Greetings from the Black Hills of South Dakota.

[JBacklund]

Last Saturday, I took delivery of our local BMW dealership's 190 mile demo R18 (Sturgis, SD). It was offered to me for a very good price, and I found the deal irresistible. This dealership had two R18's, and both had languished on their sales floor for over a year now. I had always been attracted to this machine, but couldn't afford one at full retail, but with the discounts and favorable BMW financing recently offered, I was able to buy the demo.

It has now joined the small fleet of motorcycles currently crowding our garage, consisting of a '17 Triumph Thruxton R, '18 Triumph Speedmaster, '21 Kawasaki W800, and an '18 Honda GL1800.

I have been riding motorcycles since 1966, and I think my R18 is my 62nd bike owned over that period.

 

[R18Art]

Welcome! Thats a very nice fleet of motorcycles!

 

[Longshot]

Welcome! Nice fleet! I have a few bikes myself. Most recently picked up a new 2020 triumph bonniville and took delivery of a new 21 goldwing last week. I haven't been able to stay off of it lol

 

[Only Big Poodles]

What a stable! Only difficulty is deciding which one to ride!

 

[TodkaVonic]

Sweet rides, JBacklund! Welcome!

 

[Gilles]

Welcome

 

[Michigan Tim]

JBacklund!! One of the true characters on the Indian Motorcycle Forum!! The Mucker can attest! Well at least you used to be. I sold my Indian Chief a few years back and haven't visited that site much lately, so cannot attest to your current presence there or not. I always enjoyed your posts and sense of humor. You might be a good match for Black Dog on this site. You will LOVE the R18. Crazy cool vintage class with wicked good performance. Power, style and handling. I took my R18 to an Indian Demo days at a local dealer and their guys were very complimentary and were really digging the R18. I appreciated that, as my choice when I bought the R18 came down to it versus the Indian Springfield Darkhorse. In terms of you being able to buy a stagnant first edition model at a great discount, I am jealous. I hadn't ordered one of the first editions, but stumbled onto the opportunity to buy mine last fall when the guy who had put a deposit down on the bike, came down with some medical issues and couldn't follow through on the purchase. I thought I had won the lottery lucking into getting one of the First Editions without having had to reserve one and put a deposit down at least a year earlier. Now I see just what you have experienced........ lots of the First Editions sitting stagnant and being sold at significant discounts. While it bums me out, I wouldn't change a thing, as I have loved every mile on this fantastic bike since last fall.

Welcome!