New from LA

[Witsend]

Greetings from LA, CA. I just discovered R18 after months of hunting. Came close to buying a Valkyrie 2014, closer still to an HD 2019 FXDR (supposedly fastest HD ever) but something kept holding me back. I didnt like all the plastic of those two. When I laid eyes on the R18 I knew instantly this was it. Never been willing to take out a partial bike loan until now. Now to find the right one. Got an offer in at a dealer --should know by tomorrow. If not that one, I'll find the right one. Already got a nice list of must have mods and add-ons selected.

 

[Rufus]

Morning. I owned a 2015 1800F6C, nice bike, very Honda. The R18 is a different animal and a lot more quirky IMHO. Both are outliers as far as main stream motorcycling goes. You certainly wont see many about. The R18 isn’t a slow bike by any means but it’s not a power cruiser, it responds well to short shifting, red lining it through the gears is a bit …..unpleasant. Vibes. Think road drill.

Ride it in the right way though and it’s silky smooth, effortless, wafty. The bikes have been out a good while now and there’s lots of detailed information on the forum. Broadly speaking I would say unmolested bikes are very reliable, any with aftermarket bits can throw up electrical gremlins so if you do plan mods do some research first without diving in. The bikes run a Canbus system that doesn’t like being messed with.

I’ve had mine over two years and love it. Re-sale can be very difficult so be aware of that and accept that before you dive in, BUT, the whole used bike market has completely tanked anyway so it’s not only our bikes effected. Difficult times. I’m in the UK by the way. Good luck with your quest

 

[Witsend]

Quirky scares me. haha. Appreciate that informed reply tho. I still need to actually test drive it. I do want something with good power and torque. In LA one needs to be able to get out of traffic clusters quickly. My Vulcan S does that well even at only 69hp.

I'm thinking of a 2021 classic with 11k miles for only $10k. Seems a really good deal. With 11k miles seems like it should be broken in well. We shall see.

The electric mods would be a better horn and an ECU probably BT MOTO's. I havent seen anything neg on that ... but now Im going to dig a little deeper. Thx. GN.

 

[Anibal]

Welcome aboard and good luck with your purchase.

 

[Witsend]

This is the one...

It's like my first car... can't stop looking at it. I heard the classic rides much better --not keen on the windshield or bags look (I like the naked bike look more) but it's nice to have them when I go for a longer ride.

Thanks for the warm welcome!

 

[Star-Lord]

Welcome..!!!

 

[Viking Power]

Welcome!
I'm a recent joiner to the R18 world myself. I like that it isn't the ubiquitous Harley. I'm not a Harley hater and have owned one but I wanted something somewhat unique so the R18 was very attractive for that reason. On top of that I love the character of the boxer engine and if one is going to go with a boxer, why not get an absolute monster of the species?
So far, I've put 175 or so miles on mine and am enjoying it immensely. It is not perfect. It is heavy and handles differently than the Triumph Bonneville T120 I had before it but it is an absolute rolling work of art and such a pleasure to ride. I'm very happy with my purchase and having paid about 2/3-3/4 what a comparable Harley was going to cost I am even more pleased. So is the wife. Haha.

 

[Witsend]

Thanks Viking...

Hey anyone know if the BTMOTO ecu flash gives more top speed?