Pieter de Waal, the vice president of BMW Motorrad USA, told us how the sporty new K 1600 GT and GTL models started out as a clean-sheet approach, with a five-year gestation. Although both the GTL and GT share most major components, they maintain separate personalities. The GTL offers more wind protection, a bigger gas tank, and a top trunk, more suited for long-distance two-up rides, while the GT has sportier ergos aimed at solo sport-touring riders.

BMW Motorrad celebrated the 30th anniversary of its popular GS series by introducing the most powerful R 1200 GS and GS Adventure ever. Taking its name from a combination of the German Gelände and Strasse, GS translates to "terrain" and "road," respectively - and for three decades, GS models have enabled owners to ride to the ends of the earth.Our test ride was held in and around northern California's fabulous Yosemite National Park.

The moral of the age-old tale is: Sometimes you have to taste a lot of porridge before you find the bowl that's "just right."

What is it that makes a motorcycle great? Is it all-around ability, or sharply focused functionality in a specific area? For the R 1200 GS series, a hot item for BMW aficionados with over 75,000 of them already sold worldwide, it may be both.

Each of these machines is powered by a twin-cylinder engine of similar displacement, and a quick perusal of the spec sheets indicates how very similar these sport-tourers are in other respects too. Both machines are built in the shadow of the Alps: Munich to the east and Mandello del Lario to the south. And both were built with the same task in mind - to transport a rider and passenger rapidly and sportingly, yet with long-distance comfort and capabilities assured.