Touring-friendly Version Of BMW R 18 In The Works

Published October 21, 2020
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The retro cruiser with touring-friendly bits has been spotted testing

The spied bike gets a pair of auxiliary lamps, a large windshield, and new exhausts.
Expect these to be offered as accessories on the standard model too.
In India, the BMW R 18 starts from Rs 18.90 lakh (ex-showroom India).

The BMW R 18 is a minimalistic retro cruiser made to turn heads and let the rider roll in style. But the rock-and-roll nature of the motorcycle doesn’t exactly make it practical. To counter this, BMW Motorrad seems to be testing a new touring-friendly variant of the R 18 with a bunch of accessories.

Also Read: BMW R 18: All You Need To Know

The test mule sports a large windshield and a pair of LED auxiliary lamps. Riding down the highway should be a more comfortable affair thanks to the windshield. The auxiliary lamps will also come in handy while munching miles at night. For a more cohesive look, the indicators have been moved to the auxiliary lamp mounting brackets. The motorcycle also gets a pair of slash-cut exhausts. Other than these two additions, there seems to be no other change. BMW Motorrad could either offer these accessories in the standard variant or perhaps sell a variant with these bits as a touring-friendly version. We’d have loved it if the bike got a pair of soft panniers and perhaps a minimalistic tail rack on the rear fender to keep small luggage.

But fret not, as BMW Motorrad will be bringing a properly touring-oriented bagger version of the R 18 soon. This motorcycle was spotted way back in April 2019. It featured a proper Harley-Davidson Street Glide/CVO-like front fairing with several dials, a large windscreen, two hard case lockable panniers, and a top box. You can read more about this version here.

Expect the windshield and auxiliary lamps to be offered as accessories with the India-spec version of the R 18 too. The motorcycle costs Rs 18.90 lakh for the standard variant and Rs 21.90 lakh for the First Edition, which gets subtle aesthetic upgrades to differentiate it from the regular version.

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