The Power & Styling Of BMW R 18 Roctane Cruiser: The Ultimate Ride Review!

Motorcyclist Magazine publishes its official review of the 2024 BMW Motorrad R 18 Roctane heavyweight cruiser ($20,985 as tested).
Video: Adam Waheed
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[@stevefletcher2334]

even with all its flaws it's still a damn good looking bike

[@johnmartin7158]

Indeed.

[@thierryfaquet7405]

it's one of the most gorgeous bike ever made, no doubt.

[@angershark88]

This bike is flat sexy and cheaper/better than Harley. Why they aren’t selling is beyond me.

[@kellanhills1972]

American arrogance toward anything different.

[@LesterSuarezGonzalez-dz9ns]

Absolutely Stunning wild German Beast!!!, No doubt at all The Amazing BMW R18 Roctane Cruiser it's my favorite Motorcycle!!!, So it's impressive, powerful, majestic, imponent and beautiful!!!, No doubt at all one of the Best motorcycles ever built!!!, Great explanation and video as well!!, Thanks for sharing!!!

[@kellanhills1972]

BMW sells significantly more motorcycles around the world than HD and has been selling them for 100 years. The Germans know how to build fine machines. Also I wear size 12 and have no problem shifting or breaking even with boots.

[@galatians22122]

91HP 116 ft lbs

[@abazdarhon]

When I was young we made customs m72 and k750 (soviet copies of BMW) in Silesia. We aim more or less to have r18 look. It was best news to see BMW bring to life r18 so having now 48 on clock I got r18 100 year edition. It is essentially modern bike with look me and my friend made years ago…. Love how it ride, love it to look .

[@williamheard8496]

This is the only Bimmer with a boxer that pulls it off, aesthetically. Looks like a tumor on the R9T and makes the GS look fat... but R18 is a thing of beauty. One of the most striking bikes I've ever seen

[@danmanthe9335]

Personally I dig the R9T but this bike is gorgeous

[@claytonluke81]

r1250r looks quite good.

[@ryaandnice]

Personally, would love to upgrade my 2016 R9T to one of these. Once you get hooked on these boxers, you just want more/bigger/faster. A dream bike would be this machine, but that nice red they are putting on the regular R18. It's a bit of a shame this machine only comes in the most drab colors.

[@paulogoncalves5286]

What shines causes a lot of confusion to those who live in the dark.

[@joeblow5037]

Best lookin version of that series, fer sure.

[@ChrisYVRVANcruiser]

This is sad to see all the riders not knowing how to ride dragging their feet walking the bike and one almost falling over with his passenger! One would think that you need to know what you are doing on a motorcycle to be invited to these events! To all the riders on that video, learn to ride before going to events

[@lucianoromero777]

Man wtf is going on @7:20 doesn’t look very reasonable to stop in the middle of the road to take pictures

[@creigmacc]

Best thing about this platform is you'll be able to buy it slightly used in 18 months for 40% less than sticker. Worse thing is you'll still not be able to find a comfortable spot for your feet after an hour or so of riding.

[@kellanhills1972]

Have you ridden one? Virtually all the reviewers disagree with you. You can also get adjustable pegs and foot rests and highway bars.

[@creigmacc]

@@kellanhills1972 yes, 27 mile test ride, dealer was great, motorcycle, not so much. I've watched resale values, not great. Way too many have very low miles for sale, suggests comfort issues.

[@ninjaturtles4363]

Monster on wheel's

[@mochabear88]

nice bike

[@notreallydaedalus]

"This is one of the few motorcycles that produces 100 lb of torque. The other two are..." My man let me introduce you to this little upstart company called Harley-Davidson. I hate to sound like a hipster, but apparently I knew them before they were cool?

[@gigi9467]

Such a miss opportunity specially in the weight department! The fad is moving to go to light more performance bikes like the low rider st that’s wer the bagger Bros are moving to, bmw Introduces a bigger heavier Harley version pretty sad. It’s OK to be late to the party, but not when you didn’t do anything better than the others.

[@bobsullivan5714]

The guy is representing guess's as fact. I have a size 13 foot and my Danner boots work just fine with my RT 1150, which is the same basic engine. Shifting/Braking is no problem. There are no issues with heat. The engine torque reaction is charming and notable but no problem at all. This reviewer is struggling for relevant remarks.

[@colingoldthorpe5918]

Lets put a speedo where no one can see it but it looks cool, that's over engineering BMW style !!!! So you put a windshield on it and then you cannot see the speedo.....

[@Boxer1250RT]

Wow! How amateur was this Event including the riders. Duck walking influencers :) Hazard causing social media Gen-X stopping those bikes at the intersection! Possibly, R18 is the worst resale value of any BMW product ever built due to it's weight and ergonomics. If you are patient enough, 200 mile Demo model will soon be on sale for $16K with 0.9% Financing.

