BMW's R18 has been a long time coming. First unveiled as a concept in spring last year, BMW then brought us another concept and the engine before revealing its finished form this spring.
Now, some 18 months later, BMW entrusted one to us for a week, so what else could we do with it, but take it on the Great Malle Rally: a 1500 mile journey from one end of Great Britain to the other.
Along the way we took all 345kgs of it on A roads, B roads, little grass up the middle unlisted roads, on mountain passes, through fords, on motorways and even on one far too lumpy farm track. And what did we learn? It’s really rather good, although it’s far from perfect. The real centrepiece of the bike, both literally and figuratively, is the new 1802cc boxer engine. Performance figures are pretty much on the money compared to the competition (89bhp & 117ft lbs).
That might not sound like a lot from such a big engine, but 110ftlbs is available between 2000 and 4000rpm, which is where you do 95% of the riding. It just makes riding the thing totally effortless.
The engine puts its power down through an exposed shaft drive, which runs into a bevel box that’s locked into a ‘softail’ cantilever rear end. Holding that cantilever in the air is a preload adjustable rear shock, which offers 90mm of travel from its perch under the seat. Out on the road, the suspension as a whole is on the firmer side with the damping far better suited to getting on with it, than dawdling along. It does crash over bigger bumps, potholes and the like, but it’s no kidney bruiser.
Where the R18 seems to make the most sense is if you ride it like a giant R nineT. Pay no heed to its weight, length or limited ground clearance and you’ll have an absolute riot.
Fire it into a corner, haul on the brakes, shuttle it round scraping the pegs then unleash the big engine. Ride it like that and you’ll have an unshakeable grin from ear to ear. There are issues though.
For a BMW it’s bereft of tech: there’s no cruise control, no fuel gauge, no range indicator and what tech there is needs work. The ignition is keyless but the fuel filler and steering lock aren’t, while the Hill Start Control is jerky and the self-cancelling indicators turn off too soon. Not really good enough for a £19,000 bike. That’s also the other problem.
The First Edition model (which is the only one available at the moment) costs £18,995, which gets you some pinstriping and fancy chrome bits over the standard model but the one we rode with all the fancy bits was £20,945. However you cut it, that’s a lot of cash.
If nothing else, you have to commend BMW for building the R18 at all. In a world of tightening emissions and downsized engines, building not only a new air-cooled engine but their largest ever engine to date deserves some serious respect. There really is no telling how well this will go for BMW but right now, it has all the foundations of an instant classic.
For a much more in-depth review of the bike, plus a history of how BMW have crammed 100 years of tech into the R18, pick up the next issue of MCN, out on Wednesday, September 23.
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