BMW K 1300 GT Exclusive Edition 2010 — Specifications

Who can claim to devour thousands of miles of highway at over 125 mph while keeping their backside warm and their passenger smiling? In 2010, BMW had a clear answer to that question, and it weighed 635 lbs wet. The K 1300 GT Exclusive Edition is the no-compromise version of a machine already built for fast long-distance touring. The kind of beast you hop on Friday evening in Paris to wake up Saturday morning on the shores of the Adriatic, fresh as a daisy.

Beneath the imposing fairing works an inline four-cylinder displacing 1293 cc that pumps out 160 horsepower at 9000 rpm and 97 lb-ft of torque at 8000 rpm. Numbers that put the Bavarian in a class of its own, well ahead of a Yamaha FJR 1300 that's certainly reliable but less sharp, and neck and neck with the Honda Pan European on comfort. Except the BMW plays in a different league when it comes to dynamics. The aluminum perimeter frame and the single-sided Paralever swingarm at the rear give it a chassis rigidity its rivals struggle to match. We're talking about a GT capable of hitting 155 mph top speed, transmitted to the ground through a shaft drive and a six-speed gearbox of exemplary smoothness. The braking keeps pace with two 320 mm discs up front clamped by four-piston calipers. When you're launching this mass at full speed on a German autobahn, you appreciate that the braking department did its homework.

What sets the Exclusive Edition apart from the catalog K 1300 GT isn't the logo on a blue background or the granite grey paint. It's the onboard equipment. BMW bundled into a single package what had until then been an options list as long as a day without riding: xenon headlights, ASC traction control, tire pressure monitoring, ESA 2 electronically adjustable suspension, heated seat and grips, cruise control, onboard computer, and a body-color top case with passenger backrest. Suffice to say that ordering a standard GT and ticking all those boxes would have driven the bill well beyond the €20,010 asked here. That's the smart math behind this limited edition.

With its 6.3-gallon tank, its seat perched at 32.3 inches, and a dry weight of 562 lbs, the K 1300 GT Exclusive Edition isn't aimed at the weekend rider looking for a gentle spin on back roads. It targets the demanding long-distance tourer, the one who strings together Alpine passes in the morning and autobahn stretches in the afternoon without wanting to switch mounts. The 13:1 compression ratio and the short-stroke 80 x 64.3 mm bore and stroke betray an engine designed for strong mid-range punch and torque available across a wide rev range. No need to flog this four-cylinder to get everything out of it — just crack the throttle at mid-rev and feel the thrust pin you into the seat.

Then there's the flip side. 635 lbs wet reminds you of its presence during low-speed maneuvers and on sloped parking lots. And despite all the onboard equipment, the K 1300 GT shows a certain age in its design compared to today's electronically laden GTs. But for anyone seeking the ultimate sport-touring compromise in 2010 with equipment levels worthy of a German luxury sedan, the asking price was hard to argue with. BMW knew how to build ocean liners. This one just happened to be faster than the rest.