[@BERZERKERSV4]

As a Motor Unit in Daytona… I can’t stop laughing at these posers flat footing it.. we call it The Harley Shuffle…. Biketoberfest just concluded and it was a joke… only one manufacture was present and offering demo rides at the Speedway, BMW… and virtually NO ONE was demoing the R18… but wait , it gets worse, EuroCycles of Daytona has….. LEFTOVER NEW 2022 R18s…for $16k… !

[@r6singh]

I don’t get it. If BMW wants to steal market share from HD and Indian, they have to offer more than a Boxer twin with a limited lean angle and leg room. Where is the BMW tech? Where is the beautiful colour dash, electronic suspension, etc? This bike is going to be another failure atleast in North America.

[@JohnnyXoz]

Electronic suspension on a bike with 3 inches of travel, for what???

[@colingoldthorpe5918]

The position of the speedo is ridiculous. You add a windshield and then the speedo is out of view....

[@winteronice]

If the Americans pass on this, the Euopeans will happily have them back. No worries.

[@gigi9467]

Not to mention a heavier bike than a harley

[@mikek1187]

I guess you don't know about the R18 Transcontinental or Bagger then?

[@ChrisYVRVANcruiser]

OMG this video is very painful to watch for the main reason : all riders can’t ride at low speed…feet dragging duck walking with no control of the bikes…this is so pathetic that these people are testing these bikes..they should all be on courses learning to ride

[@69mag]

This guy makes me dang nervous..

[@TheRisto2]

The sound kills an otherwise beautiful motorbike. The rock is missing and all the Harleys have it.

[@GRDwashere]

After some boomer eats the depreciation on one of these and dumps it I'm going to buy it for pennies on the dollar and turn it into a wicked stripped down cafe racer.

[@walterlee3839]

Can't deal with the opposed cylinder protrusion.. Looks like a catfish going down the road.

[@northidrecluse2306]

Looks like a Road King with less lean angle 💩👎🏻🤮

[@kellanhills1972]

Similar lean angle as a road king and 40 pounds less.

[@elithegreat6463]

These R18s have about as much ground clearance as a salamander 🦎, totally useless on a curved road 👎

[@JohnnyXoz]

I did the tail of the dragon on a Salamander and it worked fine

[@elithegreat6463]

@@JohnnyXoz and you road like a grandma hoping not to scrape your floorboards, come on dude you can’t shit me

[@nielsmeer]

I’m 20-30MPH over the speed limit in twisties on my R18 and still not scraping pegs. I tried both Harleys & Indians and they could not handle anywhere as well as the R18. I mostly ride my R18 on twisty backroads. The R18 isn’t a sport bike though, my S1000R is still better handling than it, but one can’t really use those to their full potential on public roads.

[@kellanhills1972]

R18 has better lean angle than many Harley’s and also has better center of gravity.

[@elithegreat6463]

@@kellanhills1972 No, it doesn’t. The R 18 has the ground clearance of lizard you will never be able to justify the biggest turd that BMW ever came out with. 🤮👎

[@KobirAhmed-zv1rs]

Cruiser.....b M.w.......1....18......bike......lover....... .... Kabir.ahmed

[@KobirAhmed-zv1rs]

Cru...

[@Roy_Godiksen]

What? They Still make the R 18? It's a horrible selling bike. Nobody ever buys this!

[@galatians22122]

Just picked one up and love it!!!!!

[@Roy_Godiksen]

@galatians22122 Congratulations! I'm happy for you. I truly am. I've worked for a BMW and Honda motorcycle dealer for 2 years, and I 100% believe every BMW and Honda are high quality and have a place. The BMW's especially (I ride a BMW S1000R myself) the reason I wrote thay are horrible selling bikes is Not because of quality, performance or value. It's because BMW tried to market a bike in the Harley Davidson category and priced it at the Harley level. Most people looking for those bikes are Harley types. That said, the R18 is a fantastic cruiser. Ride safely

[@galatians22122]

@@Roy_Godiksen thanks! I would have rather had a Harley, Actually bought the BMW at a Harley Davidson dealer could not pass up the crazy deal 2023 R18B with 200 miles for $10,499

[@RobertSloop]

Wow. ​@@galatians22122

[@WinifredMulvey]

Hahahaaaaaa.. look at all the poser riders doing the Harley Shuffle…!…as a side note, there is a reason why dozens of R18 anything are rotting on dealer lots….they are not selling…. Period

[@williamrae9954]

Not here...Motorcycle Live in Birmingham, England was real busy last week...HD didn't show up! Own goal by Harley!

[@KobirAhmed-zv1rs]

B.m.w....1.18.....motorsikal....l..o...v..e......r............rider........kabir.ahmed....