If you dig deep into BMW's list of features, you'll find that you can add a lot of luxury to a scooter, of all things. Pick out the heated seat and grips, anti-theft system, and Ocean Blue Metallic Matte paint, and BMW's luxury scooter, the C650 GT, prices out at a cool $12,585.



That's nearly 13 grand for a scooter, and it treads awfully close to the base price of the company’s stripped-down street and dirt cruiser, the R nineT Scrambler. That basic bike starts at $13,490.

There’s no question that the Scrambler is cooler. But which one would you rather ride? That answer isn’t so obvious.

BMW

During a recent test drive of both two-wheelers, I rode the Scrambler first and immediately decided this is what I’d get, were I to get a motorcycle. I gravitate toward the naked bikes, which exude neither the excess of crotch-rockets nor the house-on-wheels resignation of big baggers. Bikes like this are simple, and simple is appealing. The Scrambler is essentially an air-cooled flat twin sitting on a pair of knobby tires. There’s a seat and handlebars. What else do you need?



Well, maybe a windshield or fairing. The seating position is comfortable and upright, but at highway speeds you want to get into a tuck because the wind is hammering your torso. Get the urge to sit a little too upright while riding anywhere near the Scrambler’s 125-plus mph top speed and you’d be doing a Mary Poppins off the back. At lower speeds, the breeze is a nice counterpoint to the heat coming off the 1,170-cc twin. So maybe just take it easy.

BMW R nineT Scrambler Ezra Dyer

This bike isn’t built for speed, anyway. With 110 horsepower, it’s quick enough. But the 7,750 rpm horsepower peak tells you what you need to know about the character of this engine. It’s a thumper, not a screamer. This flat twin is all about powering out of slow corners on a surge of torque while sounding marvelous. That it does.

The Scrambler is also happy to scramble off-road a little bit. I took it and its dual-sport tires through some sand, and it slithered happily across like an overgrown dirt bike. It’s no Africa Twin, but if your regular riding turf includes fire roads or some light desert action, this BMW would be just fine—as long as you have some goggles or a full-face helmet (see: windshield, lack of).

Whatever the Scrambler’s practical shortcomings (scant storage is another), every design decision was made in the name of coolness. And indeed, you feel like a throwback McQueen badass riding this thing. That’s the whole point.

BMW C650 GT BMW

Which brings me to the C650 GT. Maybe in Europe you’d get some props for riding the King of the Scooters, but on American shores, scooters generally connote, “I lost my license so now I’m rolling on this 50-cc Tao Tao.” The C650 GT is a long way from its moped cousins, but it has that look—tall profile, smallish wheels, floorboard instead of foot pegs. It’s not trying to be cool. Yet I couldn’t stop riding it.

Any time I got on the Scrambler, I had to put on my steel-toed Chippewas so I could work the shifter without smashing my foot. On the C650 GT, with its automatic transmission, I could wear any old shoes.

On the Scrambler, bugs smashed into my face any time my visor was up. On the C650 GT, I’d lower the power-adjustable windscreen for casual around-town rides, then raise it up higher on fast two-lanes. Either way, I was in a comfortable wind-free cocoon.

BMW C650 GT BMW

If I wanted to take the Scrambler on a grocery run, I had to wear a backpack. The C650 GT has plenty of storage under the seat. Honestly, the scooter makes itself so useful that you find excuses to ride it instead of taking a car. And that’s what makes it so fun. You can run errands or do something you had to do anyway, except, viola, you snuck a ride in there too. You got away with something.

And with 60 hp and 46 lb-ft of torque, you can handle any highway trek. More than once I saw a flash of surprise on the face of a motorist as I merged onto the highway—like, Scooters can do 70? In fact, BMW quotes the C650 GT’s top speed as “over 112 mph.” I didn’t test that assertion. It would be an unfortunate career footnote to get arrested for criminal speeding on a scooter. But what a scooter it is.

So there’s your $13,000 question: Look great less of the time, or feel great more of the time? I know what I’d do.

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