Extended voltage-current (V-I) characteristics of [001] tilt YBa2Cu3O7-x bicrystal films having misorientation angles, theta, of 3 degrees to 20 degrees showed a substantial and progressive change with theta, when measured in large fields. Transmission electron microscopy of the 10 degrees bicrystal showed the grain boundary to contain edge dislocations separated by channels of relatively undisturbed lattice. A large drop in the intergrain irreversibility field, H*, occurred between 10 degrees and 15 degrees, and the characteristics became qualitatively different by 20 degrees. Both the microscopy and the electromagnetic data support a heterogeneous description of the grain boundary, consisting of strongly coupled channels that close at a misorientation angle of around 15 degrees. (C) 1996 American Institute of Physics.