[JohnS1955]

if you look at Cruisemans channel you’ll see he has a non trivial influence at 42k+ followers and it’s all dedicated to GW. Motorrad sought him out for this review not the other way around. So they knew or should have known what perspective or “color” they were gonna get. I’m guessing that’s what they wanted. A review for GW luvvas, not K fans.

Yea, the guy isn't a bit player. It's the 42k+ followers that got my attention to look at his initial review further.

I understand what you're saying, but being a GW homie isn't a pass for doing a superficial/off base review. His rating for different categories in looking at the K1600 are actually quite high. Still, he seems to be missing the mark in ways that he shouldn't. Maybe the final GTL vs GW review he'll be publishing will fix some of that.

Most commenters didn't seem to have a clue. But some of the comments were spot on in evaluating his review. I particularly liked the following, because I could have written it myself:

I think this was as much a review of you as it was the motorcycle, lol. When I saw you in the mountains at 1 mph below the speed limit in the right lane I knew you weren't going to get this motorcycle. Watch my videos. I grin and giggle every time I yank the throttle open. You can literally hear my laughter in the mic. Your review was fair, as unbiased as you could be and you bring up some really good points (and made a few mistakes, but nothing glaring). But buying a K1600 isn't about reliability or cost of ownership. It's like dating a stripper. You KNOW there's going to be drama, and tears, and money spent. But when you're 85 and sitting on the porch of the old folks home chatting with your buddies, you're going to say "Oh man, I had some fun in my day. Let me tell you about the summer of '22 when I dated that stripper..." And your buddies are going to say "Oh man, you dated a stripper?!?" And you're going to blush and grin like a kid on prom night. THAT is what owning a K1600 is like. You want reliable? Buy an Accord, not an M5. But which one is going to haunt your dreams, making you wonder why you sold it? Owning a Ferrari is not about the cost. But hey, I know this librarian who just got divorced. Let me get you her number...

At least Cruiseman has a sense of humor as shown in his response:

I do love the analogy of dating a stripper. I may use that in my (GW) comparison video.

 

[CavRider]

Well and as for that guys implicit assumption about the sexual proclivities of a librarian I’ll just say “don’t judge a bookworm by its cover”.

 

[hewlett62]

Stick around in the SW NC Mountains long enough and you may encounter Yellow Wolf, a rider on a yellow GW. I've never seen, only heard tell of him

Yes, maybe here

 

[ReRide]

OMG that is funny! its a great analogy!

 

[JohnS1955]

Well, the much awaited Cruiseman showdown video between the K16 GTL and GW was posted:

To no surprise (at least mine), he concludes that the GW is the more comfortable of the two bikes, and is therefore the winner for most. Given his pronounced laid back riding style and his primary GW audience (mostly of the same mindset), this conclusion was mailed in. On one level he said many of the right things and sprinkled in the word "performance" like an over salted meal. Briefly, he actually had my attention in a few segments. But after watching all of his K16 videos, and evaluating them in totality, I was left with the feeling that he never really understood the "K" bike. Unless you push a K16 consistently into the 6,000 - 8,000 RPM range and ride the bike in a way the GW isn't capable, how could he understand and communicate the difference? The answer is obvious -- he can't.

I'm glad I ride something most non-BMW riders look upon with complete confusion. It makes the world a more interesting place.

 

[Daventurer]

I actually thought he was about as fair as he could be given he's a Wing rider and admittedly not as familiar with the K.
A few items could be debated either way but some are clear 'winners' on either side. I thought his summary closing was pretty spot on - "it's not a question of which bike is the better bike; the question is which bike is better for you"... and "a rider who puts more emphasis on performance may find the BMW a better fit."
Wonder why not a Grand America for closer luxury touring comparison (and would it have mattered or scored anything differently)?

 

[Gunnert]

Yea, I saw the “final”. Turned it off when he stated the GW and K1600 motors were equals.

Duane

 

[JohnS1955]

Yea, I saw the “final”. Turned it off when he stated the GW and K1600 motors were equals.

