Huntington Beach, Calif.
A TWO-SEAT touring motorcycle without a passenger backrest or top luggage case, it occurs to me, is a vehicle with the everyday practicality of a backless hospital gown. There just seems to be something missing, you know?
But if you can find someone daring (or clueless) enough to ride with you on the back of a 2007 BMW K1200GT, a 152-horsepower sport bike adapted to long-distance duty, you’re not likely to even know they are there anyway.
Indeed, whack open the throttle with a passenger aboard, as I did recently while entering a freeway, and you might wonder if your companion could possibly hang on for the sprint through the gears. The passenger’s inevitable rearward slide can be avoided, though, by ordering an optional top case (available in large or small).
But that is not the way BMW really intended the K1200GT to be equipped. Despite having room for a passenger, the K1200GT is styled and designed to be the ultimate loner’s touring bike. Who besides the operator really wants to tour at triple digits?
The superbike-class horsepower of the K1200GT is a relatively new phenomenon at BMW, a departure from the company’s legacy of workhorse opposed-twin engines, which power its R series bikes. The K designation signifies an in-line 4-cylinder engine, which in this case positions the cylinders transversely across the frame, like most Japanese in-line 4s. The engine of the original K bikes, introduced in the mid-1980s, was aligned front to back, with the cylinders canted over horizontally, parallel to the ground. The K1200LT, a comfort-oriented touring model, still uses this layout.
BMW’s shift in design philosophy is a result of its intent to establish a presence in the high-performance class long dominated by Japanese makers, whose bikes seem to ratchet up the horsepower each model year.
How do the K bikes measure up?
Well, the K1200R was named the 2005 Motorcycle of the Year by Motorcyclist, an enthusiast publication; a K1200S went 173 miles an hour to set a class speed record at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah in 2005; and the editors of Cycle World magazine selected the K1200GT as the industry’s top sport-touring bike for 2006.
The temptation is to say the K1200GT is all about its engine. Top speed is somewhere north of 150 miles an hour — a speed at which you can run confidently and comfortably (though illegally, in most places) given the right roads.
All this motive power is courtesy of a slightly reworked version of the 1,157 cc four also used in the K1200S and K1200R models, both of which put more than 160 horsepower at the rider’s disposal. Though in the K1200GT this powerplant makes just 152 horsepower, it is still enough to be the benchmark of the sport-touring class.
As a whole, it seems the K lineup is becoming more like a motorcycling equivalent of BMW’s racing-inspired M cars.
Beyond the high-performance aspects, though, there is also a high-tech factor that enhances the appeal of these bikes.
The K1200GT was introduced in 2006, then quickly updated. The 2007 model was released with compelling new features like electronic traction control — automatic stability control in BMW’s lexicon — that was an industry first (although it is spreading to other BMW models).
The nomenclature is potentially confusing. On automobiles, stability control usually describes a system that can apply the brake at one of the car’s four corners to interrupt a skid and put the vehicle back on the path the driver intended to take. The system on a two-wheel K1200GT obviously cannot do that, but it can help when the rear loses traction. The bike system, a $365 option, reduces engine power through the ignition or fuel injection, enabling the rear wheel to regain traction.
The traction control works in conjunction with BMW’s integral antilock brakes, using the same sensors. The sensors determine when the front and rear wheels are moving at different speeds. The system works best compensating for road hazards like wet pavement, slippery white lines and manhole covers, or gravel on the road.
BMW pioneered antilock brakes for motorcycles; I consider it a must-have safety feature. The newest generation of antilock brakes has a more carlike feel, BMW said, in that it uses valves and hydraulics, instead of comparatively herky-jerky servo motors, to make the system activate more smoothly and predictably.
In this iteration of it, when the front brake lever is engaged, the front and rear brakes deploy in tandem to stop the bike; when the brake pedal is stepped on, only the rear brake is activated. The K1200GT’s braking system includes a brake pad wear indicator, which warns the rider when replacement is needed.
Also available is an electronic suspension adjustment system (an $800 option) that allows the rider to select — on the fly — from among a variety of settings for different riding situations.
This touring-sportbike hybrid handles as well as any two-wheeler of its ilk. Its suspension, whose design BMW calls Duolever at the front and Paralever at the back, comes directly from the sportier K1200S.
BMW pioneered this system nearly 20 years ago. In standard motorcycle construction the steering head and front wheel are connected in one unit that uses springs or shock absorbers to reduce wheel deflection that would affect steering. The Duolever front-wheel suspension separates steering and wheel-damping forces by a complex system of links, roller bearings and joints; the system results in ultraprecise steering unaffected by road jolts.
The Paralever allows the rear wheel to be mounted on a double-pivot swingarm, with an automobile-style driveshaft running through it, rather than a chain or belt as in most motorcycles.
You might be wondering how much all this wizardry weighs down this bike. The answer is not much. These days, BMW’s engineers have become more weight-conscious. They’ve managed to bring this bike’s dry weight in at less than 550 pounds; the engine and six-speed transmission are 6 percent lighter than previous powertrain components. Now the engineers need to turn their attention to lowering the seat height, one of my chronic gripes. Climbing aboard almost any BMW bike seems like mounting a thoroughbred race horse that is 17 hands high. Once in the adjustable saddle, it’s not bad, but its 32-inch-to-33-inch-high seat (an optional thinner seat is an inch lower) makes it difficult for anyone under six feet tall to get both feet flat on the ground at a stop to balance the bike.
Operator protection from the weather is quite good behind a fairing, which is as crisply creased as a paper airplane and seems about as aerodynamic. An electrically operated (by a handlebar-mounted toggle) windscreen allows nearly four inches of adjustment; lower it to set new speed records, raise it for maximum protection from wind, rain, cold and bugs. Optional heated seats ($280) and hand grips ($235) reduce the discomfort of riding on chilly days. Over all, the K1200GT is one of the smartest choices for a four-season bike.
The GT’s attractive twin saddlebags can easily be detached. It is much easier to maneuver in this seminaked condition and takes up less room in the garage. With the bags on, it’s almost as wide as a Scion. Splitting the lanes through stopped freeway traffic is definitely a no-no with this wide load, so be prepared to sit in line with the four-wheelers.
For those occasions when you just want to hop on and ride off into the sunset, gridlock notwithstanding, range has been extended. You can easily go more than 200 miles before needing to replenish the 6.3 gallon tank, which demands premium.
Twenty-dollar fill-ups won’t discourage owners of this bike, who will have already paid dearly for admission to the BMW K-Series club. There is also the matter of its $19,025 base price, which creeps up with the addition of amenities like xenon lighting ($465). Riders who can get by with less sport in their touring can find less expensive alternatives, but for the M of two wheelers, the K1200GT would be hard to beat.
