All Duels – BMW K1600GTL Vs Honda Goldwing: 6-cylinder in-line or flat? – Expressway

Posted on by admin

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

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

In the clan of opulent road cars, 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 !

Express highway

If the highway is never a pleasant test on a motorcycle (except, perhaps, at very high speed with certain machines?), Our two cruisers make this exercise rather pleasant. Restful position, top protection, cruise control … and all to music, please !

We take it easy on the handlebars of the Behème and the Honda. The kilometers go by without fatigue and their large tanks of more than 25 liters do not require stopping every 150 km. In this use, the K 1600 GTL takes advantage of the impressive extension of its ultra-available 1649 cc block and force-fed torque.

Royal at the bar

On the Gold Minister’s chair, the pilot can enjoy music up to a good 140 km / h. This will be less the case for its passenger who, seated higher, will be subjected to more aerodynamic noise. With the windshield set to its lowest, the protection of the whole body is very satisfactory, while the eyes of a 1.80m pilot still pass over the windshield..

The cruising speed can be quite high, but the Honda does not encourage much to exceed 160 km / h. After this course, the front axle becomes rather blurry and light, even not really reassuring in large curves approached between 180 and 200 km / h … on the German motorway! The only downside to this idyllic picture, the very upright position may wear down the rider’s lumbars somewhat despite the backrest offered by the passenger seat..

Sporty comfort

Comfort is also high on the Behème, but its behavior is decidedly more sporty. The suspensions are firmer (even in Comfort mode) as is the saddle. The protection is also less enveloping than on the Honda, while the listening quality of the sound system appears a notch below. On the other hand, its electrically adjustable bubble is cleverly notched at the pilot’s eye level so as not to disturb his vision..

The windshield in the high position protects very well, but creates a slight depression in the back of the pilot at high speed. If, on the contrary, the latter wants more air in high heat, he can deploy two hyper efficient deflectors on either side of the tank which channel the air directly towards the chest: two appendages as useful as they are practical..

Also benefiting from a more rigid chassis than the Goldwing, the K1600 GTL encourages much more speeding, especially as its engine – even restricted – is more demonstrative in the towers.

250 pins fingers in the nose

With almost reasonable consumption (between 7 and 7.5 l / 100 km) in relation to their capacity and their weight, our two vessels make it possible to lengthen the stages without fatigue. In the end, we will stop more often to change the play-list on our MP3 player or smartphone connected to the auxiliary socket (standard jack on the Honda and specific connectors on the Behème, of course!) Than to refuel..

Anyway, by tapping a little in the reserve, we can calmly count on a range of 300 km with the two machines unless you are only in the city or driving like a sagouin !

Related articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *