General topics » R1250RS Vs. K1600GT

This seems like a strange comparison, but as a former owner of a K1600GT I noticed that acceleration of my new R1250RS seemed similar to what I had experienced on the K16. I can't do an instrumented comparison test, but I can compare specs, which shows some interesting things.

The K1600 GT is claimed to weigh 736 pounds including panniers. The R1250RS weighs 536, without panniers. Assuming the BMW bags weigh 10 pounds each (I didn't weigh them), the 1250RS weighs 556 pounds with bags.

BMW claims 160 HP for the K1600 and 136 for the 1250RS. That means the K16 engine is pushing 4.6 pounds per HP, and the R1250RS engine is pushing 4.0 pounds per HP.

With a 200 pound rider, the K16 is pushing 5.85 pounds per HP and the RS is pushing 5.55 pounds per HP.

BMW claims 129 foot pounds of torque for the K16 and 105 for the 1250. That means the K16 is pushing 5.7 pounds/ft lb and the 1250 is pushing 5.3 pounds/ft Lb.

With a 200 pound rider (me, including gear) the K16 is pushing 7.2 pounds/ft Lb and the rs is pushing the same 7.2 pounds/ft Lb.

It looks like my perception that performance is similar must be pretty close to reality.

Notice that the K1600GT is the lightest of the K16 models. The GTL, Bagger and Grand America weigh even more.

When I first bought a K1600, as a pre-ordered 2012 unit delivered in 2011, it had much better performance than the 2010 GS I traded in on it. It also had much less engine vibration than the GS, which was much of the reason for trading the GS. Long rides at interstate speeds on the GS were very tiresome due to the fairly intense handle bar vibrations. I remember the relief associated with stopping to fill the tank and feeling the vibes drop as I slowed down. The K16 cured that issue.

The handlebar vibes of the 1250RS probably are still slightly more than the K16, but are so close now as to be immaterial to me.

Other comparisons:
The K16 luggage is bigger, but I've become so good at packing by now that I can pack for 3 weeks on the RS without much difficulty. I never have time for longer trips than that.

The top case on the K16 is so heavy it makes the bike feel much more top-heavy when it is installed. The top case on the RS is pretty much un-noticeable. The K16 is more top-heavy than the RS is anyway, so when comparing the bikes with top cases installed, the K16 is not only much heavier, but much more top-heavy. An RS loaded for a trip is much easier to manage than a K16 loaded for the same trip. This is mattering to me more and more as I get older.

The K16 has an electric windshield. This is slightly more convenient that adjusting the MRA screen on my RS manually. When the K16 screen is raised it gives somewhat better weather protection that my screen on the RS, but when lowered, I get more, smoother air on the RS. Since I do much of my riding in the hot summer, I am more comfortable, more of the time on the RS. The movable deflector on the MRA screen gives me at least as much control of air-flow as is available on the K16. The K16 has fold-out air deflectors for hot days. They definitely provide more airflow, but at the expense of noise. The RS has smoother, quieter airflow when I need a lot of air.

I owned four K1600s in total. Every one of them had steering that pulled to the left. If you take your hands off the handlebars the bikes would dive pretty quickly to the left. Of course you shouldn't do that, but even if you didn't. the K16 requires constant forward pressure on the right bar to go in a straight line. It;s not that apparent most of the time, but I believe it was the cause of shoulder pain I always experienced after riding a few hours on the K16. I never have that pain on an RS (I've taken some pretty long rides on my '16 RS before obtaining the 1250).

BMW claims the K1600 tank holds 7 gallons. That was true of the early bikes, but BMW made some change in later models that made it pretty much impossible to get the last half gallon into the tank. The last K16 I owned (a 2018 model, never got more than around 39 mpg. on 6.5 gallons that would provide range of around 253 miles. My new 1250 is already providing 50 mpg. Experience with other boxer engines indicates that mpg will get better as the engine breaks in, but even if it doesn't, I can expect around 240 miles to a dry tank. The extra 13 miles of range of the K16 isn't much of an advantage.

The weight of the K16 makes it very difficult to push back out of a parking space, especially if there is some gravel on the road, or if you park with the bike pointing even slightly down hill. You have to be very careful where you park a K16. The newer ones have a reverse capability, so when I bought the 2018 bike I thought that issue was solved, but reverse on the bike moves it much too fast. I can't imagine anybody being OK with going that fast backwards on a motorcycle. In addition, the bike automatically hits the brakes as soon as you release the reverse button, so you start going backwards too fast, release the button to slow down and it jerks to a stop, backing out of a parking spot is a series of jerks. Unpleasant enough to be avoided, so even with the reverse capability you have to be careful where you park a K16. The RS, on the other hand, is fare easier to extricate from tricky parking situations.

The K16 has central locking. This feature makes keyless ride worth having since there is never a reason to take the key out of your pocket. On the RS you have to take out your key to lock/unlock your luggage. It would actually be easier to access your key if it was in the ignition than it is when it's zipped into an inner pocket, which is where I keep it when riding.

