Not Wowed By BMW 1600 GT

[W14]

I have owned my 2009 Connie since 2010 and it now has roughly 35,000 miles on it - rode the Tail of the Dragon (TN), Back of the Dragon (VA Rt 16) and Snake (TN) last year.  It has been (is) a great bike and I have not had any issues it - not even the infamous heat the 2008s and 2009s are known for.

I other day I was thinking about upgrading and decided to test ride a BMW 1600 GT.  Boy was I disappointed.  First, the transmission was clunky, making a big clunking sound when the gears were engaged, which reminded me of the Suzuki M90 I owned before the Connie. Second, the wind protection and seat were no better than the Connie's, meaning I would need to buy an after-market seat and windshield. Third, I did not like the throttle response. The bike also felt too wide.  Lastly, the 2013 I tested was priced at $20K.

Needless to say but the BWM 1600 is off my bucket list.

[maxtog]

Needless to say but the BWM 1600 is off my bucket list.

Looks like your upgrade is now to the 16 Concours 14!!

[W14]

The C14 has not changed enough over time for me to want a new one.  And, there is no other bike out there that evokes enough passion in me to put it in the "got to have" position.  So, I will likely keep the 09 for a very long time.

[maxtog]

The C14 has not changed enough over time for me to want a new one.

Maybe not for you, but for many there are enough changes to warrant an upgrade.  Of course, doing nothing has a lot of advantages as far as monthly payments, insurance, and taxes

And, there is no other bike out there that evokes enough passion in me to put it in the "got to have" position.  So, I will likely keep the 09 for a very long time.

Nothing wrong with that.

[connie14boy]

I have owned my 2009 Connie since 2010 and it now has roughly 35,000 miles on it - rode the Tail of the Dragon (TN), Back of the Dragon (VA Rt 16) and Snake (TN) last year.  It has been (is) a great bike and I have not had any issues it - not even the infamous heat the 2008s and 2009s are known for.

I other day I was thinking about upgrading and decided to test ride a BMW 1600 GT.  Boy was I disappointed.  First, the transmission was clunky, making a big clunking sound when the gears were engaged, which reminded me of the Suzuki M90 I owned before the Connie. Second, the wind protection and seat were no better than the Connie's, meaning I would need to buy an after-market seat and windshield. Third, I did not like the throttle response. The bike also felt too wide.  Lastly, the 2013 I tested was priced at $20K.

Needless to say but the BWM 1600 is off my bucket list.

I have heard enough bad press about  BMW driveline failures, cost of ownership and maintenance to make me permanently immune to that brand. Also, the 1600 looks like a whale on 2 wheels..

[VirginiaJim]

Apt description..

[2talltim]

Triumph Trophy or the GW F6B are the only bikes that could lure me away from the Connie right now.

[tonedeaf]

But you are missing the most important reason to buy a BMW -- the abuse the sales person, parts counter help and maintenance/repair people will hand out. That is worth the $25K right there!

[VirginiaJim]

Unfortunately there are good BMW dealers.  We have a good one here in Fredericksburg, VA.  Not all of them are like that.  Kinda like Kwackers dealers.   There's good ones and bad ones.

[connie14boy]

But you are missing the most important reason to buy a BMW -- the abuse the sales person, parts counter help and maintenance/repair people will hand out. That is worth the $25K right there!

The reason I buy Kawasaki's is so I don't have to go to the dealers- after 5 years the only time the bike saw a dealer again was for the safety recall. Awesome reliability so far.

[maxtog]

The reason I buy Kawasaki's is so I don't have to go to the dealers- after 5 years the only time the bike saw a dealer again was for the safety recall. Awesome reliability so far.

+1

[Torn]

Unfortunately there are good BMW dealers.  We have a good one here in Fredericksburg, VA.  Not all of them are like that.  Kinda like Kwackers dealers.   There's good ones and bad ones.

Cant be the same dealership I visited.  They did not  speak or great when I was in there a week ago for about 15 minutes...not a soul came up to speak to me.  Poor customer service will never get my check.

