The Best Alternative To The Harley-Davidson Street Glide
The Street Glide is one of Harley-Davidson‘s hottest bikes in 2025. For good reason, too, considering it gives you an epic blend of power, modern kit, and American muscle. But that doesn’t make it the best touring bike out there. Far from it, actually, and you realize that the moment you zoom out of the American touring bike world. There’s one bike in particular that offers a lot more than the Street Glide while costing less than it.
The Harley-Davidson’s Best Alternative Is The BMW K 1600 GTL
Look at the market, and you’ll soon realize full-dresser motorcycles cost a lot of money. But look in the right spot, and you’ll find the BMW K 1600 GTL priced at $27,745. That is $4 less than the Street Glide and the Beamer gets you a full-dresser experience rather than a bagger one like the H-D. Here are some of its highlights.
Powered By Six-Cylinder Engine
Peak Power: 160 HP
The Street Glide doesn’t even have H-D’s flagship engine for the money you pay. And the K 1600 GTL sweeps the floor from under it. You get an oil/water-cooled, six-cylinder, 1,649cc, four-stroke, in-line engine that produces 160 horsepower and 132.7 pound-feet. The former is a whopping 53 ponies higher than the Glide. All of that is available at just 6,750 RPM (the torque is even lower at 5,250 RPM).
Engine Specifications
| Engine | 1,649cc, six-cylinder |
| Power | 160 HP @ 6,750 RPM |
| Torque | 132.7 LB-FT @ 5,250 RPM |
| Transmission | Six-speed |
| Claimed top speed | > 120 MPH |
Cutting-Edge Underpinnings With BMW Innovations
A bridge-type aluminum frame is hidden under the humungous body. This chassis pairs up with BMW’s special duolever front suspension and paralever rear suspension. Electronic adjustability is standard, complete with an auto-levelling function. The suspension clamps onto 17-inch wheels, wrapped in 120/190-section tires while housing triple 320 mm disc brakes (two at the front, one at the rear).
Key Dimensions
- Wheelbase: 63.7 inches
- Rake: 27.8 degrees
- Tank capacity: 7 gallons
- Suspension travel: 4.5/5.3 inches (F/R)
More Features Than You’ll Ever Need
Instead of talking all about them, we’ll just list the features you get here, and let you drool over everything on offer. Here goes:
- 10.25-inch TFT instrument cluster
- BMW’s Audio System 2.0
- Smartphone connectivity and turn-by-turn navigation
- Three ride modes
- Engine brake control
- Hill start control
- Cruise control
- Traction control.
- Phone storage with an integrated charger
- Four configurable favorite buttons
- Heated grips
- Heated seats
- Cushioned backrest for the pillion
- Keyless ignition
- Adaptive cornering light
- Reverse assist
