K1200lt

K1200LT

No kitchen sink, but BMW adds just about everything else to its most luxurious touring bike ever

STEVE ANDERSON

AN 833-POUND WET WEIGHT IS THE FIRST CLUE, THE electric reversing mechanism the second, but it’s the optional refrigerator that gives the show away. With its new K1200LT, BMW is aiming at the living heart of the American luxury-touring market—a market where more is always better than less, bigger better than smaller, and you can’t have too many amenities. Unlike previous K-LTs, which offered a uniquely European and slightly spartan view of Grand Touring, this new and biggest BMW has Honda’s sybaritic Gold Wing dancing in its cross hairs.

At the LT’s introduction at the Munich Intermot Show, Dave Robb, chief of BMW motorcycle design, explained that the company’s intent with new models is to make them more

clearly distinctive from other bikes in its range, thus broadening the overall appeal of BMW motorcycles. So rather than offer fine graduations of sport-touring, BMW intends to position its motorcycles at the extremes, with the LT intended as even more a luxury tourer than the Wing.

The new machine is closely related to the K1200RS, sharing architecture and engine castings while differing in the details. The long-stroke inline-Four still lays on its side, still actuates its four valves per cylinder by twin camshafts.

But these cams have shorter timings than those of the RS, while the intake runners are longer and smaller, as are the EFI

throttle bodies (34mm vs.

38). BMW claims this re-tuning produces a smoother idle and more consistent off-idle running (vital for inspiring confidence in parking-lot maneuvers on such a heavy bike), and an exceptionally broad powerband. Torque peaks at a claimed 4750 rpm, with more than 85 percent of that available from 2800 to 6800. As a consequence, though, peak power drops from the RS’s 130 bhp to 98.

As on the latest RS, an aluminum frame locates the Telelever front suspension and swingarm directly, and isolates the engine with automotive-style rubber engine mounts. For the RS, that change eliminated the buzzing vibration which marred previous K-bikes, and it can be expected to render the LT almost as smooth as the flat-Six Gold Wing. While the RS stretched out on an exceptionally long (for a sportbike) 61.2-inch wheelbase, BMW engineers have given the LT yet more length, extending the Paralever rear suspension 3.1 inches to produce a 64.2-inch wheelbase-required, they said, to give the kind of rider and

passenger room essential for this type of machine.

Comfort and convenience considerations drove the integrated body design. The bodywork encompasses all, creating a cockpit sealed at the handlebars and integrating the luggage into the basic design. The wide fairing and windscreen are intended to offer exceptional wind and weather protection. A thumb switch on the handlebar adjusts the windshield height over an almost 5-inch range; for smaller riders or those who like looking over the top, a lower screen is available as an option. Clear plastic vanes under the mirrors snap into two positions, either shielding the rider from cold air and rain, or allowing a cooling flow on hot days. The swoopy sidebags open at the push of a button and the pull of a single lever, and need not be locked during normal riding. They’re attached permanently, and optional soft liners are offered for transporting bag contents to hotel room. The seats are wide and well-padded, and the pilot’s seat adjusts to either a 30.3or 31.5-inch height by simply opening the seat and flipping a single lever.

Even a quick look at the LT is a convincing demonstration that its luxury features were integrated from the beginning of the design effort. On the last Kl 100LT, the radio was an afterthought, a dealer-installed effort crammed inconveniently into the fairing glovebox. Not so on the new LT, which places radio controls on hand switches for the rider, and a separate set at the rear for the passenger. Four speakers (two front, two rear) mount smoothly into the bodywork. The sound system has been designed to allow adding every-

thing from a six-CD changer (dealer-installed and fitting in the right saddlebag) to a CB radio to an intercom system to a cell phone. Yes, you’ll be able to take a call and listen to it over the motorcycle speakers!

Gilding the LT are unique options. Other BMWs can be ordered with heated handgrips, but the LT can be ordered with heated seats as well-the heating elements extending to the passenger backrest on the top box. A trip computer similar to that used on the 7 series automobile will be available to calculate mileage and distance. A chrome group will be available if you want more brightwork, and yes, BMW is working on an optional, dealer-installed refrigerator that will fit into the top box.

BMW North America intends to import the K1200LT in three trim levels, the least expensive of which would likely be shorn of almost all radio accessories, while still including ABS. While pricing is uncertain, the intent is to retail the LT competitively, and a BMW spokesman suggested even the most expensive version would be less than $20,000. The LT should be in dealerships by February or March of 1999. By then, Cycle World should have had an opportunity to test the LT, and determine just how well it actually lives up to its apparently strong challenge to the longdominant Honda Gold Wing.