Active Cruise Control. Indeed, the new BMW R 18 B has ground-breaking technology. Snag finds out if the rhetoric meets the ride…
What we like:
- Beautifully built
- Much better than the base model
- Technically advanced
Room for improvement:
- Poor pillion accommodation
- Noisy fairing
- More room at the foot controls please
Let’s get to the nitty gritty. This one is all about high-tech and whether it works. Especially in the case of Active Cruise Control. It’s a massive step for a two-wheeled vehicle to take on the tech and make it work. Let’s put it through its paces in the real world.
As you’ll see in the video here, we looked hard at that tech development. Did it pass muster? Watch and find out.
The maths. The R18 B boasts 67kW at 4750rpm, but that’s largely academic. People will always refer to horses, but the real truth is that the numbers that matter in a bike of this ilk boldly written in the torque figures.
And, well, this thing puts up an impressive chart when it comes to good old-fashioned grunt.
Like the fact that at anywhere in the rev range from 2000 to 4000rpm, you have a stonking 150Nm on hand. That makes for a powerhouse off the bottom.
Big horsepower numbers are totally irrelevant with torque figures in that realm. It’s a guts factory of a donk and you can enjoy smoking top-end screamers from the lights or enjoy being a total lazy bones with the gearbox. That’s all about useability, simple as that.
Prepare to gird your loins in the fiscal front.
You’ll be shelling out at least $39,310 biggies and with the impressive array off add-ons and personalisation opportunities offered by BMW, that number is only going to go up.
Of course, you can see where the quid goes. Fit and finish and attention to detail on this bike are simply extraordinary. Top marks there.
So, I reckon the R 18 has found itself. I’d argue that this is the bike BMW should have built in the first place. A high-end, technically advanced hero bike. It’s a bloody beauty.
Indeed, I reckon this might just be the bike that sends the R 18 sales charts north.
Again, I think that this is the configuration the bike should have been at launch, such is the nature of the platform and subtle but important differences the model holds over the R 18 and R 18 Classic.
And there is probably more good news, when we consider the full fruit Transcontinental model gets more luggage room again.
Yes. This is what the R 18 should have been since Day One. Bagger, highly-appointed, big mile cruiser.
Big Snaggy tick here.
Snag’s career in motoring journalism spans 29 years with stints at major bike mags Australian Road Rider, Motorcycle Trader and AMCN along with contributions to just about every other outlet worth a hill of beans. He was editor of Unique Cars magazine and hosts his legendary podcast ‘Snag Says’ when he gets off his date.
