BMW K1300S Road Test
Tester Julian V Taylor
Pillion Passenger Gina M Taylor
One of the benefits of living on an Island back in England was the ability to jump on a ferry, to cross the English Channel to France every few weekends. It opened up thousands of wonderful touring roads in foreign countries at the drop of a hat. I use to regularly take me Honda 1100 XXX Blackbird across and tour regions covering 400 miles a day with my wife on the back.
France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany and Belgium I have done them all two up following a map with only a city destination in mind and no where to stay, or following the World Superbikes or MotoGP around to European races.
So when BMW asked me to test their new Sport Tourer the K1300S, those European trips came to mind, and I thought I should take up BMW’s offer and tackle a similar trip two-up here in the continental U.S.
We loaded our saddle bags and the wife jumped on the back and off we went down to Summit Point in Virginia for a 500 mile round trip.
The first thing that impressed me about the Beemer when I left the dealership (Pittsburgh European Motorcycles (www.bmwpgh.com) was the maneuverability of this big machine. My old Blackbird had to be pushed into a corner and it hated slow turns with weight on the back, this machine on the other hand just wanted to literally dive and glide into each bend, and slow moving was effortless even with the extra weight.
It caught me out a couple of times at the beginning by closing the corner off too early, but once I got the hang of how quickly it wanted to lean in, it was really rewarding and exciting. It encouraged me to keep the throttle open when tipping into any type of bend; you knew the planted stability would guide you around the corner, something I really would never have thought a BMW of this size would be capable of.
To look at the machine you can see that BMW have spared no expense on design, it really is a good looking machine. With its single sided swing arm, gorgeous wheels and sleek aerodynamic shape you can tell that the targeted market has taste. However, the big exhaust does ruin the look of the bike on the right hand side, that pipe could quite easily be put under the seat to keep the sleek lines
The toys on this machine are really quite incredible. Starting with the big powerful headlight that really does work in the pitch-black back roads of Virginia, a quick shifter, full electronic suspension setting switch that you can change on the fly, and computerized wizardry that will keep any techie like me occupied for hours while aboard this rocket-ship.
From the comfortable riding position that keeps you upright but sitting into the tank with a low center of gravity, wonderful mirrors and excellent pillion positioning it really is designed to eat up the miles.
That being said the 1293cc water-cooled 4-stroke in-line four-cylinder engine that rev’s to 11,000 RPM just keeps pulling in any gear. Sixth gear is comfortable as low as 45 miles an hour with no hesitation, and pulling all the way through without any type of power curve or flat spot. Just smooth linear power that keeps you moving very swiftly indeed. If you want to use the engine to its full capacity drop down to third gear crack open the throttle and you will see triple digits in no time at all, much to my wife’s disgust. That’s where the back prodding speed reducing mechanism she has developed over the years comes into action, much to my annoyance.
After about 200 miles it was time for a break. I felt the wind blast that came around the shield on the interstate starting to take its toll on my shoulders and my neck was getting a little stiff, but not too bad considering. The screen does not electronically move, but I could see why it could be a valuable extra on this machine when riding large amounts of miles.
The K1300S has ABS as standard with ASC (Automatic Stability Control) and ESA (Electronic Suspension Adjustment) optional. The ESA really works on this machine, even while moving; you can change the suspension setting to fit the road and riding conditions and the feedback is instant. The settings include Comfort for the interstate, Normal and Sport for the twisties. I have to say when it was working it was very effective, however, on the second day a warning light came on and it stopped working for the rest of the journey, and I am still waiting to find out why from the dealership.
The majority of BMW’s are equipped with the Paralever shaft drive system instead of the conventional chain drive setup. This was my first experience with this system, and I have to say I was very impressed with its responsiveness. There was never a time that I thought it needed a conventional system due to lag or any other issue and it’s also very maintenance friendly. The light alloy casing of the rear axle differential has a jointed connection to the light-alloy-cast single-sided Paralever swing arm. It bears the drive shaft that delivers the power.
On board, the instrument panel is designed to encompass both new and conventional technology. The speedometer and rev counter are both conventional, and fuel, ESA setting, tire pressure and many other statistics are all digital. I did find myself having to look twice at the speedo as the clock is quite cramped, and I found myself having to check my speed regularly due to it not being that visible while riding. When the policeman said I was speeding and I disagreed with him, the clock excuse came in very handy, he let me go..!!
On the way home I did find the bike much more enjoyable on the country roads than the interstate, just because of ride-ability and fun, so we kept pushing to make it home in one hit only stopping for gas fully on the back roads. The BMW K1300S really is everything and more than I expected, and it’s streets ahead of my old Blackbird. It makes for a very capable sports tourer.
I would have one in my collection to ride all year round; I could see us doing plenty of miles on this machine.
Julian V Taylor.
