Hey Guys!
This is from ME and I'm just an American motorcyclist. Granted, I'm a retired mechanic/machinist and I've been riding since 1971. I probably don't "measure up" to the demographic that a great thoroughly modern auto/motorcycle manufacturer will pay much attention to. But I have recently bought one of your new 2021 BMW R18 "First Editions" and, with a couple hundred miles under the wheels, I would like to offer my initial impressions...
First off... WOW! I've owned a lot of motorcycles since 1971 [when I was 16 years old on Long Island, NY] and, as a professional mechanical technician and machinist, I've never seen or owned a motorcycle that didn't need some "tweaking" to make it PROPER. The R18 is the closest thing to it that I have ever seen or ridden. It is damned close to PROPER!
Is it perfect? Is any new model of motorcycle perfect? For 99.999% of the riding world the answer has to be "no" and that's as to be expected. There are just too many different riders, each with different criteria of what perfection is. I am a life-long rider who's had AND/OR worked on almost every type of motorcycle made today and in the past. I have been a motorcycle mechanic for a few decades, while also building and/or working on cars, trucks, American fighter-jets AND sub-atomic particle detectors. I currently own a great American touring machine and have recently wanted to get another motorcycle that gives me the light-weight handling of the "standards" and the sport-bikes that I used to own (Kawasaki-Ninjas, Ducati 900SS/SP, etc.) In this modern day, I suppose that the relatively long wheelbase and low seat of the R18 automatically makes it a "cruiser". But the seat, foot peg and handlebar grip positions place it squarely into what used to be called a "standard" motorcycle. Couple those characteristics with the BIG 1800cc engine's massive torque & horsepower and it would have been called a "power cruiser" in the 80s and 90s. None the less, as a 700-plus pound motorcycle that feels like it weighs 500 pounds, I call it my "sportbike". With two fingers over the front brake lever and a light grip on a very responsive "Rock" throttle, I know that it will surprise a lot of other riders on the "Tail of the Dragon", Rt. 129 in Tennessee and North Carolina. You can count me in!
Right off the sale floor, would I change anything? Sure.
The marketing department was apparently in charge when they chose a descendant of the Marquis deSade to design the OEM seat. It looks great in photos, but in all other regards it's essentially plywood with a thin vinyl covering. The rear suspension isn't really bad... but it could use more compliance and adjustability for a wider range of rider(s) weights. Your efforts toward making the R18 "modification friendly" in so far as swapping bolt-on stuff like handlebars and mufflers is laudable, but your accessories [including alternative seats to reduce pain AT SIGNIFICANT ADDITIONAL COSTS!] are priced at a level that will leave the "working class" shopping for a Japanese brand of bike. While producing a thoroughly modern motorcycle with electric reverse, traction control, three riding modes, antilock AND integrated brakes, advanced lighting that adapts to steering & braking conditions, digital information regarding time-date-MPG, two trip meters and a readout that shows miles traveled while riding on "reserve tank", you couldn't add a fuel gauge?
Please don't take this letter as sour grapes because it is NOT. I've ridden hundreds (maybe a thousand) of other motorcycles. There is no other motorcycle made today that I would rather have bought and for that I applaud you. But, as always with new machines, the are some things that might have been done better. None the less, I have no regrets. Each time I see it in the garage and especially each time I throw a leg over it, I feel like a new rider who's just bought his first motorcycle. It's fantastic. The R18 just plain ROCKS!
Thank you!
Ken "the Mucker" Sexton
Sale Creek, TN
PS: It's also GORGEOUS!
This is from ME and I'm just an American motorcyclist. Granted, I'm a retired mechanic/machinist and I've been riding since 1971. I probably don't "measure up" to the demographic that a great thoroughly modern auto/motorcycle manufacturer will pay much attention to. But I have recently bought one of your new 2021 BMW R18 "First Editions" and, with a couple hundred miles under the wheels, I would like to offer my initial impressions...
First off... WOW! I've owned a lot of motorcycles since 1971 [when I was 16 years old on Long Island, NY] and, as a professional mechanical technician and machinist, I've never seen or owned a motorcycle that didn't need some "tweaking" to make it PROPER. The R18 is the closest thing to it that I have ever seen or ridden. It is damned close to PROPER!
Is it perfect? Is any new model of motorcycle perfect? For 99.999% of the riding world the answer has to be "no" and that's as to be expected. There are just too many different riders, each with different criteria of what perfection is. I am a life-long rider who's had AND/OR worked on almost every type of motorcycle made today and in the past. I have been a motorcycle mechanic for a few decades, while also building and/or working on cars, trucks, American fighter-jets AND sub-atomic particle detectors. I currently own a great American touring machine and have recently wanted to get another motorcycle that gives me the light-weight handling of the "standards" and the sport-bikes that I used to own (Kawasaki-Ninjas, Ducati 900SS/SP, etc.) In this modern day, I suppose that the relatively long wheelbase and low seat of the R18 automatically makes it a "cruiser". But the seat, foot peg and handlebar grip positions place it squarely into what used to be called a "standard" motorcycle. Couple those characteristics with the BIG 1800cc engine's massive torque & horsepower and it would have been called a "power cruiser" in the 80s and 90s. None the less, as a 700-plus pound motorcycle that feels like it weighs 500 pounds, I call it my "sportbike". With two fingers over the front brake lever and a light grip on a very responsive "Rock" throttle, I know that it will surprise a lot of other riders on the "Tail of the Dragon", Rt. 129 in Tennessee and North Carolina. You can count me in!
Right off the sale floor, would I change anything? Sure.
The marketing department was apparently in charge when they chose a descendant of the Marquis deSade to design the OEM seat. It looks great in photos, but in all other regards it's essentially plywood with a thin vinyl covering. The rear suspension isn't really bad... but it could use more compliance and adjustability for a wider range of rider(s) weights. Your efforts toward making the R18 "modification friendly" in so far as swapping bolt-on stuff like handlebars and mufflers is laudable, but your accessories [including alternative seats to reduce pain AT SIGNIFICANT ADDITIONAL COSTS!] are priced at a level that will leave the "working class" shopping for a Japanese brand of bike. While producing a thoroughly modern motorcycle with electric reverse, traction control, three riding modes, antilock AND integrated brakes, advanced lighting that adapts to steering & braking conditions, digital information regarding time-date-MPG, two trip meters and a readout that shows miles traveled while riding on "reserve tank", you couldn't add a fuel gauge?
Please don't take this letter as sour grapes because it is NOT. I've ridden hundreds (maybe a thousand) of other motorcycles. There is no other motorcycle made today that I would rather have bought and for that I applaud you. But, as always with new machines, the are some things that might have been done better. None the less, I have no regrets. Each time I see it in the garage and especially each time I throw a leg over it, I feel like a new rider who's just bought his first motorcycle. It's fantastic. The R18 just plain ROCKS!
Thank you!
Ken "the Mucker" Sexton
Sale Creek, TN
PS: It's also GORGEOUS!
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