New to the modern K's, but not BMW

[black-k1]

Still laughing about ‘Old Boys’ talking about money  bit late for that now....

Re Graham and his proposed K they are fast even by today’s standards and if what you are after is a fast(in a straight line) work horse like Martin has done with his 100,000 miler then the K is still a serious bike,15 years ago it was sold as a Sports Tourer but as I found out when I bumped into a 1290 Adventurer(both of us 2 up) it came as a mighty wake up call,the K it is just too big and heavy to move around at any kind of speed over anything more than a couple of miles and that is mine with all the money and hard work I’ve Put in into mine never mind a stocker.

Re prices it’s all relative as they say but when you have a dealer selling a 4000 mile KTMGT for £9500 before an offer with all the thrills that they come with riding one,I certainly wouldn’t want to go anywhere near that kind of money for a K,but of course that’s assuming you don’t need a fast cart horse 

BMW never sold the K1300S as a sports tourer, it was always a sports bike. The rest of the world saw it as a sports tourer.

I also think you're being a little unfair. While the K1300S is far from the ideal choice for a track bike, and may be heavy/long in the wheel base compared to some of the alternatives, it still cuts the mustard on the road. Over the last few years we've had a Fireblade and an S1000RR on the Old Gits trip and neither have shown the K1300S to be wanting, on any road. In fact, once we'd been out for an hour or so, on Alps passes and the great roads of Provence, it was the sports bikes that were struggling to keep up the pace.

The long wheel base of the K1300S and the front end mean you have to ride it slightly differently to other bikes to get the most from it (Ask Brian about pull counter steering!!) but, even as a near 20 year old design, I'd say it's still a superb "do everything" on the road package.

[Matt]

I did have a lovely time at Brands Hatch on mine!

[TheCadman]

What have I started (or, I suspect, re-kindled)?

Not that I need justification, but it's a damp afternoon so I'll lay out the thinking that has led me to the K1300.  Feel free to critique, make suggestions or just outright disagree!

I used to do a lot of solo-touring on sportsbikes (early Blade, TL1000S) as well as many trackdays, especially the Ring.  By the mid 2000's the new generation of sports bikes had shrunk and, at 6'2" and with a damaged right knee, I no longer fitted them.  And no, I hadn't put on any weight over this time!

So I moved to supermoto's for track fun and an adventure bike - KTM 990 Adventure S - for touring.   Which has been fine, but I miss the effortless power and relaxed progress of a powerful sportsbike.

I race rally-raid, so the dual-sport capabilities of an adventure bike mean nothing to me.

Cutting-edge technology also does nothing for me.  At the moment, my UK touring and long days out bike is a 1980 R80RS, navigated by Beeline and map.  I'm not one for the latest thing!

And to finish with the prejudices;  current GS's look like an explosion in a meccano set (as do the road KTM's), Kawasaki's just look fat and the Hayabusa is too cramped!

Go!

Graham

[richtea]

Spot on!
The K1300s is definitely the bike for you.

>  ...I miss the effortless power and relaxed progress of a powerful sportsbike.

Effortless is the word, except you might want to put a little effort into the corners occasionally, just to help with the weight. But once it's on track, it's not going to move around. Nice.

[chriscanning]

Still laughing about ‘Old Boys’ talking about money  bit late for that now....

Re Graham and his proposed K they are fast even by today’s standards and if what you are after is a fast(in a straight line) work horse like Martin has done with his 100,000 miler then the K is still a serious bike,15 years ago it was sold as a Sports Tourer but as I found out when I bumped into a 1290 Adventurer(both of us 2 up) it came as a mighty wake up call,the K it is just too big and heavy to move around at any kind of speed over anything more than a couple of miles and that is mine with all the money and hard work I’ve Put in into mine never mind a stocker.

Re prices it’s all relative as they say but when you have a dealer selling a 4000 mile KTMGT for £9500 before an offer with all the thrills that they come with riding one,I certainly wouldn’t want to go anywhere near that kind of money for a K,but of course that’s assuming you don’t need a fast cart horse 

BMW never sold the K1300S as a sports tourer, it was always a sports bike. The rest of the world saw it as a sports tourer.

I also think you're being a little unfair. While the K1300S is far from the ideal choice for a track bike, and may be heavy/long in the wheel base compared to some of the alternatives, it still cuts the mustard on the road. Over the last few years we've had a Fireblade and an S1000RR on the Old Gits trip and neither have shown the K1300S to be wanting, on any road. In fact, once we'd been out for an hour or so, on Alps passes and the great roads of Provence, it was the sports bikes that were struggling to keep up the pace.

