Germany! Land of scrumptious beer, extremely refined motor automobiles, and the Autobahn with no velocity limits. Because the begin of the pandemic, worldwide journey has been restricted, and I’ve missed Europe. Rising up with a German mom and touring to Europe once I was younger made it a second residence for me.As journey restrictions began to carry, a pair buddies and I began planning a bike journey. As a bike journalist, I’ve good alternatives to journey and check bikes. My spouse and household, nonetheless, don’t all the time admire my “dedication” to my craft and the truth that it leaves them out of the journey. So, this time it might be a household journey to Europe—two weeks on a motorcycle with my spouse, with my three grownup daughters becoming a member of for the second week in Slovenia.Having executed some gentle touring up to now with my spouse, she was conscious of the necessities and challenges of using a bike for trip. That being stated, asking a partner to journey on the again of a motorcycle for 2 weeks and forcing her to suit all her garments and belongings for the complete journey into two panniers and a high field could be a recipe for divorce!I wanted to make the journey as comfy as potential, which meant a giant bike with plush seating and plenty of storage. It additionally needed to be quick sufficient for the Autobahn and maneuverable sufficient to deal with the Alps—a wonderfully suited journey for a BMW touring bike.As luck would have it, BMW lately launched a brand new Ok 1600 mannequin vary. The Ok collection is BMW’s line of performance-oriented touring bikes, and the Ok 1600 GTL is without doubt one of the high luxurious touring bikes available in the market. It competes head-to-head with the Honda Gold Wing for greatest in school. With massive panniers, a membership chair-level of consolation for the passenger, and a beastly inline-six engine with seemingly limitless energy, the 2022 BMW Ok 1600 GTL is a perfect two-up touring machine.The deliberate route was a loop from Munich via Switzerland, Italy, Slovenia, Austria, and again to Munich. For the primary week, we’d journey with two buddies and their wives, then cut up off to Slovenia to satisfy my daughters.We spent a number of days in Munich ingesting scrumptious Bavarian beer, consuming all method of pig (principally charcuterie and sausage), and taking within the sights of previous Munich. Whereas the previous city space was stuffed with vacationers, it was nonetheless extraordinarily charming. Sit down at nearly any beer backyard or restaurant, and you’ll be handled to unbelievable beer and German meals. When you journey to Munich, ensure that to catch the Glockenspiel (previous metropolis corridor clocktower) and the Viktualienmarkt, an enormous open market with glorious produce and meals.The day after arriving and checking into the beautiful Platzl Hotel within the Munich metropolis heart, I picked up the bike from BMW on the outskirts of city.Dressed within the lovely Gravity Blue Metallic paint job, the 2022 BMW Ok 1600 GTL appears to be like terrific. Designing a big touring bike to be sensible and handsome is a tough process. Usually, the machine’s proportions can appear a bit unbalanced, with both an excessive amount of fairing upfront or too heavy with the luggage and trunk within the again. The GTL, nonetheless, is fantastically designed with attractive strains and a balanced look.As I approached the bike, I observed the motive force’s seat seemed fairly low. Sitting on the seat felt regular, with my toes comfortably flat on the bottom and sufficient bend within the leg to regulate the bike. The 29-inch seat peak is nice information for shorter riders, making flat-footing this beast potential for most individuals. What I didn’t notice till leaving the ability was that the seat to peg distance and positioning was unhealthy information for my six-foot body and previous knees and hips. I had assumed that, like different fashions in BMW’s lineup, there was a method to manually modify the seat peak. Sadly, I discovered that the GTL requires a wholly totally different seat.Earlier than taking off, I rapidly synced my cellphone to the bike. It has an enormous 10.25-inch TFT display; when paired with the BMW Join app in your cellphone, it gives glorious navigation on display—theoretically.Whereas linking the cellphone was simple, getting the BMW Join app to work persistently was an enormous ache. Because the journey wore on, the navigation connectivity points grew from a minor annoyance to full-blown exasperation!BMW has an excellent proprietary navi system, but its flagship GTL requires the rider to make use of a smartphone to navigate.I’m regularly shocked and extremely dissatisfied that bike producers attempt to create their very own smartphone interface for navigation fairly than utilizing the far superior Apple CarPlay or Android Auto techniques. Smartphone-based navigation techniques are inferior to true satellite tv for pc techniques, which don’t require cell protection, don’t drain your cellphone battery, and don’t fail if the cellphone overheats (all of which occurred to me on this journey—a number of occasions). Moreover, the BMW app requires the app to be open on the cellphone, which implies the cellphone