Had a Beemer for 25 years, but I really love my HD.

 

If I were to add a BMW touring bike it would not be the 1600. The 1600 does 40 mgp at best and the storage is small. The one I would pick is the R1200RT. I have put a fair amount of miles on my son's.

They have more storage and can match the HD touring bikes in mpg. The big "BUT" is that they are not as comfortable. Just pegs and no room to adjust your riding position. The bike handles the road better than a HD but not as comfortable.

I like the air cooled boxter motor but next year it joins the shower head club.

In my opinion even the Victory Cross Country is a better touring choice than the 1600 BMW.

BMW put more engineering into performance as their main focus on the bike. They left the touring part as secondary at best.

To me touring is about comfort, load capacity and distance til empty.

 

I bought a 1600 GTL last August and have put a bit over 21k miles on it so far and here are some observations from someone who owns both a Harley and a BMW.

First of all, these are two totally different bikes for completely different riding styles. The Harley is a great bike for times when you want to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride. The BMW really shines when you want a more exciting and sportier ride - it always challenges you to ride a bit faster, brake later, and take turns faster.

For all day comfort on Interstate highways, my Electra Glide is more comfortable. The GTL is quite capable of 800 mile days, but the Harley is just better. Advantage: Harley

My BMW consistently gets 2-3 mpg better fuel mileage than my EGC and has a bigger fuel tank giving it better range. Advantage: BMW

Storage is slightly better on the EGC. Advantage: Harley

Heat management is better on the BMW. My '06 EGC isn't too bad, but the '10 Ultra Limited that I sold last year was downright horrible in the summertime even after removing the cat. Advantage: BMW

As far as power, handling, suspension, braking, and pretty much any other category of performance is concerned, the BMW outclasses the Harley by a large margin. There's simply no comparison. Advantage: BMW

When it comes to cost of ownership, the BMW is more expensive. My first 3 sets of tires have only lasted about 5k miles on the BMW. The set I have on it now have about 8k on them but that was mostly superslab miles during my annual NY to CA ride. Then there are valve adjustments, rear drive fluid changes, 6 expensive spark plugs, etc. that all add up to substantially more maintenance costs for the BMW. Then you factor in the potential cost of repairing some of the high-tech gadgets such as the shocks or the Adaptive Xenon headlight and it starts getting real scary. Advantage: Harley

As far as styling is concerned, Harleys are in a league of their own and the sound of Rinehart true duals is far superior to the 6 cylinder BMW. The only thing good I can say about the BMW is it's not the ugliest bike I've ever seen. The Harley is simply a piece of art. Advantage: Harley

They are both terrific bikes with specific strengths and weaknesses. Neither bike is perfect and I've tried to be fair and open-minded in this comparison sharing my experiences with each one. I consider myself fortunate to be able to own multiple bikes and enjoy each one for their unique riding experiences.

 

Once you start paying the service bills on a Beemer, you will know another reason we ride Harleys.
Tires are shot at 5-7 K. Service on general maint. will always be around $6oo. or more.
I've had several. BMW is also having some serious quality control problems.
They even admit to this.

 

Meh, service prices were a bit more, but not dramatically so. Tire life was awful, but the tires were cheaper, and the wheels were a ton easier to get off the bike.

I was just floored though with how much oil my two used.

 

I have seen the comparisons of cost of ownership of the Honda GW, H-D touring bike, and BMW K1600. At the 50K mile mark, all bikes cost about the same for dealership service. H-D has 5K service interval, GW has 8K, BMW has 6K.

I looked at all 3 touring bikes, last fall before purchasing my Ultra, all would sell me a bike within 1K of each other OTD (out the door). You have to understand that H-D is the only bike dealership that I know of that gets MSRP for a bike.

I was close to getting the BMW K1600, but in the end I wanted a cruiser style touring bike. I already own a sportbike, so I really don't the extra speed on my touring bike.

 

Good comparison info from the Bi-motor owners. Not having anything else to go on when new potential owners ask me questions, this kind of level-headed analysis is what I generally relay to them... with the caveat that there are probably just as many folks on the Beemer, Honda, etc, forums who prefer the other make but also love their Harley... or hate it... or dropped both and bought a Prius.

 

Oh, the horror!

 

I didn't wade through all the replies but if you're looking for a touring bike why did you ride the RG custom instead of the Ultra? The Ultra is much more a touring bike then the custom. It sits higher, rides better and is more comfortable then the custom. Although I have lots of friends that take pretty long trips on customs. I just got back from a 4k mile road trip with a buddy, both of us on RGU's and we both averaged 50mpg at 70mph. The only engine work we've done are Stage I's and they handle like a charm. I call mine my 900lb. sport bike!

 

I just rode 850 miles non stop and heavy rain for about 200 miles of the trip , the ultra limited just kept on going. I went to the bmw forums and read about the k 1600 gtl stopping when some of the controls got wet and when hot bike stopped had to put bag of ice on controls.