The long wheel base of the K1300S and the front end mean you have to ride it slightly differently to other bikes to get the most from it (Ask Brian about pull counter steering!!) but, even as a near 20 year old design, I'd say it's still a superb "do everything" on the road package.

Each too his own I still have my K having ridden it a week ago last Saturday and exactly the same route on the Sunday without stopping from motorways to country lanes the comparison is a nats over a week old.

With dog bones that raise the rear to quicken the steering on the K I have to carry a plastic puck with a 40mm piece of ply screwed on bottom because the sidestand is so short,combine that with custom Wilbers suspension and BST carbon wheels the old K turns like no other,but when the gloves are off the KTM would turn it inside out until you get too the motorway.

I’ve not forgotten a run from Bologna to Misano on the Autopista where We fought off all comers,it wouldn’t  pull the last 1000 revs with us two up and fully loaded but that is what the K is good at.

[chriscanning]

What have I started (or, I suspect, re-kindled)?

Not that I need justification, but it's a damp afternoon so I'll lay out the thinking that has led me to the K1300.  Feel free to critique, make suggestions or just outright disagree!

I used to do a lot of solo-touring on sportsbikes (early Blade, TL1000S) as well as many trackdays, especially the Ring.  By the mid 2000's the new generation of sports bikes had shrunk and, at 6'2" and with a damaged right knee, I no longer fitted them.  And no, I hadn't put on any weight over this time!

So I moved to supermoto's for track fun and an adventure bike - KTM 990 Adventure S - for touring.   Which has been fine, but I miss the effortless power and relaxed progress of a powerful sportsbike.

I race rally-raid, so the dual-sport capabilities of an adventure bike mean nothing to me.

Cutting-edge technology also does nothing for me.  At the moment, my UK touring and long days out bike is a 1980 R80RS, navigated by Beeline and map.  I'm not one for the latest thing!

And to finish with the prejudices;  current GS's look like an explosion in a meccano set (as do the road KTM's), Kawasaki's just look fat and the Hayabusa is too cramped!

Go!

Graham

Still laughing about the Beeline we do have one and it’s never been out the draw.

[black-k1]

Still laughing about ‘Old Boys’ talking about money  bit late for that now....

Re Graham and his proposed K they are fast even by today’s standards and if what you are after is a fast(in a straight line) work horse like Martin has done with his 100,000 miler then the K is still a serious bike,15 years ago it was sold as a Sports Tourer but as I found out when I bumped into a 1290 Adventurer(both of us 2 up) it came as a mighty wake up call,the K it is just too big and heavy to move around at any kind of speed over anything more than a couple of miles and that is mine with all the money and hard work I’ve Put in into mine never mind a stocker.

Re prices it’s all relative as they say but when you have a dealer selling a 4000 mile KTMGT for £9500 before an offer with all the thrills that they come with riding one,I certainly wouldn’t want to go anywhere near that kind of money for a K,but of course that’s assuming you don’t need a fast cart horse 

BMW never sold the K1300S as a sports tourer, it was always a sports bike. The rest of the world saw it as a sports tourer.

I also think you're being a little unfair. While the K1300S is far from the ideal choice for a track bike, and may be heavy/long in the wheel base compared to some of the alternatives, it still cuts the mustard on the road. Over the last few years we've had a Fireblade and an S1000RR on the Old Gits trip and neither have shown the K1300S to be wanting, on any road. In fact, once we'd been out for an hour or so, on Alps passes and the great roads of Provence, it was the sports bikes that were struggling to keep up the pace.

The long wheel base of the K1300S and the front end mean you have to ride it slightly differently to other bikes to get the most from it (Ask Brian about pull counter steering!!) but, even as a near 20 year old design, I'd say it's still a superb "do everything" on the road package.

Each too his own I still have my K having ridden it a week ago last Saturday and exactly the same route on the Sunday without stopping from motorways to country lanes the comparison is a nats over a week old.

With dog bones that raise the rear to quicken the steering on the K I have to carry a plastic puck with a 40mm piece of ply screwed on bottom because the sidestand is so short,combine that with custom Wilbers suspension and BST carbon wheels the old K turns like no other,but when the gloves are off the KTM would turn it inside out until you get too the motorway.

