All Duels – BMW K1600GTL Vs Honda Goldwing: 6-cylinder in-line or flat? – The call of the road

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BMW K1600GTL Vs Honda Goldwing: 6-cylinder in-line or flat ?

All Duels - BMW K1600GTL Vs Honda Goldwing: 6-cylinder in-line or flat? - The call of the road

In the clan of opulent road, the Honda GL1800 Goldwing is sovereign, at the same time very comfortable, soft and pleasant … But this year arrives a second 6-cylinder motorcycle: the BMW K1600GTL… Face to face full options !

The call of the road

We buy a priori this type of machine to drive far, long, loaded, two, at night and in the rain … otherwise, we have nothing to say when returning! But this rain, MNC had to wait for the return to the Paris region to find it.

Protection at the top or not, when it really rains, we are wet (yes yes!). Perhaps a little less on the handlebars of the Honda but it will still require serious equipment on pain of swimming in your boots. Once again, in the wet, the (fish-) pilot will praise the docility of the Goldwing and rant against the electronic accelerator of the German.

Delphine‘s favorite

Unsurprisingly, the very comfortable chair of the Goldwing, with its armrests and large backrest, thrilled our passenger Delphine! She even confessed to us having stung a few good big snoozes from the back of the Japanese woman: !

The German is also very welcoming, but still remains a cut below. Our passenger deplored the presence of two large particularly protruding seams on the backrest and the "rickety" side of the top-case which is not completely integral with the machine as on the Honda. Impossible to sleep according to her…

In terms of cargo capacity, the Goldwing offers a top-case and storage compartments much larger than on the K 1600 GTL. On the other hand, the suitcases of the German can be withdrawn, which is not possible on the Japanese … and is more convenient to take things to their room..

In addition, it is much more pleasant to handle the luggage of the BMW rather than that of the Honda, the quality of which can still be improved: imprecise locking, fragile appearance. Can do better !

Christmas trees

When it comes to driving at night, we are finally happy to find ourselves behind the handlebars of two vessels on the road. These are arguably two of the best illuminating motorcycles on the market. And for good reason: the enormous optical unit of the GL 1800 Goldwing is already doing wonders, but the high-tech lights of the K1600 GTL are still a cut above !

Equipped with xenon and adaptive directional lighting – a first in two-wheelers – they greatly facilitate night driving. Connected to the motorcycle’s tilt sensor, they constantly compensate for the attitude of the lights on a curve, thus avoiding lighting up the ditch inside the bend and the treetops on the outside. No more dreaded – and formidable … – "black hole" effect when exiting a bend !

It all depends on the program !

From the top of its 36 years of experience in the service of big rollers, the Goldwing looks at the new German comer with the assurance of the wise old man who knows that he is still a few steps ahead. But boosted by this new competition, Honda still reacted and also upgraded its Goldwing 1800 for 2012 (read).

For its part, the K1600GTL hits hard upon its arrival, brilliantly combining comfort and high-level dynamic behavior. A bit behind in terms of driving pleasure in ride mode, especially for the passenger, the German also suffers from a French castration which does not allow her to express all her potential Kollossal.

Nevertheless, for "motorcycle-tourists" in a hurry who would like to travel through Europe in three days, it is particularly interesting since it is marketed from € 22,350, around € 24,600 with the essential Safety packs (€ 855) and Equipment (€ 1,410). It’s expensive, of course, but not that much in view of its technological content … and especially the astronomical price (28,990 €) of the Goldwing !

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