Our 2021 BMW R-18 First Edition has Catastrophic Failure

For context, this member joined just to post this and then never came back. They were last here the day they posted this. They’re not interested in having a dialogue. They’re here to get video views for themselves or their friend.

I’d say we just report the post and have it removed. Nothing ever came of these catastrophic issues reported by one person two years ago who’s YouTube channel does Harley reviews.
 
Re ”smoke” from L/H exhaust on the R18…..its a known problem. Take it back to your main dealer and ask for the “improved” piston to be fitted.
since I had this done to my R18 I have had no more issues.
 
Scott Semone said:
Seems like a perfect forum member or user name to practice using the "ignore" button on..
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No point really. They are never going to post here again. Their YT channel has one R18 video. I see this a lot of Reddit. People go to 50 sub-forums and post the same link to their YouTube channel and never comment or interact. Just trying to get views.
 
motorcyclesinthewild said:
Hey guys, I wanted to post something that has been hidden within the BMW community.

A client of mine recently purchased the New 2021 BMW R-18, First Edition. My client was excited to finally receive his bike and immediately put a 100 miles on it. However, to our disbelief, we noticed that the left exhaust pipe started to blow blue smoke. We sent the bike back to the BMW dealership that we purchased it from and they had BMW mechanics evaluate the engine.

BMW deemed that the engine had catastrophic failure. After a few weeks, we were told that BMW would only replace the left cylinder head. My client was not happy with the news, as an engine with “catastrophic failure“ should have fully been replaced.

After doing some research, we noticed that not many criticisms/issues have been reported on the these bikes. It seems that BMW is trying to keep negative reviewers silent. However, another manufacturing issue that came up in the motorcycle community is that the fork head screw is not torqued correctly. I have link a video below for you guys, leave a comment and let us know your thoughts!

Click to expand...

Yeah,thx for your 1 post.Next time take a $hit somewhere else.
 
Something I have wondered about since I purchased my TC . I had a 2005 R1200 RT, a friend that owned a 2005 R1200 GS and another friend that also had a R1200 RT. All of us kept them on the center stand when parked because the oil would "settle" in the left cylinder (not a lot) but enough to make them smoke on the left for a couple of minutes when starting the first time of the day. We attributed that to the pushrod seals weeping a just a bit. All three bikes did that, so it wasn't a abnormality on one bike. Didn't hurt anything that I know of and certainly didn't bother any of us. Sitting on the side stand over night would cause the 1st start of the day to have a little smoke. If I remember correctly one of us had read about this quirk somewhere. Kinda like a old radial recip, engine on a plane, those bottom cylinders always smoked a bit on start.

My point I am trying to get at is the R18 doesn't have a center stand, and that was something that immediately came to mind when I first saw and rode a R18. Didn't stop me from buying one. LOL I still wonder if some time down the road (mileage wise) if this bike will develop that quirk. Guess it wouldn't sit well with the target group of riders (read HD / Indian here) to have put a center stand on BMW's attempt at the cruiser market eh? I still didn't hesitate to buy mine, and I enjoy it very much. I think I'll keep it. LOL
 
OscarTGrouch said:
Something I have wondered about since I purchased my TC . I had a 2005 R1200 RT, a friend that owned a 2005 R1200 GS and another friend that also had a R1200 RT. All of us kept them on the center stand when parked because the oil would "settle" in the left cylinder (not a lot) but enough to make them smoke on the left for a couple of minutes when starting the first time of the day. We attributed that to the pushrod seals weeping a just a bit. All three bikes did that, so it wasn't a abnormality on one bike. Didn't hurt anything that I know of and certainly didn't bother any of us. Sitting on the side stand over night would cause the 1st start of the day to have a little smoke. If I remember correctly one of us had read about this quirk somewhere. Kinda like a old radial recip, engine on a plane, those bottom cylinders always smoked a bit on start.

My point I am trying to get at is the R18 doesn't have a center stand, and that was something that immediately came to mind when I first saw and rode a R18. Didn't stop me from buying one. LOL I still wonder if some time down the road (mileage wise) if this bike will develop that quirk. Guess it wouldn't sit well with the target group of riders (read HD / Indian here) to have put a center stand on BMW's attempt at the cruiser market eh? I still didn't hesitate to buy mine, and I enjoy it very much. I think I'll keep it. LOL
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I'm surprised you guys had the issue with that range R12 engines, but it was common on earlier era engines (R+K) which had several design elements that contributed to the need to use the center stand. Newer engines saw the piston grooves have pins added that prevented the rings from rotating to where there could be an alignment of the end gaps that allowed an open path for oil to work it's way into the combustion chamber. I don't think there is much in common with the R1200C and the 2005 engine in your RT and with the case changes on the new engine one benefit was in reducing the risk of the oil-side stand worries, but the fact you and your friends still experienced some signs of it obviously means it wasn't totally eliminated. For what it's worth I never noticed any problems on my 05 RT (74,000miles), 06 R, numerous LC versions of RS, RT, GS, GSA nor my R18 and I'm very attentive to maintenance and care with many miles of enjoyment on them all.

I think your last sentence says it all and I totally agree!! 🍻 🍻
 
My airhead smokes if I leave it on the side stand for a week. Sometimes it does it after dinner some place. I just smile.

I was taught to turn it off, lean to the right so the oil leaves the left cylinder for a few seconds, then park on side stand.