I’ve not forgotten a run from Bologna to Misano on the Autopista where We fought off all comers,it wouldn’t  pull the last 1000 revs with us two up and fully loaded but that is what the K is good at.

Sorry Chris, I've just twigged you're on a K1200. The 1300 was definitely a significant, if subtle, step forward in handling and feel from the 1200 (ask Brian!)

As you said, each to their own. Additionally, most of "which is the quicker/better bike on the road" is almost always down to the rider rather than the bike.

[chriscanning]

Having 3 years of collecting BM K1300’s press bikes for MCN and riding them from Vines who at the time had the maintenance contract(they don’t now) for the the time and they also very kindly looked after mine I never noticed any difference apart from colour,and I vividly remember picking up a long term 1300r that had rubbish fuelling.

Now in fairness I got well looked after,it took 3 clutch’s before they got it right and too this day it’s as good as any other bike I have,non of this taking off right at the end of the lever and grabbing,they knew every trick in the book and I benefitted from that with my 07 1200 and never had to suffer the hot start  issue te boot.

The 1200 model that Brian had fits in the(sorry Bri) heap of junk category and the UK’s saving grace with the Sterling crash in 08 was the majority got bought up by Euro dealers and got shipped out,which really is a separate story from Vines but another day great fun to tell.

And course I would point out despite my moans and groans I still have my K   

[Phmode]

Couldn't agree more with the last sentence David.

When I got back on a bike after a 10 year lay off, an 1150GS was the perfect answer to my Newbury to Brighton weekly commute. It would pull 110 on the motorway but both it and I were struggling and it was bought to keep my licence in one piece, not to break records, although The Long Way Round was always reassuring.

Then I got conned into a few days in mid Wales with a mate and his sons as ballast.

I really wish I had a video camera back then. The number of sports bikes that cut us up, riding like total plonkers out in the lanes was unbelievable. Then, suddenly, a few cars appear on the horizon and for some strange reason all the idiots ended up behind us, only to start 'racing' all over again.

Roundabouts? Why are they stopped? Why are they all in a row? Why are they behind us?

Even those that didn't stop (needlessly) at roundabouts, got overtaken on the offside as they wobbled round.

OK, some of these were probably weekend warriors but I would hardly class us as accredited racers.

As always, a well-ridden cart horse can still shame a badly ridden thoroughbred.

Of course, every once in a while, a few local old guys on old GSX 1100's simply arrived unannounced, passed without fuss or danger, and simply did the Starship Enterprise reality warp and were gone.

We caught up with one group at a cafe in the middle of a village in the middle of nowhere and they gave us the benefit of their experience whilst discussing the non-local idiots. One of the older guys, as he left, said that he would probably see them again fairly soon...turned out he was an undertaker 

[chriscanning]

After the debacle of riding the 600 mile 06 demonstrator from Clark’s on the Lickies completely dropped the idea of a K until 2008 when the secretary of Bike mag phones me asks for a K1200s( Black/Blue) to collected from Vines but we don’t need it straight away so instead of just going down in the van and taking to the lock up at Peterborough I took it home for 3 days and rode around on it and got an almighty b*****king for doing so but frankly the things that went on in those days it was likethe Wild West..... but the up shot was BM had certainly turned a major corner and hence why I bought my K.

[sudolea]

After the debacle of riding the 600 mile 06 demonstrator from Clark’s on the Lickies completely dropped the idea of a K until 2008 when the secretary of Bike mag phones me asks for a K1200s( Black/Blue) to collected from Vines but we don’t need it straight away so instead of just going down in the van and taking to the lock up at Peterborough I took it home for 3 days and rode around on it and got an almighty b*****king for doing so but frankly the things that went on in those days it was likethe Wild West..... but the up shot was BM had certainly turned a major corner and hence why I bought my K.

The md5sum is just as understandable to me, Chris : 2a6e49d395d4b729213d1b4bcd5b2181  No punctuation either 

[chriscanning]

Spring 09 KSport turns up on eBay just around the corner from the office,I go and see it,it’s the best secondhand bike i’d Ever seen with every bell and whistle on it,I get murdered on the bidding and another turns up two weeks later 20 miles from home,with instructions from the wife to stop messing about I go and see it not quite as good but good enough,I bid £6600.01 and when I go to collect it he tell me it’s the penny that got it  spoke to the guy I bought off last year 10 years on who now rides a GS.... he was amazed I still had it.

[Costas]

In very few words , get it , it will put a smile to your face each and every time you take it out for a ride, sort or long.