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First Date with the BMW K1600 GTL

June 21, 2011 by Scooter in the Sticks 27 Comments

This is the 2012 BMW K1600 GTL that Kissell Motorsports provided me with to find out what a Vespa rider thought of this serious touring motorcycle. I made this picture later in the evening after a few hours of riding. I had to sit down for a minute and compose my thoughts, think about where I would ride in the morning, and wonder how I had come in a short period of time to think it wasn’t such a big motorcycle after all.

This isn’t really a review of the bike. That will come in the next installment. This is just our first date.

Craig Kissell doesn’t offer these motorcycles lightly, especially something as expensive and complicated as the K1600. Arriving after work I saw a group of machines in the parking lot near the bike. Nate Mattern, sales manager for Kissell Motorsports, and I had planned to ride together for awhile and compare notes. I thought they were going to have me ride the pink Vespa until I realized Nate would eventually have to take a turn with it. Not that I have anything against pink machines, my mountain bike is a more subdued version of pink, but I really didn’t want to have to manage a 150cc machine against a six cylinder powerhouse like the BMW.

Nate and I discussed routes, time limitations for him, and decided I would ride a BMW R1200 RT during the first leg of our trip. I would take the lead so I control stops for pictures, set the pace, and generally make sure I didn’t embarrass myself with an official representative of Kissell Motorsports. I wanted to be able to do more reviews in the future.

I’d never ridden with Nate before but knew enough about him that I’d convince myself he would be uncomfortably fast on the road and I’d spend all my time wondering which way he went. It was bad enough that he’s a Ducati owner and rider, a gonzo mountain biker, (I’ve not met a slow Ducati rider yet) but he’s also a commercial pilot having flown for a number of commercial carriers.

Pilots are all about speed right?

So I thought it best for my image that I stay in front.

We left town in a hurry heading west on US 322. Sailing over Skytop I was cruising at 75mph with Nate in the distance in my mirrors. The RT was smooth and I felt almost no transitional weirdness from the Vespa. It’s easy to understand why riders like them.

It was a bright, clear evening and we owned the road. That bubble burst as a Burgman 650 cruised by us like it was nothing for the rider in shirt sleeves and dress pants to commute home at 80mph. For a moment I considered turning the throttle but I had Nate to worry about. It’s what you do when you’re in the lead.

First stop at a familiar road cut on the way to Philipsburg. The GTL isn’t that much bigger looking than the RT but to my eye it has a sportier look to it. The topcase and big rear seating area does place it squarely in the tourer world but it still looked sleek. Nate and I talked a bit and he shared his thoughts on the fly-by-wire throttle and how different it felt from conventional throttle cable systems. I held my tongue and didn’t ask what he was talking about. I figured I would find out soon enough.

I turn off into a gravel parking area near Black Moshannon State Park, in part to take a few pictures and in part to make sure if someone is going to drop the K1600 Nate can go first. You can’t tell in the picture but the gravel is loose. And it raises the question of how I am thinking about the motorcycles. The RT seems completely manageable and not much different than riding my Vespa, something which indicates a mastery on my part of motorcycles or a wildly unreasonable idea of how big the K1600 really is.

For now, let’s go with the idea that I’m a really great rider.

Nate shared with me later that he swallowed hard when I turned off into the gravel. He’s smiling in the picture because I think he thought I would be taking my turn on the big bike.

I told him I wanted to ride the RT a little longer. What I should have said was that I wanted to ride to a paved swap point.

The moment finally arrives where I’m going to take the new machine. Nate’s pilot training surfaces as he begins a fluid expression of a K1600 checklist outlining every feature and mode on this seriously equipped motorcycle. I didn’t exactly quit listening but my brain quit accepting data as he was running through the various computer controlled riding modes.

So I didn’t seem ungrateful I asked Nate to show me how to get the K1600 on the centerstand. There is always a trick and he showed it to me. I wouldn’t want to try it in gravel or on soft ground but it wasn’t all that difficult.

We also discussed the sensitivity of the throttle and Nate urged caution for a few miles as I got used to how touchy it could be. It didn’t take long to appreciate the advice. He talked about his preferences leaning towards impractical motorcycles like his Ducati 696 or his favorite the Ducati Hypermotard 1100 EVO. Fast, powerful, but not possessing much utilitarian value.

The BMW K1600 GTL is designed to meet utilitarian needs. “Honey, I’m going to the store to get a loaf of bread. Then I’m going to swing by Seattle and be home.” This is the machine for that kind of quick trip. Nate has to get back and we head down the mountain towards home.

