Australian Motorcycle News - June 21, 2018

I HAVE BEEN blessed with a neighbour who

always seems to need to prune his front hedge

whenever I’m tinkering in my garage, or arrive

home on the latest two-wheeled offering.

Each conversation starts the same, “Another

new bike, is it?” Not that I really mind. I have

had the world’s worst neighbours in the past, so

someone interested in my comings and goings

is a pleasant change. It also gives me a chance to

babble on about bikes to someone else, even if

he’s not really that interested.

W hen I rolled into the driveway on the BMW

K1600GT, ol’ mate had never seen anything like it.

“Look at the size of that thing; it’s as big as a

boat,” he said, not realising he’d just insulted the

big Bavarian six-cylinder.

“Don’t underestimate it,” I replied, as my

mind was transported back in time to one of our

infamous family road trips down the Hume. “I

know a boat that can do 500km/h and this thing

feels just as fast.”

All the details of that holiday have long since

faded from my memory, except the signboard at

Blowering Dam. A photo of Ken Warby’s Spirit of

Australia jet boat in full f light, skimming across

the glass-like water. Being nuts about anything

to do w ith speed and mechanics, standing at that

sign was the highlight of my trip.

A quick Google not only revealed that Warby’s

record remains unbroken, but his son David is

soon going to have a crack at bettering the mark,

at the same location.

I have always been fascinated with the history

of water speed racing, and decided to revisit the

location of Warby’s record-breaking run the next

morning. And not down the boring three-lane

motorway that my folks took, but along the coast,

up Macquarie Pass, across to Cooma, then along

the Snow y Mountains Highway to the shores of

Blowering Dam.

The K1600 range expanded for the 2018 model

year with the inclusion of a new K1600B (bagger)

and K1600B Grand America. The K1600GT and

K1600GTL also received minor updates, and the

range received a reverse gear that uses the bike’s

starter motor to crawl the motorcycle gently

28 amcn.com.au

Quickspin

Speed dating

What better way to revisit a long-held fascination

of speed than on BMW’s latest touring flagship

TEST CHRIS DOBIE PHOTOGRAPHY LUKE NEWLAND

BMW K1600GT Spezial

CONS

Wet weight of 330kg,

plus luggage

Feeling the ride height

alter as you change

suspension modes

PROS

A delightful cruiser

that feels surprisingly

light on its feet

Reverse gear feature

(given it’s such a

heavy machine)

Crackling exhaust and

auto-blipping throttle