What did you do to your R18 today?

vwjedi said:
One test ride for long distance determined I'd like more storage. R18 transcontinental rack and a knock off HD tour pack. Will get it painted to match later this summer and swap the latch and hinges for chrome.


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Yep.... most impactful issue on my TC is the limited storage volume. Your solution is interesting and appears appropriate.

My GS has more storage volume. But I'll deal with it. I'll be interested to see how this works out for you.
 
Not today ..but Saturday ... a little Arts & Crafts time.
I made these for my Shovelhead ... the straps are 3' long and I can strap down even my biggest duffel bag.
LR01.jpg

The trouble is they are very long and here i can just tuck them into the saddle bags ... I wanted something a bit more slick for the R18.
This is what I came up with:

LR02.jpg

LR03.jpg

... and before you say the strap is too short ... my wife already beat you to that!! 😆
There is occasionally method to my madness ... there are extensions!

LR04.jpg

LR05.jpg

Much easier to store in the saddle bags ... and much cleaner look when I don't need them ! ;)
 
Ulrich said:
Not today ..but Saturday ... a little Arts & Crafts time.
I made these for my Shovelhead ... the straps are 3' long and I can strap down even my biggest duffel bag.
View attachment 10914

The trouble is they are very long and here i can just tuck them into the saddle bags ... I wanted something a bit more slick for the R18.
This is what I came up with:

View attachment 10915

View attachment 10916

... and before you say the strap is too short ... my wife already beat you to that!! 😆
There is occasionally method to my madness ... there are extensions!

View attachment 10917

View attachment 10918

Much easier to store in the saddle bags ... and much cleaner look when I don't need them ! ;)
Click to expand...
Those look great, very nice work!
 
Ulrich said:
Not today ..but Saturday ... a little Arts & Crafts time.
I made these for my Shovelhead ... the straps are 3' long and I can strap down even my biggest duffel bag.
View attachment 10914

The trouble is they are very long and here i can just tuck them into the saddle bags ... I wanted something a bit more slick for the R18.
This is what I came up with:

View attachment 10915

View attachment 10916

... and before you say the strap is too short ... my wife already beat you to that!! 😆
There is occasionally method to my madness ... there are extensions!

View attachment 10917

View attachment 10918

Much easier to store in the saddle bags ... and much cleaner look when I don't need them ! ;)
Click to expand...
Very classic.
 
Installed a 4.5 Freedom Exhaust on her the other day. Unfortunately, the pipe set I got was missing some stuff, but nothing home depot couldn't fix for the price I got it for.

I have to say though that the install process is suppppper tedious, and the mid pipes take a lot of effort to get on. I think the big flaw with the Freedom Performance is them not finding a way to utilize the existing exhaust mounting points on the bike. I understand why looking at the design and of course because the 4.5 shroud is a bigger diameter than the stock ones, but I feel there definitely could've been an easier way.

I rode her around a little bit and man does the bike sound so much better than stock, so over all pretty happy.
 
Chris_BobsBMW said:
View attachment 9502
Installed the BMW backrest alongside the TC Comfort seat for my passenger process.

View attachment 9503
Made a splitter for the factory horn connector to add a 510hz horn from a K1600 to go along with the 420hz stock horn so the R18 sounds like a K1600.
Click to expand...
I reached out to MAX BMW, they provided the following if anyone is looking to enhance their horn: 61 33 8 555 579 is the part number for the 510 Hz

They are $72 but currently only in Germany.
 
... actually nothing to the R18 today (yet) ... but 'Helga' (R1200C) has left the family :cry: a fellow just picked her up
... well she has been neglected since 'Uschi' came to me ... and that way she will see a lot of road ... so I hope!

IMG_20230714_083257317_HDR.jpg

Now I am down to 'Ushi' and 'The ol' Girl'

IMG_20230721_131955517_HDR.jpg

... and a lot more room in the garage!!!!
 
Feeling a bit nostalgic yesterday.... undertook a ride to the dead..... 3hr round trip to the cemetery.... showed mum the R18 (she was 45 years dead to the day)... so out with the old pentax to take a photo.

On the way back stopped at BMW.... looked at a R18 Trans and also a B.... thought... wow they seem big..... and rode home.... also confirmed that I'm now done playing with the suspension.... all good....

Some 1975 50/1.2 old lens action.... saddle bag stuffed with flowers....

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Also called my Sheepman.... to arrange a sheepskin seat cover for next week.... some butt love coming my way.

Would like the handle bars 1 or 2 inches closer.... not sure what to do about that.....?
 
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Nothing too exciting; I took my R18 B out to Montauk, NY to meet up with friends for fishing since performing the transmission/rear-wheel drive fluid change, as well as the engine oil & oil filter service.

I'm planning on dropping off the bike for the annual 6K service August 4th; valve adjustment and brake fluid ONLY and curious as to what this service will cost minus the above mentioned items.

Also, I went to lift my R18 with the Kern-Stabi X518 this morning to clean my bike; I noticed that the engine mount coupling PIN was missing. I was already planning on purchasing an extra one to replace the makeshift pin/Allen bolt for the left side engine mount - so now I'll be ordering two of them..

More to follow:

Screenshot_20230723-072356.png
 
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