My 2000 R1100RT did it if I parked it HOT on the side stand for a few days, small smoke out of left side.

My camhead and R18 have never done it. I probably lean them to the right first too.....

David
 
David R said:
My airhead smokes if I leave it on the side stand for a week. Sometimes it does it after dinner some place. I just smile.

I was taught to turn it off, lean to the right so the oil leaves the left cylinder for a few seconds, then park on side stand.

My 2000 R1100RT did it if I parked it HOT on the side stand for a few days, small smoke out of left side.

My camhead and R18 have never done it. I probably lean them to the right first too.....

David
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Having read this thread ages ago It’s a habit I have adopted, turn off, hold the bike upright for say 30 seconds then drop it to the left on the stand. Unnecessary 🤷‍♂️ maybe, but it’s a very small quirk of boxers I can embrace.
 
motorcyclesinthewild said:
Hey guys, I wanted to post something that has been hidden within the BMW community.

A client of mine recently purchased the New 2021 BMW R-18, First Edition. My client was excited to finally receive his bike and immediately put a 100 miles on it. However, to our disbelief, we noticed that the left exhaust pipe started to blow blue smoke. We sent the bike back to the BMW dealership that we purchased it from and they had BMW mechanics evaluate the engine.

BMW deemed that the engine had catastrophic failure. After a few weeks, we were told that BMW would only replace the left cylinder head. My client was not happy with the news, as an engine with “catastrophic failure“ should have fully been replaced.

After doing some research, we noticed that not many criticisms/issues have been reported on the these bikes. It seems that BMW is trying to keep negative reviewers silent. However, another manufacturing issue that came up in the motorcycle community is that the fork head screw is not torqued correctly. I have link a video below for you guys, leave a comment and let us know your thoughts!

Click to expand...
 
motorcyclesinthewild said:
Hey guys, I wanted to post something that has been hidden within the BMW community.

A client of mine recently purchased the New 2021 BMW R-18, First Edition. My client was excited to finally receive his bike and immediately put a 100 miles on it. However, to our disbelief, we noticed that the left exhaust pipe started to blow blue smoke. We sent the bike back to the BMW dealership that we purchased it from and they had BMW mechanics evaluate the engine.

BMW deemed that the engine had catastrophic failure. After a few weeks, we were told that BMW would only replace the left cylinder head. My client was not happy with the news, as an engine with “catastrophic failure“ should have fully been replaced.

After doing some research, we noticed that not many criticisms/issues have been reported on the these bikes. It seems that BMW is trying to keep negative reviewers silent. However, another manufacturing issue that came up in the motorcycle community is that the fork head screw is not torqued correctly. I have link a video below for you guys, leave a comment and let us know your thoughts!

Click to expand...
 
What do you mean a client of yours ? seems a bit over the top this story , BMW hiding from the community ? very hard to do my friend in this day and age , i purchased a R18 classic with 1400 miles on the clock just done round trip of 900 miles and never missed a beat , these stories need more definite information before publishing .
 
He's engagement farming to drive views to his Youtube Channel.

Of course people have issues with motorcycles and luckily most people don't. Any brand can have issues. Most evidence is antecdotal or hearsay. The breakdown and frustration is usually poor communications, parts availability and mechanic workload. You know everyone wants their bike worked on during riding season and can't ever get there during the winter because they procrastinated.

Let's be honest, most people on YouTube do not know WTF they're talking about. Most have zero or few credentials and they simply have a camera. It's frankly dangerous to take technical advice from most of them. "I bought a new bike and this is what I think" is pointless. It's an opinion. It's completely irritating seeing a helmet cam perspective. The lure to produce YT content is ad revenue for a lot of people. My god I don't get why everyone has to have a camera, a phone mount or highway bars. Well I do, it's because everyone thinks you do because they see other people doing it. Don't even get me starting on why mounting a phone is a horrendous idea and serves no practical purpose. Yet we see tons of videos on phone mounts.

I trust Fortnine, BigRock Moto and that's about it. Most of it is entertainment at best. They research and put time and money into production.
 
motorcyclesinthewild said:
Hey guys, I wanted to post something that has been hidden within the BMW community.

A client of mine recently purchased the New 2021 BMW R-18, First Edition. My client was excited to finally receive his bike and immediately put a 100 miles on it. However, to our disbelief, we noticed that the left exhaust pipe started to blow blue smoke. We sent the bike back to the BMW dealership that we purchased it from and they had BMW mechanics evaluate the engine.

BMW deemed that the engine had catastrophic failure. After a few weeks, we were told that BMW would only replace the left cylinder head. My client was not happy with the news, as an engine with “catastrophic failure“ should have fully been replaced.

After doing some research, we noticed that not many criticisms/issues have been reported on the these bikes. It seems that BMW is trying to keep negative reviewers silent. However, another manufacturing issue that came up in the motorcycle community is that the fork head screw is not torqued correctly. I have link a video below for you guys, leave a comment and let us know your thoughts!

Click to expand...
I call BS!
 
I have to agree with anglojaxon , i certainly would not take advice from U-Tubers these modern bikes are not designed for home mechanics in my opinion unless you are extremely mechanical experienced , even then if electrics play up it could end up being innumerable reasons that require diagnostic checks , best leave it to the experts , yes i know its awful parting with your cash at these dealerships , i,ve been there .
 
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