Sitting on the bike I can sense the greater mass. Or at least I’ve been telling myself this for the past hour. The throttle is sensitive and the power response is instantaneous. Sloppy throttle work won’t be appreciated on this bike. After a few miles the bike and the throttle seem to merge with my body. I’m not pushing anything but it’s kind of a marvel how easy it is to ride.

Nate heads back to the shop and I turn towards home. I stop on campus for another picture and think about where I’m going to ride in the morning.

The first date was almost over and with only 50 miles on the BMW I wanted a second. At this early point I already knew a few things.

1. Without a doubt this was the smoothest motorcycle I have ever ridden. Engine, road feel, everything. An engineering marvel.

2. It’s surprisingly nimble for a big touring motorcycle.

3. The fly-by-wire throttle takes a little time to acquire the right touch but once you do it is a pleasure to use.

4. It’s not my Vespa. No room for sloppy handling. Too much mass to think you can muscle this around. It requires a rider who pays attention and understands what it means to manage this kind of weight.

5. If I were buying a touring bike, this would be it. I like the BMW R 1200 RT but this K bike is in a different league.

I’ll be posting more involved review of the BMW K1600 GTL in the next week or so. I have been letting the story simmer for awhile but it’s time to write it down.

If you can’t wait stop by and have Craig or Nate show you the bike.

Short Reflection on the BMW K1600 GTL Experience (More to Come)

May 14, 2011 by Scooter in the Sticks 19 Comments

I made an error in the previous post indicating I would be reviewing the BMW K1600 GT. The bike I actually departed Kissell Motorsports with was the GTL version. More features, more luxury, more of everything. And this motorcycle was probably the most dramatic change from my Vespa GTS 250ie ever. And again, in almost every respect.

The past couple days I’ve been looking over notes scribbled on 3×5 index cards, on my iPhone, and examining memories triggered by the numerous photos I made. Still searching for the story of this motorcycle, what it’s like to ride, what it did to me. Yes, I think it did something to me but can’t quite put my finger on it. Perhaps I’ve not put enough miles on it and should plead a case to Craig Kissell to borrow it for a few more days. After all, the typical K1600 rider will be thinking in terms of thousands of miles.

It was a beautiful couple days of riding. Photography and riding are always at odds and the K1600 GTL wants to go and not dilly dally on the way. By force of will I would transcend whatever magic the BMW was trying to spin on me and bring the motorcycle to a halt to pursue other interests. I swear I cannot pass a lone tree in a field. And we have a lot of them here in Pennsylvania. Big trees in the middle of a field were there to give a team of horses or oxen a shady place to rest at lunch time.

With gas prices so high some farmers are returning to draft animals. I don’t except John Deere to be shutting its doors anytime soon though.

Weird. I’m talking about the most modern BMW motorcycle, draft animals and John Deere tractors. Just what the marketing group was hoping for.

To complete the bucolic rural picture I present the BMW K1600 GTL with a passing manure truck. Thank god the motorcycle has traction control. Liquid manure on the road is a real hazard.

I’ve been jotting down notes in my Moleskine journal and trying to piece together what to say about this machine. As a diehard Vespa rider I can say it was, well, amazing. The challenge ahead is to define amazing.

Cozying up to the BMW K 1600 GT

May 11, 2011 by Scooter in the Sticks 19 Comments

I quick note while downing a cup of lunchtime tea. This evening I’m supposed to be heading out on a BMW K1600 GT. The transition from the Vespa to a motorcycle is always sort of strange. This one will prove to be a bigger leap than usual. To help relax into it I looked to YouTube for some vicarious experience. About half way through you can see the motorcycle on the road. Looks like it handles as well as my Vespa.

I’ll let you know what I think.

Things That Go Through Your Head When Your Throttle Freezes

May 3, 2011 by Scooter in the Sticks 18 Comments

This is a story about what goes through a rider’s mind when their throttle freezes. On a Sunday morning awhile back I planned to ride into town to meet BMW rider Dan Leri at Saint’s Cafe. The frost on the car and truck reminded me the temperature was still dropping below freezing and that I should pay close attention to the road. And I worried a bit about Dan on his 1150 RT but more on that in a bit.

Dan wears a lot of hats in addition to a helmet. He’s the director of Innovation Park at Penn State, a father and husband, and somewhere in his past a member of one of Joe Paterno’s Nittany Lion teams. All this was of interest as I parked the Vespa in the pre-dawn light of State College, Pennsylvania where I was going to learn from Dan what goes through your head when your throttle freezes — something he’s recently learned on a ride to work.