Duane

Yes, a big +1 👍

When he gave a point to each for mostly being “equal”, I was dumbfounded. His rationale was that the low end Torque on the GW was the ticket.

Bizarre and ignorant at the same time. It was hard to continue after that.

 

[st13phil]

Turned it off when he stated the GW and K1600 motors were equals.

Haha 🤣

 

[JohnS1955]

I actually thought he was about as fair as he could be given he's a Wing rider and admittedly not as familiar with the K.
A few items could be debated either way but some are clear 'winners' on either side. I thought his summary closing was pretty spot on - "it's not a question of which bike is the better bike; the question is which bike is better for you"... and "a rider who puts more emphasis on performance may find the BMW a better fit."
Wonder why not a Grand America for closer luxury touring comparison (and would it have mattered or scored anything differently)?

"May" find the BMW a better fit? Wow, that was convincing.

Where is the excitement in that description? Where are the examples of performance riding experiences that could give GW owners pause and really consider what they're missing? Of course, they're not there. There was a real opportunity here for a respected GW guy to help bridge the two worlds for his audience, and he whiffed.

The irony is that throughout his K1600 videos, buried deep within the comments sections, he'd let his inner feelings known. I remember once where he commented that if he was 15 years younger, he'd probably pick the GTL. Why not expand on that on the final showdown and give a more complete picture of purchasing tradeoffs? I don't want to be cynical, but I'm having a hard time not going down that road.

 

[JohnS1955]

Here is a follow-up video that's interesting:

At the 12 minute mark, he addresses a critique of his "equal" performance rating of the 2 bikes in the comparison video. He backtracks a bit and tries to clarify. Still, at the end of the discussion regarding K16 performance, he basically dismisses the K16 advantage by saying "if you're into that sort of thing".

He should have declined BMW's offer to review the bike if he was going to take that attitude from the start. It explains a lot of head scratchers in the overall videos.

 

[Daventurer]

Wow he gets more annoying the more he talks, without even touching his POV on the "environmental whackos that run the world" (but I can't see Honda doing away with the GW).
That said, we're just not gonna be happy unless he came out and said the Beemer is a superior bike - which he'd never do. It's not his jam, and he doesn't need or want what it offers.
BMW should have declined letting him have the bike to review knowing this!

 

[CavRider]

Wow he gets more annoying the more he talks, without even touching his POV on the "environmental whackos that run the world" (but I can't see Honda doing away with the GW).
That said, we're just not gonna be happy unless he came out and said the Beemer is a superior bike - which he'd never do. It's not his jam, and he doesn't need or want what it offers.
BMW should have declined letting him have the bike to review knowing this!

Huh? He has 42,000+ Goldwing followers and he just told every last one of them that the K1600 is a very close competitor to their favorite mount and that it is a better performer. Pretty cheap marketing for Motorrad I'd say.

 

[Travman]

Concur with @JohnS1955 post. I've only ran into 1 Goldwing rider that was willing to roll. It was about 5-6 years ago on Cherahola Skyway. @MountainGT and I passed 4 Goldwings. We were ROLLING. One of them tried to keep up. He couldn't, of course, but he was as good on the GW as I've ever seen. By design the GW and the K1600GT/GTL are 2 different genres of bikes. The former is predominantly a touring bike, the latter a sport tourer. If you fancy going through a posted 30mph corner doing a max of 30/35 mph, then the GW may be better suited for you. If, on the other hand...

Duane

At this years TTD, I had the honor of leading the regular ride group across the Cherohala on my GW. I was impressed and thought the K1600 riders did a nice job keeping up with the Wing, especially as I slowed down in the straights. However, I do run an upgraded suspension from Traxxion which helps riding the bike more like a spots tourer.

In the GW world, I found that Cruiseman is an acquired taste. When he said that he rode the bike for 1600 miles in a month, 1400 of those were on the interstate so agree that he did not flog the bike at all but he does not do that on his GW either. But he had some valid points.

