Kind of done by many now but I had a loan LC from the nice people at Bahnstormers yesterday whilst my GSA was being serviced and for what it is worth thought I would share my initial thoughts.
The good
Road holding/ handling - Awesome, incredibly forgiving, very predictable and after the GSA seems like a chuckable light weight.
Stability - even more awesome. After 32 years of riding the best bike I have ridden is the GSA....the LC beets it. It feels like it is attached to the road by some sort of magic force. There is a fast sweeper on the A31 that has a washboard surface. On the GSA at speed this causes some movement around the road as the front suspension tries to keep the front tyre on the road. No such experience with the LC....remarkable.
Screen - effective on the motorway behind traffic.....you get air flow but no buffeting. Not as effective as the GSA screen for protection but sooooo much better than the oil head.
Build quality - initial impression looks to be much better....better fixings and overall finish but I guess time will tell.
Gear box - as previously reported quite a clunk into first....more so than the GSA but then the LC had not done 2000 miles. Otherwise much faster and smoother on the move and no problem finding neutral like others have had.
Comfort - seat and riding position immediately feel good and 2 hours in the sadle with no complaints.....so for me a definate improvement over the previous model.
Motor - like wow....turbine like....just plus and pulls....sooooo much fun. When the new RT comes (i have an oil head as well) out it will be a world beater and probably makes the k1600 obsolete IMO.
Negatves for me.
- Instuemnts - too much info and too confusing...I am not sure if this changes as you get used to it or configure the screen but there is just too much info with key stuff being too small.
- Gear ratios - as previously reported they are just too close with 5 & 6 gearing being too high. I found myself in 6th far more often than the GSA which I only really use for high speed motorway work. This is a deal breaker for me as I find the GSA so much more relaxing high speed cruising....feels just to frantic on the LC.....also there was a vibration through the seat at about 80 that I would find wearing after a while. For a touring bike I think BMW have missed a trick with the ratios.
Throttle - this may be something that you just get used to over time but I find all the ride by wire bikes I have ridden very difficult to ride smoothly at slow speed in traffic. The LC was no exception.....holding a constant 30 smoothly was tricky. The commute into London would not be pleasant!
Overall, an awesome bit of kit but for me with the type of riding I do commuting down the motorway into London...I will be sticking with the GSA.
I hope the new GSA has a wider spaced gearbox with a higher 6th....if not then I think this is a real mistake for what is largely a touring bike. If it does then the negs above will be massively outweighed by the positives and will make the GSA an unbelievable machine....and I will be first in the que for a new one.
Cheers
The good
Road holding/ handling - Awesome, incredibly forgiving, very predictable and after the GSA seems like a chuckable light weight.
Stability - even more awesome. After 32 years of riding the best bike I have ridden is the GSA....the LC beets it. It feels like it is attached to the road by some sort of magic force. There is a fast sweeper on the A31 that has a washboard surface. On the GSA at speed this causes some movement around the road as the front suspension tries to keep the front tyre on the road. No such experience with the LC....remarkable.
Screen - effective on the motorway behind traffic.....you get air flow but no buffeting. Not as effective as the GSA screen for protection but sooooo much better than the oil head.
Build quality - initial impression looks to be much better....better fixings and overall finish but I guess time will tell.
Gear box - as previously reported quite a clunk into first....more so than the GSA but then the LC had not done 2000 miles. Otherwise much faster and smoother on the move and no problem finding neutral like others have had.
Comfort - seat and riding position immediately feel good and 2 hours in the sadle with no complaints.....so for me a definate improvement over the previous model.
Motor - like wow....turbine like....just plus and pulls....sooooo much fun. When the new RT comes (i have an oil head as well) out it will be a world beater and probably makes the k1600 obsolete IMO.
Negatves for me.
- Instuemnts - too much info and too confusing...I am not sure if this changes as you get used to it or configure the screen but there is just too much info with key stuff being too small.
- Gear ratios - as previously reported they are just too close with 5 & 6 gearing being too high. I found myself in 6th far more often than the GSA which I only really use for high speed motorway work. This is a deal breaker for me as I find the GSA so much more relaxing high speed cruising....feels just to frantic on the LC.....also there was a vibration through the seat at about 80 that I would find wearing after a while. For a touring bike I think BMW have missed a trick with the ratios.
Throttle - this may be something that you just get used to over time but I find all the ride by wire bikes I have ridden very difficult to ride smoothly at slow speed in traffic. The LC was no exception.....holding a constant 30 smoothly was tricky. The commute into London would not be pleasant!
Overall, an awesome bit of kit but for me with the type of riding I do commuting down the motorway into London...I will be sticking with the GSA.
I hope the new GSA has a wider spaced gearbox with a higher 6th....if not then I think this is a real mistake for what is largely a touring bike. If it does then the negs above will be massively outweighed by the positives and will make the GSA an unbelievable machine....and I will be first in the que for a new one.
Cheers
