New r18 b rider

Hutch

Hutch

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Hello everyone,

I am excited to be here to learn from y’all and maybe have a lil group ride (im from san diego,ca area)

I am super stoke on my new r18 b! I just bought her a couple days ago. What a beautiful machine! This is my first big bike ever boy she is heavy!! I really need to practice my slow speed maneuvering….almost dropped her on a slow left turn, i had to put my foot down to save her, yikes! I’ll take any advise😁.

I only have 12,000 miles riding experience, all from my very first bike, the R9t, so really new to riding. See you guys around and ride safe✌️
 

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I've had to dab a few times on the TC getting the feel for the behavior of a heavy bike. I did realize much better manageability when using rock mode all the time, due to more consistent and quicker throttle response. I have found that a real tender touch on the brakes can smooth the effects of fully integrated abs when feathering through tight maneuvers, makes things easier.
 
Welcome and congratulations!!

Good advice above as the skills involved are the same for any bike, but like you shared the bigger and heavier they are it can be harder to be smooth at slow speeds.. I find rain mode to have too much lag in responding for real tight maneuvers so I would select "road" at a minimum (I stay in "rock") and then find a big empty parking lot to practice the same type of slow speed drills used in the MSF courses. You have ridden some good miles on a great bike coming from the R9T, but it is almost like a toy compared to the heft of the R18 so getting comfortable and smooth going slow before going fast is what I do on every bike and certainly when I got my R18. And again as offered above, Looking where you want the bike to go and Feathering the clutch is worth repeating. Enjoy her and in no time you'll reprogram your reflexes and won't even have to think about this stuff. By the way, turning the bars all the way so the throttle is closest to the tank will allow you to almost lift her off the stand with zero effort by a minor nudge from your left leg while standing. At first I would do that and then recenter the bars and just flick the bike back and forth to get a little feel as to just how low the weight is and how balanced and easily controllable she is. Made me more at ease with her mass.

🍻🍻
 
Welcome from Australia !
This forum is a wealth of knowledge & experience, so ask away, people here are so helpfull.
Re, the slow speed manouvering, the R18 takes a bit of getting used to given its weight (especially the bagger & TC which carry more weight up high) and found myself, even after having ridden since the age of 12 on dirt bikes, then into road bikes (didn't have a car till I turned 28), my R18b was initially a handfull & had a few slow speed close calls.
But found the more you ride it, the more you'll get a feel for it's balance - I found once past 1000kms it started to feel natural and controllable at slow speed - but still always treat her balance point with 'respect' at slow speed.
Enjoy !
 
Welcome to the forum. Keep your bike vertical and it won’t feel heavy. On slow speed turns be prepared to counter steer briefly. Just muscle it for a couple seconds and all will be well.
The sweet spot in 4th, 5th, and 6th gears is 2,500 rpm
 
BMWryder9 said:
Maneuvering a heavy bike can be nerve wracking. The best I can give you is don't look down, look where you are going and feather the clutch so you can keep your speed up. There are lots of You Tube video on this exact topic.
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The best advice you will ever get.

Many people will just glass over this advice, yada yada yada. Yet so few actually do it. If you follow and practice practice practice looking where you are going not at the ground where you are (it’s harder than you think), your riding skills will dramatically improve.

A great way to see just how it is suppose to work is to get a buddy to stand in a parking lot. Ride around him in a circle and look directly at him the whole time. Do it in both directions. Crazy how different they will be.

Gl and enjoy the bagger. I love them
 
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