It’s not often I arrive at Saint’s before they’re open. Poor planning on my part to have to sit outside in the cold. At least the light was nice for the few minutes I had to wait to get a cup of tea and a bagel.

This is the bike in question — a 2005 (?) BMW 1150 RT. Dan describes it as the perfect machine. It’s the typical conversation with a BMW rider. They speak in a casual, even, measured tone, slowly drawing you into their delusion of performance, reliability, and rides around the world. Eventually their eyes roll back into their heads, English transforms into an ancient Teutonic tongue and sweat beads on their foreheads. At this point it’s best to nod your head politely and let them finish. I think a requirement of ownership of these kinds of motorcycles is to evangelize whenever possible. Dan keeps at me. I recently joined the BMW MOA.

That’s Dan in his Roadcrafter jacket. He is a hi-viz kind of guy.

I was in Denver when a text message arrived on the morning of March 25. It read:

My throttle cable froze solid while passing a truck this morning on I99 on the way to work. Since I was passing, I was going 80mph.

IMPORTANT NOTE TO GRACIE: If you’re reading this you should understand the concept of what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Ask your dad to explain that. Don’t scare your mother with this information.

The message continues:

Fast ride to work! Good thing traffic was spaced out! I eventually shut it off, coasted to a stop, messed until I got a little play in it, then high RPM clutched to Wegmans (grocery store) to get hot water to get it thawed, and down to idle, then let it run to generate engine heat to thaw it. That got me another mile and a refreeze, (it was 18F that morning — yes, Dan’s a serious rider) and a repeat procedure!

You have a lot of funny “now what” thoughts while stuck going 80mph and wanted to get close to help and a solution before shutting down!

So I’m in Denver reading these text messages and the first thing that comes to mind is, “Geez, you tap out a lot of characters for a text message.” Then I think about what I would do — hit the kill switch. As Dan and I talked he said that if he did that he would be a long way from anywhere. Listening to him I realized he was more and more like MacGyver as he described his thought process and plan to ride on as far as he could. If he only had tin foil and some chewing gum he could have continued around the world. The long way.

A bad photo of the cable distribution box on the BMW and the source of the freezing problems.

Standing in Dom Chang’s (Charlie6 of Redleg’s Rides) garage near Denver I showed him the text message. In minutes the garage was full of Teutonic sounds uttered from a man with his eyes rolling back into his head.

I had sent a message back to Dan, short, concise, and embodying my interest:

Wow. So what kind of thoughts?

Here are Dan’s. Maybe you have others.

1. Oops! This is interesting!

2. This will redline and blow if I pull the clutch in.

3. How many feet will it take me to stop this bike without the servo-assisted brakes?

4. Why didn’t the folks in the Toyotas with stuck accelerators simply put it in neutral, get stopped quickly, and turn it off?

5. If traffic is spaced properly, I can make it to the 55mph zone before shutting down — I’ll be closer to help and a thawing solution.

6. If I get near a Sheetz, they’ll have hot water to thaw the cable distribution box.

7. A Lowe’s or Home Depot will have a small torch I can buy.

8. Where the hell is the sun?!

9. At 19 degrees at 7:15am, at what time will the temp be closer to 32 degrees?

10. How can I get the heat from inside my Gerbing gloves wrapped around the cable distribution box?

11. My wife will kill me if I die this way 🙂

12. I hope all the groundhogs are too cold to come out this early.

13. What would MacGyver do?

14. James Bond would simply ride up the deck of a slower moving truck.

15. I might be late for my first meeting of the day.

16. I hope it’s at least in the high 20’s for the ride home tonight.

17. Diann will kill me if I’m late.

And that’s all he wrote. In text messages mind you. That’s persistence. Didn’t realize how much so until I had to type all that.

Now that the warm weather is here you don’t have to worry about freezing throttles. Dan determined there was a very small hole in the cable distribution box which must have taken in some water when he was trailering the bike through a storm.

Trailering a BMW. Karmic justice that the throttle froze.

Decisions: The 1988 BMW R100 GS

April 14, 2011 by Scooter in the Sticks 21 Comments

A couple days after seeing my Consumption Therapy and Moto-Porn post Craig Kissell told me he would be taking a BMW R100 GS on trade and it would have my name on it should I want to buy it. It seemed as if the universe was conspiring to have me become an owner of a BMW. Who am I to argue with fate?

