike out, hand me the key, and I'll see if it makes a horn-like noise or not?"
Turns out, they had fixed it, and she normally works on the cars, not the bikes (she couldn't tell the difference between the K16 GTL and the S1000RR that were next to each other outside). See my point on BMW Corp simply not talking to each other. So I asked the service guy that brought it out what they did to fix it, he claims "all the left of the bike is wired up under the left air intake, plug was loose there." (so, similar to the 25P on the left of the ST1300)
Touch wood, couple of hundred miles later, no issues.
Only other observation that might help a buyer, is that the stock rubber is rubbish. But since when did any manufacturer give good tyres on a brand new bike? It's free, so it'll stay until it's used and then I'll put something better on. When cold, and particularly when the floor is damp, you might as well be riding around on house bricks for all the information you get back from the stock rubber. But if you're expecting it, it's fine, and it gets better when they're warmed up, and no complaints at all when the floor is dry.
BMW Customer Service seems a little lacking, but if you're buying it outside of warranty and you're planning on throwing the spanners yourself... it has the same tupperware time issues as the ST1300, but other than that, shouldn't be too bad. If it's in warranty/PCP, spending on the 3 year service plan is likely going to save you money overall.
Even with all this, would I still make the same choice 4 months ago?
YES. The engine on the bike is worth it, my RoSPA tutor complains every time our route takes us from a 30mph zone into a NSL (60mph)... because he has to change down 2 gears just to try keeping up (Royal Enfield Conti 650).
The best thing I can think of to describe the K16, is "it simply does absolutely everything you ask of it, and replies 'yes sir, certainly sir, would sir like some more speed with that?'" Some say there's a high speed wobble, I haven't found it at triple digit speeds. Maybe it only happens on the Grand America variant (with the floorboards)? The GTLE is more of a sofa that someone converted into a sports bike and added some kitchen cupboards (the other day it was dark out when I opened the top box and that's the day I learnt that there's a light in there - and it works when the ignition is off).
Somewhere I read about a bike that one can install a stand on either or both sides. Since this is my main hangout, it must have been here.
