My R18 is HOME!

theMucker

theMucker

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The wait is over. Yesterday I picked my new First Edition. The ride home from Pandora Powersports in Chattanooga was chilly, but I enjoyed it none the less. And there were some surprises!
When I ordered it the paperwork said "Special Edition". So I figured that it would not be a "First Edition" and that I would not get the First Edition package with the copper badges. SUNUVAGUN! It says First Edition on the side panels and my dealership handed me the box with the book and badges. Cool.
On the way home I tried out the cruise control AND the heated grips. They are great!

20210129_BMW R18 Frnt.jpg20210129_BMW R18 RH.jpg
 
Among the other surprises was the sad news that the Weekender seat is back-ordered. I'll have to suffer with the stock seat for a while. I doubt that my wife will even try out the stock passenger seat.

When I got home I was looking it over and found that it has some differences as compared to the test bike that is at the dealership.

While waiting for the ordered R18 to arrive, I have been checking out some details on the test bike. I plan to make a special mount to place my GoPro just below the headlight. I made one for my Indian Roadmaster and the resulting video is GREAT! The mount is a steel plate welded to a machined component that gets slid up the bore of the steering stem. But the test bike has the junction of the three front brake hoses right where the mount would be inserted. Hmmmm.... gonna have to rethink the design.
But wait!
My R18 has the front brake hose junction moved back & down to the main frame. AND there is a steering damper mounted to the bottom of the lower "triple tree". That's all OK with me, even though the steering damper is still a bit in the way of the steering stem bore. So I'll still have to tweak the design of the GoPro mount.
But how many of you guys have a steering damper on your R18s?

20210129_BMW R18 frnt brake hoses.jpg20210129_BMW R18 steering damper.jpg
 
Good stuff! No damper on mine, no cruise control either. The latter doesn't bother me. The former, not sure. I've ridden almost 1000 miles. The steering doesn't feel squirrelly at all. Not even close. Do you think that the damper was added acknowledging that people may mount a fairing and that that will increase strain on the components?
 
Gilles makes a significant observation. It may be that the steering damper is paired with cruise control because when riders are "on" cruise control, it's common to remove the hand from the throttle grip, in which case a sudden change in road conditions (or some such) could start steering oscillations (i.e. "tank slappers").
Let's see how the topic develops with more riders adding their input.
 
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