dabadger said:
Gee wizzz...
It's not an LT.
It's a K16GT/L.
Different bikes.
Why talk like the LT is dead?
Do you think BMW will produce another LT?
I'll take the contrary position --
I believe the K16GTL *IS* the new LT -- delivered in exactly the form we all have been asking for!
For years, what have the vast majority of us asked for?
An LT that is ~ 100 lbs lighter than the K12LT. Check.
An LT with the weather protection of the K12LT. Check.
Luggage capacity as least as big as the K12LT. Check.
Luggage with better internal shape than the K12LT. Check. (looks like the saddlebags won't have nearly the convoluted internal shape as the LT's - particularly the practicality-sucking right bag CD changer arrangement).
An LT with a far better integrated electronics suite. Check.
Passenger accommodations as least as good as the K12LT. Check. (in fact, it looks like they paid very good attention to passenger comfort -- look at the contouring and width of the rear seat, and the moving of the trunk back 30 mm as compared to the GT).
The "King of the Road" presence of the LT. Check. (the GTL isn't just a K1300GT with two more cylinders -- look at the pics with people on it, or Jay Leno's intro -- he's a big guy, and the GTL is obviously a big bike -- bigger than a K13GT; more like the K13's big brother, the football player)
Top-level touring conveniences, like the LT's central locking. Check.
Etc. ...
IMO, a lot of folks have been fooled by the GTL's styling similarity to the K13GT, Kaw 1400 Concours, etc into thinking this is a phyically smaller bike than the K12LT. Doesn't look like it to me.
So, I wouldn't be holding my breath waiting on a new "real LT"-class vehicle. It's already here.