can’t be used to do the rest!The BMW Related app was additionally glitchy and unstable; it randomly misplaced reference to the sprint repeatedly. The Ok 1600 is a top-of-the-line touring bike with an enormous TFT display. Why BMW can’t or received’t combine its satellite-based system into the bike’s electronics is a thriller.Shifting on, the primary actual problem we confronted was transferring all our garments and equipment into the BMW’s laborious circumstances. Fortuitously, after making some tough clothes selections, all the things match within the massive panniers and high field—barely. The expandable tank bag I introduced helped. If the GTL have been mine, I’d add a baggage rack on the highest field and strap on a dry bag.As we pulled away from the lodge in downtown Munich and navigated the old-world streets with a passenger and totally loaded with baggage, the Ok 1600 GTL felt huge and heavy—not stunning with a curb weight of 800 kilos earlier than including a passenger and equipment. Mitigating it is a low heart of gravity and a well-balanced chassis that retains the bike manageable at low speeds. As soon as we have been on barely quicker roads, the burden melted away rapidly, and the bike felt lighter than it ought to have.With BMW’s glorious Dynamic Digital Suspension Adjustment, the journey was buttery clean over all sorts of roads. Not like the boxer engine on the R 1250 RT brethren my buddies had rented, the Ok 1600 engine has much less rapid torque however deep energy, creating very clean and simply accessible acceleration.The stop-and-go visitors within the metropolis could make the passenger expertise not a lot enjoyable with a torquey engine. Nonetheless, the 1600 has very simple roll-on of the throttle and little or no jerkiness whereas shifting with a clutch or the wonderful quickshifter. This makes the passenger expertise rather more pleasant.Nonetheless, don’t let the easy-going energy supply idiot you. The 1600 engine is a magnificence and a beast! With 160 horsepower on faucet and 132 ft/lbs of torque, rolling on the throttle seems like a freight prepare gathering velocity. Regardless of the burden and all of the load, I by no means felt I wanted extra energy to cross or speed up.The primary cease of the journey was St. Moritz in Switzerland.The street from Munich included some Autobahn earlier than hitting the city of Garmisch-Partenkirchen and the extra rural alpine roads. The BMW was rock stable at Autobahn speeds, with good wind safety for each of us as much as 75 miles an hour when some buffering got here into the combination.The Ok 1600 GTL has a big power-adjustable windscreen that’s glorious and works fantastically. Energy adjustability appears like a little bit of luxurious. Nonetheless, in a single day, modifications in route and wind and street circumstances necessitate incremental changes to the windscreen for optimum wind safety. Pushing a button to do this is good.Transitioning to curvy mountain roads on the 2022 BMW Ok 1600 GTL meant adjusting to the added weight. Whereas it’s well-balanced, it definitely wouldn’t be thought-about nimble. That stated, downshifting and rolling on the throttle offered glorious passing energy and a steady chassis.Even with some ominous clouds, the alpine surroundings was breathtaking, and the street circumstances have been unbelievable. Rolling into St Moritz, we checked into the unbelievable Art Boutique Hotel Monopol, excited to have the primary day of using below our belts.We spent two days exploring the mountains and the gorgeous city of simply 5000 folks. There’s a nice gondola system to take you to the highest of the Munt da San Murezzan and trains to whisk you to terrific eating spots all through the city. We may have spent extra time in St. Moritz, however our subsequent vacation spot, Lake Como, Italy, awaited!Departing St Moritz, we traveled down the valley, skirting lovely lakes and cruising via quaint city after city. On the finish of the valley, we began an extended collection of tight switchbacks that finally took us down the mountains and into Italy.Getting the massive, totally loaded dresser with a passenger down the mountain was not for the faint of coronary heart. There have been a pair occasions when a automobile or truck blew by us a lot nearer than I’d’ve preferred, and leaning the GTL over sufficient to make the hairpin turns was initially nerve-racking. As I acquired extra used to the chassis, I discovered it fairly manageable, so long as we moved with just a little velocity.As we descended the mountains, we encountered a brand new foe that we’d battle for the remainder of the journey—warmth! World warming is not any joke, and Europe was experiencing document temperatures. We had heard that roads have been melting in Spain. Fortunately, we didn’t expertise it first-hand.Shortly, all of that great wind safety I discussed earlier was not a very good factor, because the temperature climbed into the 90s. To the BMW Ok 1600 GTL’s credit score, I by no means felt any extreme warmth off the engine, though the engine began sounding just a little extra clackety (technical time period). At stops, I may really feel the radiator fan blow scorching air on my legs.Our subsequent cease on the journey was the city of Bellagio on Lake