The Gold Wing is the pinnacle of touring motorcycles in the US market. It is somehow uniquely suited to the conditions that our vast country offers, and it has the right mix of features, price, and comfort to make multiple-day rides seem like a doddle. Even if you don’t like Gold Wings, you will still pick something like a Gold Wing; something big, with a lot of torque, acres of space and comfort, and every feature known to mankind on two wheels.
Speaking of alternatives, if someone suggested that a sport-tourer could be a real option to one of these giants of touring, you would probably laugh them off, because no sport-tourer today has got the breadth of abilities that a full dress tourer offers out on the open road. They are built to attack corners more than make you spend days in the saddle with a pillion. But things are changing, and with additional technology, sport-tourers can really bring the fight to full dress tourers.
Can A Sport-Tourer Measure Up To A Gold Wing?
The traditional sport-tourer has an emphasis on ‘sport’, which is why we never think that it could measure up to a Gold Wing when it comes to actual touring. You know, the kind that has you spend days in the saddle and makes you want to cross state lines. Today, however, there are multiple niches in multiple segments, and there are many different kinds of sport-tourers available. The newest kind of sport-tourer today, for example, has an almost adventure-touring-like rider triangle.
Some Sport-Tourers Are Sportier Than Others
Some of these sport-tourers are budget creations, some of them being barely disguised sport bikes with a little more comfort that will allow you to ride hard for an entire day, and some are full-blown premium motorcycles that are sporty as well, but are primarily tourers. One such example of the latter kind is the BMW R 1300 RT. It has all the premium features you would expect from a tourer, and yet it is, when you look at it, very obviously a sport-tourer. That is why it is the BMW sport-tourer that will surprise Gold Wing fans.
The BMW R 1300 RT Is The BMW Sport-Tourer That Will Surprise Gold Wing Fans
On the surface, the R 1300 RT is the kind of sport-tourer that should allow you to attack corners, but with the trade-off of less comfort. Dig deeper, though, and you will realize that this is a large, comfortable motorcycle that BMW has put a lot of thought and engineering into. It utilizes the engine from the R 1300 GS adventure motorcycle in the same state of tune, and therefore, it is an engine that is equally balanced with torque and horsepower.
At the same time, it has the kind of chassis that you will see in a sports bike, which means that it has the agility of one of those. But BMW hasn’t gone the whole hog here. It still has double wishbone front suspension and a single-sided rear swingarm that houses the shaft drive, which means that the R 1300 RT is the kind of motorcycle that offers the best of both worlds. Oh, and did we mention that it is available with an automatic gearbox as an option?
Amazingly Reasonable Base Price But Auto ‘Box Kicks It Into High Gear
The R 1300 RT is priced at $22,645. You can add options to it, and to be honest, if we are going to match it up with a Gold Wing, you are going to have to add options to it. For example, the automatic gearbox needs to be added. Now, by itself, the gearbox is $1,000 in addition to the price of this BMW, but in true BMW fashion, you cannot add it by itself.
You have to add one of the optional ‘packs’ to it as well, and when you do that, its price shoots up to nearly $30,000, bringing it right on par with the Gold Wing Tour, whose base price is $29,500. The Gold Wing Tour automatic is priced $1,000 extra, but the Gold Wing bagger is cheaper at $26,500 for the automatic. BMW is a premium brand, so we are not going to knock it for pricing this product the way it has. However, we do wish that the automatic gearbox were a standalone option.
10 Motorcycles That Stay Smooth At Highway Speeds
All these bikes promise buttery smooth performance, staying comfortable for the long haul
The Boxer Engine Has A Great Balance Of Power And Torque
The R 1300 RT has the same 1300 cc boxer twin engine as the R 1300 GS adventure bike. It has the same state of tune as well, putting out 145 horsepower and 110 pound-feet at 7,750 RPM and 6,500 RPM, respectively. This is one of BMW’s most advanced engines, with a DOHC head, liquid cooling, and variable valve timing on the intake valves. It is a longitudinal setup, so a shaft drive to the rear wheel makes a lot of sense.
A Six-Speed Transmission Puts The Power Down
In base form, you can have it with a six-speed manual gearbox (a two-way quickshifter is an option), but you can also specify an automated manual that makes it a fully automatic gearbox should you wish it. You can also take manual control back from the gearbox by switching it off, so you can have the best of both worlds.
New Frame Is Very Different From Predecessor
The R 1300 RT has a vastly different chassis from the steel trellis frame that went into its predecessor. This looks more like a twin-spar frame or diamond frame, as we see with more modern bikes, and it helps offer more strength with less weight compared to the previous one. It uses the engine as a stressed member. The rear subframe is bolted on, and it has BMW’s Evo Telelever and Paralever suspension.
That means a double wishbone front suspension and a single-sided swingarm with a link-type monoshock at the rear. There are 5.8 inches and 6.2 inches of travel at the front and rear, respectively. Coming to brakes, you get dual 310 mm discs at the front with radial four-piston fixed calipers, and a single 285 mm rear disc with a two-piston floating caliper. These brakes are linked. Seventeen-inch alloy wheels and tubeless tires round out the chassis specs.
This Is A Large Motorcycle, No Question
Nobody will accuse the R 1300 RT of being a small motorcycle. It is nearly 88 inches long, over 38 inches wide, and has a 59-inch wheelbase. The standard seat height is 32 inches, but BMW also offers different seats ranging from 30.7 inches to 33.8 inches in height. It has a very large fuel tank that can hold 6.3 gallons of fuel, and it will need all that capacity because of its 620-pound curb weight.
10 Touring Motorcycles Built For Riders Who Go Far And Often
No ride too long, no road too far. These 10 touring bikes are ready to take you on the journey of a lifetime.
The Features List Is Where It Surprises The Gold Wing
This is the place where the R 1300 RT can go head-to-head with the Gold Wing. It has, as standard, a massive 10.25-inch TFT screen, keyless ignition, tire pressure monitoring, adaptive cruise control, heated grips, electronic suspension, and charging for the rider’s smartphone. Topping this is a by-wire throttle and six-axis IMU. So you have a full electronic suite along with ride modes, cornering ABS, cornering traction control, cornering engine braking control, and, to repeat ourselves, the automatic gearbox. This makes things much easier in traffic or out on the highway. We do need to state that a lot of the BMW’s features are on the options list, whereas the Gold Wing just gives you everything as standard at its price.
Moving on, the options list makes it even better, with an audio system upgrade, front collision warning, lane change warning, an adaptive headlamp, an automatic gearbox, and the dynamic chassis adaptation, which is the automatic adjustment of the suspension damping. It can also be selected manually by the rider to make it either sporty or comfortable.
None Of The Direct Competition Is As Comfortable
The R 1300 RT sits in a gap between other sport-tourers in the market. One option is the KTM 1290 Super Duke GT, but it hasn’t been updated since 2024, so it isn’t really an option until KTM releases the 1390 Super Duke GT. If you don’t mind your sport-tourer being less sporty and more comfortable, BMW has another option for you in the K 1600 GT. This is powered by BMW’s six-cylinder engine, so it is a little bigger and heavier, but it is also much more premium, and it has an incredible 160 horsepower figure.
However, at the almost-$30,000 price of the BMW R 1300 RT Automatic, there is also the Kawasaki Ninja H2 SX, which is a sports tourer cast in the traditional mold of sport-tourers. This is a sport bike that has been watered down to become more comfortable, but it still has an incredibly powerful engine and features like launch control. It is at the other end of the spectrum compared to a bike like the Gold Wing, which is why the R 1300 RT is such a great middle ground between the different kinds of tourers available in the market today.
Source: BMW USA