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| 2009-BMW-K1300S |
The motor is the biggest single area of improvement. Engineering development was handed over to the spanner magicians at Ricardo – the same firm that designed the gearbox for the 1000bhp Bugatti Veyron hypercar. This is the first time BMW has worked with Ricardo on one of its bikes. The result is a claimed 175bhp from an increased 1293cc four-cylinder motor that is much smoother with bundles of power and torque. It’s one of the best big-capacity motors on the road today combining lovely refinement with a racing engine snarl when pushed. And yes, it’s very, very, very fast.
Few bikes shrug off winter better than a BMW motorcycle but it will still need regular attention to keep it looking shiny. The uprated shaft drive means less maintenance and expense than a chain. A few owners of the BMW K1200S previous model seemed to have suffered from vibration and quite high oil consumption but the new engine should stop that happening.There is no getting away from the fact that the BMW K1300S is a big bike – with a 228kg dry weight, it is never going to be a race-designed lightweight. However, the clever Electronic Suspension Adjustment (ESA II) system does a great job of hiding that weight. The suspension has nine potential settings to cover solo riding, pillion and both settings with luggage. It works brilliantly. The slightly numb front end is better than it was previously thanks to lighter Duolever components. Just be sure to avoid the Continental Sport Attack tyres fitted to some – they are not up to the best rubber.
At £10,165 for the stock model without ABS there is no getting away from the fact that the BMW K1300S is not a cheap bike…add in the essential ABS and the price hits £11,060. From there on in adding options obviously just adds more and more to the costs. ESA II must be on the list as it transforms the bike. BMW do a Dynamic Pack which puts ABS and ASC traction control together for £377 and saves £45. So to get ABS, ASC and ESA II adds almost £1000 to the £10,165 cost. You do get a lot of bike for the money however but it’s still a lot of cash compared to the likes of a Suzuki Hayabusa.
Spec up a BMW K1300S with all of the options BMW has to offer and it’s going to be an expensive machine. There are some must-haves though and the ESA II at £617 is one of them as it offers a great deal of adjustment and takes the guesswork out of suspension adjustment. ABS is another one. After that there are some lovely choices. Heated grips, hard luggage, Akrapovic exhaust, onboard computer and a quickshifter. Most are worth a look although we would give the quickshifter a miss as although it works just fine, it seems out of place on a bike like this.