I suspect most buyers of K1600 bikes don't realize that the 1250RS now offers similar performance and comfort, along with much less weight, lower center of gravity, no left-pulling steering and lower cost. I'm never going back to a K1600.

I've recently moved from an R1200RS to an R1250RT. I would not even have considered a 1600, the RT is more than heavy enough for me. Next week I shall be taking my annual trip to South West France; last time was on the RS; I had previously done it on an F800ST and an F800GT - of the three the RS was by far the best bike for the journey, which was only really marred by the incessant wind noise due to the useless RS screen. I guess I just wanted to try an RT and telelever front end before I get too old (70 last Sunday). I'll find out next week if that was a mistake....

Zitat von Yoda im Beitrag #2

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I've recently moved from an R1200RS to an R1250RT. I would not even have considered a 1600, the RT is more than heavy enough for me. Next week I shall be taking my annual trip to South West France; last time was on the RS; I had previously done it on an F800ST and an F800GT - of the three the RS was by far the best bike for the journey, which was only really marred by the incessant wind noise due to the useless RS screen. I guess I just wanted to try an RT and telelever front end before I get too old (70 last Sunday). I'll find out next week if that was a mistake....

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Well you have to do it....(apologies for thread drift)

This is not me - I was taking the photo


DSC00197.JPG - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

Thanks for the comparisson, very informative.

Because I now own an '09 K1300 GT and a '17 1200 RS, the K1600 GT is defenitely on my mind as a future option to replace both my current bikes. I like to do long tours around Europe (even IBA 1000+ miles per day), so the K1600 seems a good tool for that. And at 6'4" and 220 pounds I think I can handle the K1600, also because the K1300 isn't a featherweight either...

Also I'll keep an eye out for that pulling to the left issue, hopefully that's not a standard "feature" on the K1600's. I would be looking at a '17 or newer model, because of the updates like the reverse gear, so I would be curious if you noticed a lot of improvements over the years in the different production years of the K1600?

Gaucho, if you're interested in the K1600 there is an excellent forum (K1600forum.com). Take a look at it. Lots of info. At you're size the K1600 is probably a great choice.

About the left pull of the steering, it seems to vary a bit from bike to bike, and also varies with tires, tire condition, tire inflation. A few people claim their bike doesn't have a left pull, but most do report its existence. As I said, all four K1600 bikes I owned had it, to varying degrees. It was nice to see that an RS will go arrow-straight with no hands on the bars.

There have been some changes over the years. Early bikes, starting with pre-order bikes in 2011 had some problems with overheating, burning oil, failure of the pistons around the piston ring grooves, leaky water pumps, failed ignition coils and possibly some other minor issues.

I personally experienced leaky water pumps on my 2011/2012 and 2013 bike. The 2015 and 2018 bikes didn't leak. In no case were the leaks bad enough to be a problem. they show up as a blue stain on the right hand exhaust heat shield, which is just below the water pump. Blue coolant drips onto it and evaporates leaving the mark. I never saw the coolant level drop visibly.

The 2011/2012 and 2013 bikes each had more than one failure of ignition coils. On two occasions I had two failed coils a the same time. This causes some loss of power and a warning light, but the bike runs pretty well on 4 cylinders, so you won't get stuck from that problem either. The 2015 and 2018 bikes never had coil failures.

The transmission was crunchy on the 2011/12 bike shifting from 1st to 2nd gear, occasionally being very difficult to get into 2nd gear. This got better on each successive year until the 2018 bike had a beautifully operating transmission with shift assist.

My 2013 bike was the most troublesome. It overheated, especially going up mountains or in stop and go traffic on hot days. It burned lots of oil so that I had to add 4 quarts on a ride from New York to the Rocky mountains and back (around 5000 miles). BMW eventually replaced the engine on the 2013 bike under warranty. The 2011/12 bike and the 2015 bike also burned some oil, but at more moderate rates. The 2018 bike didn't seem to burn any oil at all on a 5000 mile trip.


It seems as if BMW did eliminate issues over time, until the newer bikes seem pretty solid. The left pull was not fixed in 2018 though. Maybe you won't mind it. I thought I didn't mind it until I got the RS that doesn't do it, at which time I realized my shoulders were more relaxed apparently from eliminating the need to constantly counter steer against the pull.

Incidentally, if your bike pulls to the left, you can minimize it by packing your right pannier heavier than your left bag. That became standard procedure for me on trips.

The K1600 has very light steering effort for a big heavy bike. This makes it fun on twisty roads. The tradeoff is that it's a bit sensitive to microscopic steering input on fast highways, feeling slightly flighty until you learn to grip the bars very lightly. The 1200RS feels stable and planted in comparison. So far, my new 1250RS seems to have slightly lighter steering than the 1200RS, making it a bit more like the K16 in that regard, but I think still a bit more stable feeling that the K16.

If there is anything else you want to know, please ask.