You need to wonder what has caused BMW to enter into the modern cruiser market, up against some of the oldest and more well known brands in the world. Well considering the claims from, sheer brilliance is what can be expected from the brand new R18!
Sticking to their general design style of clean lines and crisp German utility, the master in Bavaria sure have out done themselves with R18’s end appeal on the eye. This is clearly an open road, no hassle machine, that won’t hammer the body like a superbike would, yet doesn’t have that dead sit up positioning you’d get uncomfortable with after a few 100k’s from an adventure style bike. Yes, you read that right. No one can say that an adventure bike is truly comfortable on the open road over long distances.
That said though, with the optional extras that can be added to this motorcycle, you’re in for a really personal experience of pure riding pleasure. Yup, BMW has gotten together with some really big names in the aftermarket motorcycle industry, namely Vance & Hines, as well as Roland Sands Design and quite a few other big names, to create an array of extra goodies that will make your very own R18, exactly that, your own!
As for the engine and drive of this beautifully crafted cruiser from the European motorcycle world, yup, you guessed it, bullet proof German engineering at its very best!
Coming packed with the biggest boxer motor ever installed into a production motorcycle, as well as the joys of practical maintenance free shaft drive, the power on your wrist is bound to be an amazing experience on every ride.
There is a very good reason for that 18 in the name. It stands for the mind dulling 1800cc beast of a motor that huddles in BMW’s double-loop steel frame, with meticulous welding and joints. Add to that the power claims, and you know that you are going to be holding for dear life when you twist that throttle. It is not the maximum power output of 67kw that is going to tear your arms off, it is the claim of a constant curve of 150nm of torque that will do the trick.
The only thing we think that would be nice in this engine configuration, would be a liquid cooled system, which they decided to opt out of for the more traditional air-cooled route. Something we can’t fully comment on though until we’ve managed to test ride one.
With all that power though, they thought things through at least, by adding some of their more tech savvy riding assists.
Not just the stunning retro styled LED headlight, with optional adaptive turning, BMW has also added in their ASC (Stability Control – which can be disengaged), MSR (an electronically controlled system to prevent unwanted slipping on the rear when accelerating too quickly or downshift shudders), as well as three standard drive settings, “Rain”, “Roll” and “Rock”.
So with the addition of some much awaited and very new tech advancement to the cruiser segment, you can expect some serious updates on everyone else's production lines coming, with BMW leading the way.
The now industry standard of ABS is covered by the unique BMW Mottorad Intergral ABS system that has well been established in the world of motorcycles.
In conclusion to our excitement for the launch of this amazing sounding cruiser from BMW, we are pretty keen on getting our hands on one to test and give more details on how she handles on the road. With the figures and specs that we’ve received from BMW regarding this genius piece of German engineering, it should be one heck of a motorcycle to ride.
Here’s crossing fingers, toes and everything else that we get to test one soon 😉
P.s. Hopefully in time for the YouTube channel debut 😁
