Hi everyone

I have recently bought a K1300GT SE and having been recommended this forum I thought I would join and also record some first impressions. I tried several bikes before buying, including the K1300S (which I found a bit bland).

My bike is fully loaded with all extras (as it was ordered by the dealer fully loaded). It is run in now as I have been riding it for a couple of weeks. The dealer picked up the first service cost and will bear over half of the next 6,000 mile service (so it will cost me £100).

Good points

Performance is remarkable. Overtaking grunt is very impressive - as good as most sports bikes (I have one, so I can compare)
Handling is exceptional too. I do some advanced bike instructing, so the thing has to be hustled quickly along narrow country lanes at times. It has exceptional lean angle capability for a bike of this type.
Pillions think it is brilliant. My other half actually fell asleep on it when we were hustling along the A272 Winchester to Petworth road "briskly".
Luggage capacity (with 49 litre top box) is very good indeed. This was a big reason for buying the bike as we do some substantial European trips.
Fuel ecomony is amazing. If I am sticking mainly in 2nd and 3rd for fast riding on the twisties, it delivers nearly 50 mpg per the computer. At A road fast cruising speeds using higher gears it is doing close on 60mpg. Using 98RON.
Electric screen is good. I am just over 6' 2" and in the wet at the highest setting the airflow clears my vizor brilliantly. Otherwise I keep it at its lowest.
New switchgear works fine for me. I had a BMW before with the 3 switch system. This is better.

Unconvinced areas

Whilst the ESAII is a good idea, I only really like it on its sport setting. "Comfort" is too wallowy for me (and my pillion) and "Normal" is still too soft. Both of these soft setting remove the feeling of contact with the road. This may simply be my sports bike inclinations at work.

The bike belies its weight once moving, but it feels quite heavy when at a standstill. I fear it would take some saving were it to start to tip over....

Areas for BMW to work on:

My pillions find the seat very comfortable, but I find it makes my thighs hurt after a while. I am doing a trip to Italy shortly so I will see how I get on then. Otherwise the (heated) seat will need some modification. Maybe it is too soft?

The panniers need some kind of plastic film to protect the tops (they have it ion the leading edge), as they scuff easily. Does anyone have a solution to this - apart from telling the pillions to be more careful ;-)

The alarm has to be set as soon as you switch off - or the key fob will not set it. I realise this is to prevent current drain, but it makes me nervous that one day the bike will not start. This is just my paranoia I expect!

Overall the bike is absolutely excellent. It is not bad value for money either, now that the exchange rate has pushed the price of the FJR1300 and Kawasaki 1400 up into BMW territory.

Cheers

AJB

Welcome to the forum and thanks for the terrific first post. (I appreciated your perspectives since I'm considering a 13 upgrade.)

Congrats on the new bike! It is one sweet machine!!

As far as the bags scratching, I ended up getting a "kit" of 3M film and having it applied by a local professional. I'm quite satisfied, although I haven't had it long enough to see how it holds up in the long run, others have and claim it holds up fine.

See this thread for more info.

Hi SKIZIKS

I tried a 2007 K1200GT before making my decision to go with the new bike. This is a second bike for us so a used one might have been attractive.

I had done about 500 miles on a K1300GT demo bike over a long weekend, then I tried the K1200GT a few days later from a different dealer. At first I thought it was much the same, but after an hour or so and perhaps 50 miles I began to feel that the 13 is quite a bit crisper to ride. The difference is marked if you are inclined to making progress with lots of overtakes. I also felt that the gear change is better on the 13 and the handling seems a bit more secure (even though the 12 was on what I consider to be better tyres).

However, the main reason we went for the 13 was superior accelerative performance coupled with the peace of mind of a new bike warranty, as I am a high mileage, all weather rider.

Smilodon. Thanks for the link. I will look into that.

AJB

Thanks for the comparison notes. Very interesting back-to-back observations.

You know I have read this and heard this from sales reps etc, and it would make sense from a technical standpoint......to a degree.

But can any one point me to data that shows a side by side comparison? It would be interesting to see the numbers. Some of the comments I have seen speak to "night and day" differences and I just find that a bit hard to believe that it could be that much different. Show me the 0-60 or the roll on data in 6th gear passing etc.

I would think a good rider would get similar performance out of either bike and that a lot of the bigger better faster thing is a placebo effect. Or I could just be fooling myself cause I don't have a 13....yet.....

Well - to me, riding them back to back, the difference was quite marked.

It is nothing to do with 0-60 times. Nor with 6th gear roll on. When I am riding briskly on winding roads I tend to be in 2nd gear for sharp bends, 3rd a lot of the time everywhere else, and occasionally 4th on long straights. Overtakes in 50's and nationals are almost always in 3rd gear and it is the speed of response in this range that is important to me.

The 1300GT feels like it has quite a lot more accelerative urge when doing this kind of riding and it also feels more stable. It is all about mid-range performance for me.

I am not knocking the 1200GT - it is a good bike - but when you ride them briskly back to back, the 1300GT is clearly better.

Kind regards

AJB

No doubt he has the silver (faster colour) one.

I googled it but can't find my answer.

Just wondering what makes this GT an SE?

K1300GT-SE is the "Switchgear Exchanged" model (aka, "Special Edition" too). It should start when the other K1300GT's don't.

However, it could also be the "Stalling Edition"....


Mack