Think for a moment about just what the letters GT mean to you. Chances are you’re thinking “very quick”, or “better than the standard jobbie”. Well, many will know the designation stands for Gran Turismo – rough translation “Grand Touring”. Either way, the moniker is right on the lire (or should that be euro?) when it comes to describing the latest big bore touring option from BMW – the K1200 GT.

With its roots firmly traced from the K1200 RS, the bike’s mission is to supply riders with the comfort of a full dress tourer with the option of a degree of sporting prowess. At the launch briefing BMW Oz staff went to some lengths to point out that the bike is a “sporty” tourer more than a sports tourer.

Now, that may sound a little confusing, but after riding the bike, it is clear what they mean. This is a big, comfy mile-eater. It’s not designed to stick it up sports bikes with a little less weight on the wrists a la Triumph Sprint ST and Honda VFR800. No, this thing is no slouch but it is definitely a tourer. Got the difference?

So, having defined the beast, let’s look at what you get for the money – a hefty $26,750.

The list is impressive… There’s a fairing that not only looks grouse, but also offers fabulous weather protection; adjustable heated grips and seat; higher bars than the RS; luggage rack with hard panniers as standard equipment; an electric screen; integral ABS “partly integrated…” What do I mean by that? Good question. It means that the brakes are activated on the front and rear wheel when the rider pulls the lever. The footbrake, in turn, acts only on the rear wheel. This for mine is the best set-up BMW offers and the brakes work fiendishly well.

With the new K1200GT, Bee Em have stuck with their much-lauded modus operandi of having road test bikes readily available.

Heated Seat, Heated Grips, Cool Screen, Cruise Control:

When they showed us the heated grips, we were impressed. Then they showed us the heated seats and we all had to chuckle, I mean, us big bad bikers having to heat up our posteriors, hope none of my buddies see this lot. The heating arrangements were quite satisfactory, though, switch on high for well done, low for medium to rare and off you go, the rest of your bod might freeze solid, but your butt cheeks are always toasty warm and cuddle soft.

The adjustable screen is a marvellous thin, at standard height it offers the rider good protection from the elements, on the higher setting it is even better and reduces the wind noise in your helmet by half. The upper fairing incorporates wind deflecting hand guards and on the lower fairing they have fitted plastic fins on both sides, which do a good job at keeping the cold off your lower legs and knees. I had to get used to this lot because I kept bashing my chin on them every time I dismounted.

Cruise control – what a lekker thing. A button on the left handlebar switches the cruise control lot on or off. The moment you actuate either brake, throttle or clutch, this system disengages and you are back in charge. At first it feels rally strange though, you set the button at the required cruising speed and she automatically adds power up the hills and things to keep the speed constant.

The weird part is that as she adds power, the twist grip turns in your slack hand at the same time, as if s spook was commandeering the vehicle, a bit disconcerting initially, Cruise control is really nice on a long straight road like Witbank freeway, you can relax a bit, have a Coke, make some coffee…

All of these bits are standard features on the K12000GT.

As would be expected on a bike like this, the actual riding position is very comfortable for both the pillion and the rider. The bars are well positioned for endurance riding, with all the controls easy to access and operate. The clocks are functional and easy to read and include another nice feature which I have never seen on a bike before. A warning lamp which illuminates if your tail light happens to blow. But wait, it gets even better. If the rear light does fail, the bikes computer tells the brake light to come on at a dimmer setting. When you apply brakes, the brake light then operates at its full intensity. Clever stuff this.

The one thing which I have never understood is why BMW do not go with a simpler indicator system on their bikes. They make use of a push-type switch on either bar, a real pain if you are not used to the setup.

Everything on this thing is adjustable, from the seat height, to the screen, to the gear selector and footpegs. Suffice it to say that you are almost guaranteed to find a position to suit you. Talking footpegs, one of the guys on the ride felt that the riders pegs were too close to the passengers and he kept having to push the pillions feet back to take corners and things.

The panniers are also standard on the GT and can be removed for when you are not touring, probably a good idea too because they are wider than the bike’s handlebars and you might just find yourself scraping up against someones nice car travelling between lanes on your way to work. They are nice and spacious for all your kit.