 

[JohnS1955]

On this years TTD, I had the honor of leading the regular ride group across the Cherohala on my GW. I was impressed and thought the K1600 riders did a nice job keeping up with the Wing, especially as I slowed down in the straights. However, I do run an upgraded suspension from Traxxion which helps riding the bike more like a spots tourer.

LOL... Sorry I missed your scheduled ride. I was already tired from chasing @Gunnert over Cherohala on a side run, and needed a rest.

In the GW world, I found that Cruiseman is an acquired taste. When he said that he rode the bike for 1600 miles in a month, 1400 of those were on the interstate so agree that he did not flog the bike at all but he does not do that on his GW either. But he had some valid points.

He not only didn't flog the bike, but he put it to sleep. In the time it took him to get from California to his home in Texas (3 days), I rode from the TTD in North Carolina to my home in California, 2-up no less. And I didn't take the shortest route. What an incredible opportunity he missed in avoiding the technical backroads of Arizona and New Mexico where he really could have let the K16 loose. Instead, he spent more time whining about the heat and drooling over his Hotel room than he did giving an insightful look at his GTL.

He's an acquired taste? That's an understatement. But given his GW following and the lack of critical YouTube comment questions in his review series, that tells me more about overall GW culture than anything else.

 

[CavRider]

Well at the risk of annoying some here I thought I would share yet another GW/K comparis on. This one from our friend on the east side of the pond - TheMissendenFlyer. Like the Cruiseman TMF is notably biased as one of the test articles is none other than his SECOND current generation GW. And he rides pretty tame. That said, as a person who lives around Whitetail Deer it would scare the ever living crap out of me to be running the speed he does with those hedgerows right at roads edge. Reminds me a little of old MN #1 from Two Harbors to Ely before they widened it. 200 yr old white pines just inches from the edge of the pavement on a hillly and twisty road that begged you to open that throttle. Now THAT was exciting! And deadly.

Anyway, for your viewing pleasure,

 

[JohnS1955]

Well at the risk of annoying some here....

Well, you succeeded.

Another useless review using "Rolling Couch" as the baseline evaluation criteria. This guy didn't come close to pushing the boundaries of what the K16 is really good at (and what the GW isn't). So who learned anything useful?? If he had spend as much time on testing the real performance differences as he did comparing how the side cases flopped down, maybe it would have been worth the watch.

 

[CavRider]

Well, you succeeded.

Another useless review using "Rolling Couch" as the baseline evaluation criteria. This guy didn't come close to pushing the boundaries of what the K16 is really good at (and what the GW isn't). So who learned anything useful?? If he had spend as much time on testing the real performance differences as he did comparing how the side cases flopped down, maybe it would have been worth the watch.

Thanks for coming through for me! Wish I was that good at fishing….

Seriously though - I have watched a bunch of his stuff and I don’t think he has roads near him that would lend themselves to any realistic test of the K performance. A motorway perhaps but, that would just be boring anyway.

 

[JohnS1955]

Thanks for coming through for me! Wish I was that good at fishing….

Seriously though - I have watched a bunch of his stuff and I don’t think he has roads near him that would lend themselves to any realistic test of the K performance. A motorway perhaps but, that would just be boring anyway.

Yep, you reeled me in.

So if you don't have an adequate environment to perform a reasonable comparison, why bother? At least throw in a disclaimer that the comparison is severely handicapped/limited due to laughable road constraints.

I should have exited the video when the reviewer crowned the GW winner in the "Handling and Suspension" category. Instead, I allowed the continued destruction of my limited brain cells.......

 

[CavRider]

Yep, you reeled me in.

So if you don't have an adequate environment to perform a reasonable comparison, why bother? At least throw in a disclaimer that the comparison is severely handicapped/limited due to laughable road constraints.

I should have exited the video when the reviewer crowned the GW winner in the "Handling and Suspension" category. Instead, I allowed the continued destruction of my limited brain cells.......

Apologies my friend. Perhaps I should come with a disclaimer: “CAUTION: The surgeon general has determined that consuming content from this poster may be hazardous to your mental health”.


Edit: if you are feeling bold then try to watch the other one I posted today. I think it will make you feel better although, it’s not about the K.