What did you do to your R18 today?

[HUNTS]

You know I like the chrome on my black and it being a chromasaurus, but the black diffidently looks good with the red paint. Maybe add black pinstripes to bring it all together. You are really on to something with this. Well done

Agree on the pinstripes.

 

[HUNTS]

Came home yesterday after being interstate for 9 days and ‘cheat’ washed the big girl… I use a pet blower to get dust off it and get a soft mitt and wet it down with hot water. With continued rinsing, I wipe down the bike without soap, blow excess water off and then with designated cloths, I Mr Sheen it dry.
Half the time of a full scrub up and sparkles when I’ve finished.
I’m also just lowering the heel lever as I find that I’m lifting my heel too much on gear changes.
Also ordered a denim Kevlar vest to help with warmer riding days (I already have every possible type piece of riding gear available).
I’ll look into a radiator cover next week from my friends at motorcycle cosmetic world, Aliexpress.
Looking forward to a ride next weekend.

 

[HUNTS]

Turned out that after doing the ‘garage test’, you can’t go too flat on the rear gear changer as it likes to make friends with the exhaust. Lucky I only pushed it down slowly, as I had my suspicions.

 

[Cu Dubh]

Turned out that after doing the ‘garage test’, you can’t go too flat on the rear gear changer as it likes to make friends with the exhaust. Lucky I only pushed it down slowly, as I had my suspicions.

I had this issue when adjusting my shifter levers. If you have not already done so, try this... I swapped the inner & outer lever positions on the shaft: moved the rear shift lever to the outside and the front shift lever to the inside of the shaft.
Hope this helps.

 

[HUNTS]

I had this issue when adjusting my shifter levers. If you have not already done so, try this... I swapped the inner & outer lever positions on the shaft: moved the rear shift lever to the outside and the front shift lever to the inside of the shaft.
Hope this helps.

Did you need to buy a footpeg extension (usually aftermarket) for the front shifter?

 

[Cu Dubh]

Did you need to buy a footpeg extension (usually aftermarket) for the front shifter?

Yes, I did. I bought the Hornig extenders. They may not have been necessary after I switched the levers but I already had them on the bike so left them on.

 

[HUNTS]

Yes, I did. I bought the Hornig extenders. They may not have been necessary after I switched the levers but I already had them on the bike so left them on.

I’m going to try… thanks.

 

[skidward]

It's 21° F here. (-6°C) So, please ignore the messy garage.

I love this bike, but I don't think it should be a chromasaurus. Started fixing that by swapping the coil covers and mirrors. I'll get to the front motor cover once I get hold of stubby Torx drivers.

View attachment 19913
View attachment 19914

I just added the RS Valve cover strip over my chrome cover to tone down the chrome as well.

 

[bdalameda]

Umm, made the mistake of zooming in on this pic and realised the black BMW badge wasn’t exactly in the centre, so I ordered 2 more.
View attachment 19730

Can you tell me what size these badges are and where you purchased them?

Dan

 

[HUNTS]

Can you tell me what size these badges are and where you purchased them?

Dan

44-45mm (they are the steering wheel decals) from Aliexpress. You get different choices and I suggest that you get 4, just in case. Will cost you about $7-10US.

 

[bdalameda]

44-45mm (they are the steering wheel decals) from Aliexpress. You get different choices and I suggest that you get 4, just in case. Will cost you about $7-10US.

Thank you!

 

[HUNTS]

Thank you!

No prob. If you are going to use them for the same reason I did, take off the guards to fit them, as the lean of the bike is deceiving and you will end up doing what I initially did.

 

[HUNTS]

I’ve never understood why motorcycle manufacturers don’t use black instead of grey bolts on bikes. The two that drove my crazy are the ones on the fork brace, directly under the headlight. I used a black paint pen to do the front of them and surrounds, by just removing them one at a time and letting them dry.
I also have black bolts on all the removable BMW badges. Not painted, but replaced.
I’ve also painted the front/rear gear change lever bolts.

I’m happy with my OCD decisions

 

[HUNTS]

Also ordered some extended black gear change footpegs (f&r) from my good friends at Aliexpress.

 

[jorgebri60]

I guess I'll move my stuff to this thread. I've been working on making my R18b more touring friendly. I picked the bike up 12/31/25. I had to ride my R1250RT 200+ miles and ride the R18b back the same 200 miles. As posted before, the difference between the 2 is...well...lets just say their different. Because of time crunches, I had cruise on the RT at 85 ish (ok, sometimes even faster ) so the trip back was just as fast. I learned real quick that the B's wind management leaves much to be desired (that's putting it nicely). I learned that the wind coming up from the sides beat me to death along the torso and waist area, not to mention it felt as if someone was trying to pull me off the bike so I had to really focus on holding on. It was a brutal ride back, to say the least. At any rate, I really love the bike so I started looking to see what was available for wind management. I know I can go the TC route with the dealership, but pricing for those parts came in at well over $3k. I wanted to try the less expensive stuff and looked at Aliexpress and other sources. I found everything I needed on Ebay and I feel more comfortable on that platform so I ordered a few things, some of which arrived really quick and others still getting here. The first thing I ordered were the side fairings. Knowing how strong the wind coming from that area in the fairing I was concerned about quality/strength of the ebay versions. Well, my concerns were wasted. These things are flawless and look good on the bike. They solved at least 70% if not 80% of the wind abuse problem. I can now ride the bike long distances without feeling beat up. Next is the crashbars and leg fairings set that I also purchased from ebay. I installed the crashbars last night and they too are top quality. I did have to find the right combination to install them, but after thinking about if for a bit I was successful in getting them on. Next is to get the leg fairings painted to match the bike and I'm waiting for the vendor to send me installation instructions on the fairings. There's alot of moving pieces to them so I want to make sure I get them installed correctly. I could not find anything on youtube or on the forum about installation of these so lets see how it goes. I'll keep posting here what I'm adding to her to get her ready for touring season.
Cheers all.

 

[LBV]

Nice job. I've done similar on my Classic with Memphis Shades lowers which helped immensely with the wind from the bottom and crash bars as well.

 

[jorgebri60]

Nice job. I've done similar on my Classic with Memphis Shades lowers which helped immensely with the wind from the bottom and crash bars as well.

thank you, I was looking at using the memphis shades instead of the lower fairings. Wondering if they stop enough of the air on the legs. I haven't really decided on the lowers yet. Since they were part of the kit I figured I'd try them out. I don't have much of a winter here where I am and summers are brutal so I may do with just the winglets that I added to the fairing.

 

[HUNTS]

thank you, I was looking at using the memphis shades instead of the lower fairings. Wondering if they stop enough of the air on the legs. I haven't really decided on the lowers yet. Since they were part of the kit I figured I'd try them out. I don't have much of a winter here where I am and summers are brutal so I may do with just the winglets that I added to the fairing.

But in the meantime whilst you make that decision, we will just all stare at the magnificent colour that your new bike is

 

[jorgebri60]

But in the meantime whilst you make that decision, we will just all stare at the magnificent colour that your new bike is

here's some more then

 

[Star-Lord]

That Dragon Fire Red with the dark smoke chrome is amazing looking...