[VirginiaJim]

Never had that issue with them.  They've always gone out of their way to be friendly to me but I haven't been there in awhile either.

[Conniesaki]

Cant be the same dealership I visited.  They did not  speak or great when I was in there a week ago for about 15 minutes...not a soul came up to speak to me.  Poor customer service will never get my check.

Why, that sounds fantastic!

[1jeep]

I admit I secretly Covent a bwm 1600gt, I keep telling myself surely they must be better since they are over $10k more than what I paid for my connie.
However I think back to the Harley Ultra CVO that I dumped $38000 to purchase thinking it was better....it certainly was in a better wrapper but turned out to be a huge let down!

I spend a few hours a week on the bmw forums pretending to be one of them, in the end I have noticed they change seats and add thousands of dollars worth of farkels just to make it more ride able. What really turned me off was when I went to my local dealer whom sells both kawi and bmw amongst other brands, the sales person straight out told me to keep the connie.

[maxtog]

I admit I secretly Covent a bwm 1600gt, I keep telling myself surely they must be better since they are over $10k more than what I paid for my connie.

As you found, more expensive doesn't mean "better".  And there isn't really any overall better or worse, just different points on a scale that varies wildly depending on a person's needs/wants/requirements/perceptions.

The 1600GT does have some additional nice features.  But few people who want to be really honestly objective about it could ever justify the huge cost difference when the C14 outperforms it in most ways, and appears to be more reliable in just about every way.  But how many people enter such situations being truly objective vs. how many just see "1600" and/or just see the BMW logo?

[martin_14]

it has to be my grasp of the English language, but I fail to see where the term "upgrade" fits in here, both when talking of "upgrading" a perfectly working '08 C14 to a '10+, or from the C14 to the K16 
Going from a Fiat Panda to a Ferrari is not necessarily an upgrade, in my dictionary. Different tools for different tasks. If you live in Rome and have a C14, a 50cc Vespa is an upgrade.

[1jeep]

Martin...are you saying the bmw is that much faster than the c14? IM assuming nothing fiat makes is very fast and to compare it to a Ferrari...I would hope the slowest would still be faster than the fastest fiat....

I do realize the 1600gt has much more techy stuff, radio nav, cruise....not sure I need anything more than the cruise as I have a smart phone that supplies the rest of the stuff.

[maxtog]

Martin...are you saying the bmw is that much faster than the c14? IM assuming nothing fiat makes is very fast and to compare it to a Ferrari...I would hope the slowest would still be faster than the fastest fiat....

I will respond for Martin, he can correct me if I am wrong

He wasn't saying the 1600GT is faster than the C14 (and it isn't).  Nor was he implying the C14 is like a Fiat and the Ferrari is like a BWM.   He was just saying that it isn't necessarily an "upgrade" when going from a Fiat (less expensive) to a Ferrari (more expensive)- it just depends on what is important to you.  (Which is kinda was I said in my previous posting).

Case in point- the Ferrari probably doesn't have much in the way of electronic convenience (nice stereo, GPS, auto everything).  It probably has a horribly stiff and rough race-car suspension and restrictive, low, stiff seats.  It probably has little in the way of storage or sound deadening.  Probably is only a two-seater.  The insurance and maintenance costs are astronomical.  So if comfort, storage, convenience, quietness, luxury, passenger room, or upkeep costs are important to you, would having a Ferrari be an "upgrade" over, say, a loaded Fiat 500X Trekking plus or maybe a Fiat Freemont Crossroad?

[Classvino]

...the Ferrari probably doesn't have much in the way of electronic convenience (nice stereo, GPS, auto everything).  It probably has a horribly stiff and rough race-car suspension and restrictive, low, stiff seats.  It probably has little in the way of storage or sound deadening.  Probably is only a two-seater.  ...

My Kia Sedona van certainly carries baby seats better than a Ferrari.   

Jamie