Performance:

Put your head down, tuck in behind the screen, open the throttle and lean into that sweep. The speedo steadily climbs past the 160…170…180 mark, the curve comes to an end and the road opens up, there’s Dave just up ahead, lets open wider, the needle kisses 210…220, the trees and brush speeds past in a blur, corner approaching, touch the brakes, drop down into fifth, line up for the turn… lean… Doesn’t sound like a traditional BMW test, more like the performance you would expect from some kind of Japanese superbike. This Bee Em is different to most…

This is the real lady of the super tourers. BMW has aimed the GT at the ZZR, sports tourer market and in our opinion have achieved their objective with distinction. It has to be said that something like the ZZR is faster, BMW have achieved a balance between high speed touring and rider comfort that will make most sit up and take note. Top Speed is 250kph on the speedo. Unlike some of the other models, this one has a true sixth gear, rather than that tall overdrive or economy gear that the older generation  does not like.

On the GT I found that the automatic handbrake only kicked in at about 200. Truth is that the bike is so smooth that you actually do not realise just how fast you are hurtling along.

Accelleration is smooth and steady, with a sweet induction sound from the airbox when you accelerate hard. The exhaust is so quiet that you can barely hear it at anything over 100.

On the smooth corners you feel as if you are riding on a cloud, at 180kph, there is no sign of nervousness or twitchiness or just about anything. She tucks into the corner and slices through making the rider feel really on top of the world. On the tight ones we got a bit of a ‘skrik’ through the bumps, it sounded as though she was bottoming out and scraping the undercarriage, but for some reason the scraping was not being transmitted to the handlebars and she was still handling perfectly well.

ABS –  The Servo Assisted braking system is rally good. The front brake lever actuates front and back brakes, the footbrake actuates only the rear … and just in case, ABS is included as standard.

They said that I wasn’t going fast enough, please do it again. 160 on the clock, hit those brakes hard. ABS is amazing, I don’t know why they don’t fit this system to all the heavier bikes on the market. On the GT I felt a slight shudder through the bars and heard the ‘tjip, tjip, tjip’ as the ABS slowed the wheels to a reasonable speed before grinding to a full stop. I say it again – ain’t technology great.

The drivetrain has been carried over in full from the RS. There’s a claimed 130PS lurking under all that bodywork and most riders will not be looking for more than the GT can offer.

The real power is made in the middle and when things happen they happen with real urge. It’s a big, understressed lump that feels like it could tow a caravan, but it’s a tad characterless. It’s a utilitarian that does its job very neatly indeed. Put it this way if you will – if it were a student, it would be fabulous at mathematics and terrible at poetry…

Chassis componentry is also from the K1200 RS, with BMW’s tried and true Telelever front and Paralever rear-end. If you haven’t ridden a Beemer with this set-up it’s a little hard to get across just how competent the whole deal is. While the front can feel a little remote, the fact is the bike is doing everything right. It’s just different from what you may be used to. The trick here is to trust it. Take it from us, once you’ve pushed a Telelever Beemer as hard as it’ll go, you can’t help but smile. In short, I’m a big fan.

On the road the bike belies its size. It is fairly heavy at the front at traffic-trickle speeds and lane-splitting requires a good deal of confidence in your measuring ability. This K’s pretty wide.

The seating position suits me and the heated grips and seat are ?must-haves’. They both got a fair run on the wet launch ride. Toasty warm in fully waterproof kit, I couldn’t help feel that I was flicking Mother Nature the bird…

I’m not owning up, but cruise control on a big stable bike allows for some interesting shenanigans and I can attest to the comfort of the pillion seat…

Anyway, so that’s that. My humble impressions of a bike that would never have thought to ride. They say that you learn something new every day, I have learnt and come to understand why BMW is so popular in this country. Not only is she fast, she is very comfy with handling to make anyone smile. Add to this all the lekker features that come as standard, I’ll bet that these ones are going to sell like crazy.

The K1200GT is a really stable, comfortable and beautifully finished motorcycle. Fast, smart and reliable, there is a lot to like about the GT. Sure it’s not cheap, but it sits well in the Beemer range with the K1200LT as a conservative big brother and the R’s as (more quirky) smaller stablemates. Fact is, if you like your bikes big, refined, fast and classy, then BMW has the mount for you.