Bagger Showdown
(*The BMW Motorrad K 1600 B recently went head to head with the other elite baggers in the industry in a Motorcycle.com head to head challenge and won.)
“If you just want to bagger traditionally along, you’ll be fine with any of the others. If you retain vestiges of the performance gene, like so many people riding baggers now, you might appreciate the fact that when you want to, you can grab a big fistfull of screaming Six-cylinder horsepower coming off a corner, and let the traction control deal with it as you bang a couple of seamless full-throttle upshifts with the quick shifter. There’s 132 horsepower down there, and 106 pound-feet of torque at only 5000 rpm. Sorry, but there is no V-Twin rumble here; right where it’s time to clunk all the other bikes into the next gear, this one’s just beginning to snarl like a vintage F1 car on its way to its 8400-rpm redline. ”
“If I want to ride a bike any further than my local mountains for any distance longer than a day, I want to be on this K1600B. As a sportbike enthusiast, I value horsepower and handling above all – two areas where this bike spanks every other bike’s fat ass in this test. Add all the creature comforts of a mid-priced sedan, and you’ve got the ultimate two-wheel touring machine. Forward AND mid foot position options for multiple foot combinations? Brilliant.
The engine pulls and pulls… as long as you’d like before your next upshift. Just watch that speedometer, as the digits pile on quick. The ESA has two settings: “perfect” or “damn near.” The fueling is spot on as well.
Look, I get it… it doesn’t fit the bagger ethos and is a total oddball because it’s slim, sleek and fast by comparison. And being an inline-Six doesn’t help its cause in this selective two-cylinder circle. But I don’t care, and neither should you. I want an engaging bike that’s fun to ride and one that can haul everything I could possibly need upon arrival. This svelte Bavarian beast fits the bill like none other in this test. Like bringing a fitness model to a fat girl decathlon, it might not be the superior “bagger”, but it certainly is the superior “MOTORCYCLE” here. I’ve never considered a bike this big before in my entire life… now I really want one.”
