With the state of the economy at the moment, pre-owned bikes are by far and away out selling new bikes on anything above 500 cc’s making the used bike market second only to commercial bikes. There are a few reasons for that in our humble opinion, the biggest of which is price.
The good news is that there are still lots of really good used bikes available on the SA market and this is one of them…
We chatted to the team at BMW Motorrad Fourways who invited us to drop in and choose any of their pre-owned bikes on the floor. So! We did exactly that. Please bear in mind, this is not a spec sheet review but rather the quality of pre-owned bikes available from BMW Motorrad Fourways.
We rolled into Fourways Motorrad, wandered around the showroom for a bit and chose a 10 year old BMW K1600GT parked right at the back of the showroom with a price tag of R145,000.00.
The team from BMW Motorrad Fourways wheeled the big blue machine into their workshop to check tyre pressures, oil/fluid levels and all safety features before handing over the keys.
52,000 km’s on the clock:
Sean Says:
Six cylinder bikes always get my motor racing, they’re quick off the mark, sound like a million bucks and they accelerate like a rocket ship… all the while sounding like an F1 car! What’s not to like?
At t somewhere around 320 kg’s you would expect the GT to be a bit clumsy in the handling department, especially with all its luggage on but he spec sheet is more intimidating than the bike itself.
The GT has a fairly low seat height and a surprisingly trim little waist, effectively negating its bulk. Get it out onto the road and the gyroscopic motion from those 6 pistons and monstrous crankshaft negates the weight even further. Once I worked out that the panniers were no wider than the handlebars, lane splitting was as easy as can be.
From an engine, chassis/suspension and handling point of view there is nothing to give away this bikes age, it honestly feels and rides like any brand new 1600GT that we have ridden.
It made smooth, linear power off the mark and clicked through the gears just like a new machine, but this is where it also hinted at its age, it doesn’t have a quickshifter.
We took the K1600GT for a run out to and around The Cradle of Humankind, a 150 km odd route that lends itself to manic Joburg traffic out along good country roads and then into the sweeping bends we love before heading back into rush hour city traffic with a smattering of much needed rain chucked in here and there for good measure.
The Big Beemer performed well all the way. The electronic suspension was reset to rider with pillion and luggage, as the cameraman and all his gear had to be lugged along as well. Those thighs kept flexing as we tilted into the sweepers at around 200kmh in most places. Absolutely no complaints about the handling of the K1600GT. It’s such a well balanced machine.
For those that are familiar with The Cradle will know that it is riddled with speed bumps that tend to appear out of nowhere when whipping along at speed – as happened to us more than a few times on this ride. This makes for great brake testing though, and this particular big blue Beemer stopped well.
As with most of BMW’s big capacity bikes, the K1600GT does not nose dive and get squirley when you suddenly clamp down on the hooks, they just kind of settle down a bit lower while the electronics modulate everything to a rapid, yet dignified scrubbing off of speed. This 2014 BMW K1600GT was no different when braking hard.
As far as the mechanicals like engine, chassis, suspension, brakes etc go, it is as close to a new bike as you can get. Comfort wise it is equally as infallible, with a very relaxed and very neutral rider triangle, ideal for spending many hours in the saddle chasing the horizon. All the onboard electronics, ABS, traction control, cruise control, electronic suspension worked as superbly as one has come to expect from the Bavarian brand. Looking around this K1600 there were no signs of fluids trying to escape anywhere nor any untoward odours hinting at some sort of hidden leak somewhere.
With 52,000 km’s on the clock this bike feels basically brand new – even the paintwork is nigh on perfect with not a rattle to be detected anywhere.
One of the only places to really give this bike’s age away is the cockpit. Yes, it still has BMW’s legendary ‘Nav Wheel’ to work your way through the menu, which is not a full colour TFT, but rather, a conservative LCD set up below the analogue dials for the speedo and rev counter. That’s fine by us.
It gives all the information you need at a glance. This K1600GT has all the facilities already wired in to install a sound system.
Were we to buy this one, we’d get the top box locking mechanism cleaned and lubricated as it was a bit stiff to open and maybe a new set of tyres fitted. the ones on the bike were great in the dry and on even surfaces, but weren’t that reassuring on bumpy surfaces and in the rain. They are possibly a bit old and might have lost a bit of their stickiness with age.
Other than that, for R145,000.00 you are going to struggle to find a cleaner, neater BMW K1600GT with all the bells and whistles than this one. And this is just one of many bikes on the floor.
Give Desmond and the team a shout at BMW Motorrad Fourways, they trade in all brands on new or pre-owned bikes as well as buy in any and all BMW’s from 2010 onwards in good nick. They can also assist with financing and insurance if needs be.
Also keep an eye on their social media pages, they are always up to something.
