Best Touring Motorcycles made by BMW

Bayerische Motoren Werke (BMW) is a multi-national automobile company, with its headquarters situated in Bavaria, Germany. BMW was founded in 1916. Initially, the company manufactured aircraft engines. Later on, they moved on to make automobiles and bikes. In 1928, BMW made its first car, the BMW 3/15, produced as a Dixi car. BMW released its bike under the brand name BMW Motorrad.

In 1923, BMW released its first motorcycle, the R32, which became a huge success. Since then, BMW has launched many remarkable bikes with tons of engine configurations. The current categories of BMW Motorrad bikes include Sports, Tour, Roadster, Heritage, Adventure, and Urban Mobility.

Here is a list of BMW Touring bikes.

The BMW K1 was BMW’s first sports tour bike to be released in the U.S. Released in 1990, its body was designed to be aerodynamic to reduce the amount of drag when moving at high speed. The BMW K1 is an old touring bike that still retains its worth in 2022 due to many of its parts, like the cockpit, transmission, and ABS pumps, being restored.

The BMW R1100 RS was BMW’s first bike to use the R259 “Oilhead” boxer engine. The R1100RS is a sport-touring standard bike. In 1994, BMW R1100 RS was awarded as the best Standard Motorcycle by Cycle World. The BMW R 1100 had different variants that were slowly released over time.

The BMW K1200 S was the successor of the K1100 RS. Built as a sport-touring bike, the BMW K1200 S was released in 2003 with a new design and a more powerful engine.

The BMW R1200 RT was the successor of the BMW R1150 RT. The BMW R1200 RT was released in 2005 and kept in production until 2019. This bike had a bulky body that made it iconic among touring bikes. The BMW R1200 RT’s body set the standard on what a touring bike should look like. All the features, performance, and riding experience of the BMW R1200 RT make it a valuable touring bike.

The BMW K1600 GTL is a tourer launched in 2011 that is currently still in production. It has a very similar design to the BMW R1200 RT but with a bigger engine that can generate more horsepower. The BMW K1600 had three variants with different designs: the K1600 GT (sport-touring), the K1600 GTL (tourer), and the K1600 B (bagger). In 2011, the BMW K1600 GTL was awarded as the best touring motorcycle by the U.S. magazine Cycle World. It has hard saddlebags and tank bags attached to it to make the riding experience comfortable for riders, especially for long rides.

The BMW K1600 B is a bagger motorcycle variant of the BMW K1600. Because of its design and comfort, riders also prefer riding the BMW K1600 B for touring. The BMW K1600 B was released alongside the K1600 series in 2010. It has hard saddlebags attached to it to make the riding experience comfortable for riders, especially for long rides.

The BMW R1250 RT is the successor of the BMW R1200 RT. The BMW R1250 RT was released between 2005 to 2019 and is built with more engine capacity than the BMW R1100 RT. In terms of design, the BMW 1250RT is very similar to the BMW R1100 RT. A common theme among BMW touring bikes was that very few changes were made to the successors in most of their motorcycle series. It does not have a tank bag but it has hard saddlebags attached to it.

The BMW K1600 Grand America is another variant of the BMW K1600 series. The main difference between the K1600 Grand America and other K1600 variants is the enhanced engine, capable of generating more torque and coming in a variety of color schemes. The BMW K1600 Grand America was released in two styling options: Standard and Option 719 Midnight edition. It has both hard saddlebags and tank bags attached to it to make the riding experience comfortable for riders, especially for long rides.