The Touring Bike That Challenges The Honda Gold Wing For Less Money

Touring bikes are a breed apart, especially the full-size ones. You sit in a cocoon of comfort, the windshield, seat heating, and heated grips set to just the right angle and amounts, you can set the stereo to play your favorite tunes, and the cruise control will take you to the horizon while you drink in the scenery. Among the genre, the Honda Gold Wing is a legend, with a rare combination of luxury, value, and reliability that any other touring motorcycle finds very difficult to match. Sure, there are more expensive ones, and more powerful ones, but none of them can quite deliver what the Gold Wing does. Still, there are one or two that can deliver a similar experience, and even deliver more value. We’re here to talk about one such tourer that offers a unique take on the premium touring bike segment.

The BMW K 1600 B Challenges The Honda Gold Wing For Less Money

Price: $23,395

BMW

The Gold Wing has a lot of great things going for it, but it does everything in its own Japanese way. This is both a good thing and a bad thing, as it makes it a difficult act to ape, but it also makes competitors think of alternate ways to achieve the same thing it does. The BMW K series of motorcycles is like this. Where the Gold Wing started with a flat four engine all those decades ago, the K series started with an inline four engine. That engine was then canted over to the front to lower the center of gravity.

BMW

At some point, both the Gold Wing and the K series added two more cylinders for a total of six cylinders, but they kept walking their own paths. The Gold Wing remains a laid-back tourer that seats you in a cruiser-style rider triangle, while the K 1600 series leans into its sportiness, being more of a sport tourer. Despite a really high horsepower figure, a smooth-as-silk inline six-cylinder engine, and all the tech that you’d expect from a premium European tourer, the K 1600 B undercuts the Gold Wing by a massive $5,000, which is why it is the touring bike that challenges the Honda Gold Wing for less money.

BMW K 1600 B Engine

BMW Motorrad

The K series of tourers from BMW originally started out with an inline four engine, but with increasing requirements of power and performance, was upgraded to a six cylinder. BMW chose an inline six-cylinder configuration. This has unique challenges, none of which are easy to overcome, and that is why you don’t see this format anywhere else among production motorcycles. The biggest concern is the width of an I6 engine, but BMW worked around it by reducing the gap between the cylinders and has made it almost as narrow as an inline four. It is canted over to the front at 55 degrees, giving the K 1600 B a low center of gravity.

The Tourer Has Mighty Horsepower And Torque Figures

BMW Motorrad

This engine has now been on sale for 14 years, and its 160 horsepower remains the highest output in its segment. It drives the rear wheel via a shaft drive, which means no maintenance will be required on a ride. It is offered only with a six speed manual gearbox, but a two-way quickshifter is an optional extra. This being a premium BMW, a six axis IMU and all the benefits it offers are also packaged with it. A reverse gear is offered to help back up this very heavy motorcycle – a necessity in a parking lot!

BMW K 1600 B Chassis

Surprisingly Nimble For A Full Size Tourer

BMW Motorrad

The K 1600 B shares its chassis with the rest of the K series range, and yes, it is basically the same chassis that debuted in 2011 with the driveline. However, as the driveline kept getting updates, the chassis also kept getting improvements over the years. Some of the notable additions have been ABS Pro in 2016 and dynamic ESA in 2018.

The chassis is a twin-spar aluminum frame, which uses the engine as a stressed member to reduce weight. Another weight-saving measure is the magnesium panel carrier at the front. The suspension is BMW’s signature Paralever and Duolever setup, but with standard dynamic ESA (electronic suspension) now. This auto-levels the K 1600 B once load is applied to it. The brakes consist of three 320 mm discs – two at the front, and one at the rear. The six axis IMU also offers a helping hand here, as ABS Pro is standard.

BMW K 1600 B Chassis Specs And Dimensions

BMW K 1600 B Features

BMW Motorrad

The K 1600 B was one of the first motorcycles to be equipped with a 10+ inch TFT color display. In the case of this BMW, it is 10.25 inches. It has a clean, efficient layout as you’d expect from the Bavarian manufacturer, but that doesn’t mean it lacks the features you’d expect from it. The ABS Pro, Dynamic ESA, reverse gear, tire pressure monitoring system, reverse gear, and hill hold are all part of the standard features. Of course, you’ll have to add BMW’s ‘packages’ like the Comfort or Tour Packages to add optional extras.

BMW K 1600 B Features

• 10.25-inch TFT display
• Bluetooth connectivity with turn-by-turn navigation
• Dynamic ESA
• ABS Pro
• Hill hold
• Reverse gear
• TPMS
• Cornering headlamps
• Keyless ignition

BMW K 1600 B Competition

Worthy Opponents From Japan And America

Honda

The Gold Wing is the obvious first choice here, since that is the premise of this feature. It does things with typical Honda efficiency, and has quite a few features like a motorcycle airbag and a seven-speed dual clutch automatic gearbox that you will not find on any other production motorcycle. The Indian Challenger PowerPlus has a modern liquid-cooled engine and the same combination of digital and analog as the Gold Wing that will appeal to those who like traditional motorcycles.

You could also get the air-cooled one if you prefer the old-school low-rev torquey feel. The Harley-Davidson Road Glide does tradition really well, but with a twist. The engine has pushrods, but it also has variable valve timing. It is air-cooled, but with water-cooled heads. Oh, and it has the largest TFT screen of the lot.

BMW K 1600 B Vs Rivals