Como. The journey down the lake from the north may be made on native roads, ferries, or highways. The warmth and our want to quench our parched throats with scrumptious Italian wine pointed us to the a lot quicker freeway route.The roads we chosen put us in loads of lengthy tunnels. Normally, I’d not like that, however the tunnels offered a little bit of a reprieve from the warmth, and I a lot appreciated that.We arrived in Bellagio for 3 days of wonderful Italian meals and delightful vistas alongside the lake. The warmth was settling in, so we stayed off the bikes more often than not.We did enterprise out on the bikes for a day journey to the Moto Guzzi manufacturing unit in close by Mandello del Lario for a guided tour of the Moto Guzzi Museum. The museum is a good expertise, and I extremely suggest it to anybody passing via that approach.The historical past of the Moto Guzzi is fascinating, and it was superb to see how the bikes advanced over the past century. We had the total tour and gained a fantastic appreciation of the Guzzi model and heritage.After a number of days of unbelievable meals, very good wine, and nice firm, my spouse and I parted methods with our buddies. However, earlier than doing so, we had one final thing to sort out—the famed Stelvio Move.Stelvio is the second highest paved cross within the Alps. With its 75 (no less than!) 180+ diploma hairpin turns, it’s a Mecca for motorists, motorcyclists, and bicyclists seeking to check their mettle. Along with the turns, it has numerous sheer drop-offs and a number of other single-lane tunnels requiring cease lights to handle visitors.Stelvio Move is as epic because it sounds. However it’s also very crowded, which isn’t the very best factor on an 800-pound bike!There have been a number of turns the place spirited automobile drivers got here awfully near clipping the Beemer. Fortuitously, one of many wives had rented a automobile. My spouse opted to journey shotgun as an alternative of a pillion for the harrowing journey up and again down.All in all, Stelvio Move was a fantastic expertise, but when I do it once more, it will likely be on a a lot lighter and extra nimble bike!Our day resulted in Bassano del Grappa, a completely attractive Italian city with many piazzas and city squares stuffed with cute retailers and eating places—undoubtedly a spot I’d return to on a future journey.Coming down from the Alps, we began to expertise the oppressive warmth once more. Leaving Bassano del Grappa the subsequent day, we have been completely roasting. Our vacation spot was Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, which took so much longer than anticipated because of required stops for water and cooling down. Though the warmth made it a tough go, the 2022 BMW Ok 1600 GTL continued to carry out fantastically.Ljubljana is Slovenia’s largest metropolis. It additionally claims to be one of many greenest capital cities on this planet, having a lot of the downtown cordoned off from visitors.When planning, it gave the impression of a wonderful vacation spot. Nonetheless, after many hours within the sweltering warmth, parking the GTL outdoors the pedestrian space and hauling all of our gear 10 blocks to the Vander Urbani Resort sucked. Fortunately, the lodge had a rooftop pool and was properly located alongside the river, with quite a few eating places and bars out there to supply a cool celebratory drink!Becoming a member of us have been my three daughters, who had educated down from Munich and arrived a number of hours after we did. The three days we spent sightseeing and exploring Slovenian wine nation with our information from the Winerist wine touring firm have been unbelievable and extremely advisable. The countryside and hospitality are outstanding, and exploring the multitude of vehicle-free streets in Ljubljana on foot is nice.After a fantastic few days, we have been on the transfer once more. The children headed again to Munich whereas we rode to the much more lovely Lake Bled for 2 closing nights in Slovenia.Lake Bled is a beautiful alpine lake, with a wonderful church on an island within the center, surrounded by mountains. Locals and vacationers flock to it for swimming, paddling, and informal row boating. We stayed at Vila Bled, the summer time palace of long-time Yugoslavian President Josip Tito. Regardless of not having air-con, it featured lovely rooms, a unbelievable restaurant, and epic views of the lake.The ultimate leg of the journey again to Munich took us via the gorgeous alpine countryside of Austria and southern Germany, with rain threatening however solely delivering a number of drops.Bike touring gives an intimate expertise, embedding you deeper within the surroundings than vehicles, trains, or planes. Whereas we suffered via some warmth, we skilled way more on a bike than we’d have in any other case. We felt rather more in contact with the nations we traveled via, the villages and cities we stopped in, and the folks we met.Our European journey was unbelievable, and the 2022 BMW Ok 1600 GTL delivered a very comfy and confidence-inspiring expertise. My greatest criticism is that my spouse is now spoiled and won’t journey on something lower than a top-of-the-line touring machine.
BMW Ok 1600 GTL European Tour Photograph Album