Inspired by the Concept 101 and based on the K 1600 GT sport tourer, the new-for-2018 K 1600 B is a high-tech bagger that can be equipped with nearly every comfort, convenience and safety feature you can think of. (Photos by Kevin Wing)
You really get to know a motorcycle when you ride it all day, every day, for an entire week. Long hours in the saddle give you plenty of time to contemplate what works and what doesn?t. After two days of riding the new BMW K 1600 B in the mountains and foothills near Asheville, North Carolina, during the press launch, I spent the next five days riding it through 14 states on my way home to California. Riding the K 1600 B from sunrise to sunset for several days in a row made its virtues and faults abundantly clear. Lean and mean, this machine elicited lots of compliments from folks on the street.
During that weeklong, 3,500-mile odyssey, the impeccable smoothness of the K 1600 B?s perfectly balanced, turbine-like in-line six-cylinder engine was indeed a virtue. With cruise control set at the 75 to 80 mph speed limits that prevail on Interstate 70 across wide-open stretches of Kansas, Colorado and Utah, the mirrors remained crystal-clear, there was barely any vibration and the bike felt as stable?and as fast?as a bullet train. I was grateful that, with the windscreen set at just the right height, airflow around my head was smooth and quiet, the seat was all-day, day-after-day supportive and the riding position created no pain points. I also en...