I took the afternoon off from work and despite the rain decided I would have to take the BMW (cover your ears Mr. Riepe) Airhead for a ride. It had already passed the visual test. All that was left was the road test.

After Kissell Motorsports mechanic Tom Christensen went over the bike and made sure it was ready for the road I left the Vespa and headed out in a light mist. The bike was, well, amazing. Started easily, idled perfectly, sounded amazing, and shifted with ease. Sales Manager Nate Mattern said the transmission had been rebuilt and the circlip and other issues corrected. You could tell it was ready to hit the road and ride for a long way. After some experimenting with the brakes and controls I stopped on Skytop Mountain to make a picture.

The two aluminum side cases were sturdy and functional — just like the rest of the motorcycle. I was completely impressed by the mechanical feel of the bike and the sense of purpose and capability. For a 1988 machine with 60K miles on it I would have thought I was riding a much newer motorcycle.

The BMW R100 GS is pretty. As a photographic subject I could make use of it on Scooter in the Sticks. It seemed like a natural partner for my Vespa and would lend itself to a new variety of riding. Or so I was trying to tell myself.

1988 BMW R100 GS bumblee motorcycle in church parking lot

Standing near this church I wondered how often I would fill those sidecases and take a long trip. Or how often I would make use of the power and capabilities of the motorcycle. Didn’t much like the answers I was coming up with.

On the highway the power of the big boxer engine is apparent. Even with the Metzler Enduro tires which were a tad too aggressive for a lot of pavement riding the bike was smooth and stable cruising at 70mph. And there was plenty of throttle left. If I had any concerns at all it would be the older brakes — disc up front and drum on the rear — I tested them on several high speed stops and while they worked well it’s definitely not the same as modern braking systems. It would not let this stand between me and the BMW though.

In dirt, mud and gravel the R100 GS was perfectly comfortable. The bike feels heavy compared to the Vespa and takes a bit more maneuvering to get around. It was about this point in the ride that I began to sense something wasn’t quite right. Not with the bike. There was something amiss in regard to my riding needs.

In a flood of recognition the following realities presented themselves:

1. I ride to explore, look around, and take pictures. This occurs at generally slow speeds, without destinations or geographical goals, and entails endless stopping and starting. From this point of reference the BMW seemed like far more motorcycle than I needed. And it is not nearly as functional in making quick stops, parking on the road in a manner than won’t cause problems.

2. The BMW would not be my first choice to ride to work. Man, I tried hard to rationalize around this one — imagining all the times I would ride it to work. I couldn’t. Bottom line — the Vespa is just too damn functional for my 8 mile commute.

3. Last disappointing realization — it would probably sit in the garage most of the time. This motorcycle is designed to travel. To ride. And ride far. Why else does it have a gigantic gas tank and all that luggage. Who was I kidding? My long rides are in the 200 – 300 mile range. That’s scooter territory. It would almost be embarrassing to this noble steed to limit it to such short jaunts.

With my head hung low and feeling sad (Irrationally I still want the bike) I ride back to Kissell Motorsports to tell Craig and Nate I am not going to be joining the ranks of motorcycle riders. The BMW R100 GS is up for grabs now but others were waiting on my decision so I’m not sure how long it will last. Better call fast if you need it!

1988 BMW R100 GS motorcycle with a Vespa GTS scooter

It could have been a classic pair. The temptation was strong but in the end I felt like Galadriel passing up the One Ring offered by Frodo. I passed the test and will now fade into the West.

There is always something positive that comes out of this events and this one was no exception. I learned something important — I am not a scooter rider by accident. I ride a Vespa because it is the right machine for me. And if there is any purchases to be make it would more likely be to trade the GTS on another Vespa when the time comes.

Woman making photos along road with a Vespa GTS scooter

On the way home I saw Kim making pictures. The Vespa is quiet and and I was able to stop and make this picture without her knowing I was there. When she turned around she made a picture.

Vespa GTS scooter under a heavy grey sky

*NOTE FROM KIM* Steve wants to believe this photo expresses my feelings about his machine which he described as “powerful and filled with machismo” but I am sorry to inform him: the dark feeling is related more to the experience of all of the cars and trucks bearing down on my ass while I was trying to make pictures of the weeping willows.

The last time I had seen Steve he was on his way to pick up a bumblebee. How peculiar? I figured the buzz didn’t last very long. That silver Vespa was already back on the side of the road and he was smiling in a way that seemed like relief inside his big shiny spacesuit.

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