The BMW R18 100 Years Anniversary motorcycle was created as a tribute to BMW’s 100 years of motorcycle manufacture. It is made in the genre of a cruiser but delivers unexpectedly lively handling in a bike that is inspired by a 1930’s aesthetic.
Fast Facts
- The BMW R18 100 Years Anniversary motorcycle was created in celebration of BMW Motorrad’s century of motorcycle manufacture.
- In keeping with BMW tradition the R18 was equipped with a 1.8 liter horizontally opposed “boxer” twin cylinder engine.
- The R18 models were created in the cruiser style, but made with handling and performance that will impress even a sports bike enthusiast: it is a cruiser with a difference.
- To celebrate the beginning of BMW motorcycles back in 1923, only 1,923 of the R18 100 Years Anniversary motorcycles were made.
- One of these motorcycles is for sale on Bring a Trailer at time of publication.
The BMW R18 series of motorcycles is BMW’s attempt to create a cruiser motorcycle that does much more than just compete with the Harley-Davidson, Triumph, Moto Guzzi and Honda models. BMW did their product and customer research in creating their motorcycle that was intended to offer qualities that their competitors might struggle to match.
BMW’s design and engineering mavens got to work back in 2015 to create a cruiser motorcycle that did not conform to the sluggish comfort oriented style that characterized the highway cruising motorcycles of the time. But instead BMW’s team determined to create a motorcycle that would deliver highway comfort – but also handling that would impress the sports bike aficionados. A motorcycle that could wind around mountain and forest roads with aplomb, and yet be the stable comfortable machine a cruiser needs to be on the highway.
Not only did this new motorcycle need to perform, but it was decided that it should be a perfect “canvas” for customization, so that custom shops and owners could re-create it into their own unique work of motorcycle art.
The concept and aesthetic inspiration for the new design was to be the BMW R5 of 1936, but that being said the new bike was to be a wholly modern creation that exploited the BMW’s design team’s knowledge and expertise to the full.
At the heart of any motorcycle is the engine and BMW wanted to use the style of engine that became a BMW trademark – the horizontally opposed twin “boxer”. This engine used two 900 cc cylinders with a combination of air and oil cooling.
This electronic fuel injected 1.8 liter engine delivered 90 hp (67 kW) @ 4,750 rpm with torque of 117 lb/ft (158 N⋅m) @ 3,000 rpm and was mated to a constant mesh six speed gearbox with a hydraulic activated single plate dry clutch, and shaft drive to the rear wheel.
This engine/transmission unit was mounted in a double-loop tube steel frame and the engine was strategically placed to leave plenty of room for the rider’s shins, and an ergonomic rider position for long hours on the road when needed.
The front suspension takes the form of a 49 mm non-adjustable telescopic fork styled to look reminiscent of a 1930’s girder fork, while at the rear is a cantilever adjustable spring pre-load mono-shock. The rear of the frame and suspension is made to look rather like its a 1930’s hard tail – but it isn’t.
Brakes are triple discs: twin 300 mm at the front and a single 300 mm at the rear with BMW Motorradd ABS to make bringing this big heavy bike to a stop safe and predictable.
Wheels are spoked with 3.5×19 shod with 120/70 R19 or B19 tires and at the rear a 5×16 shod with a 180/65 B16.
Fuel tank capacity is 4.2 US gallons/16 liters and the bike’s overall weight wet is listed as 760.5 lb/345 kg.
The R18 100 Years Anniversary model celebrates 100 years of BMW motorcycles (beginning in 1923) and so only 1,923 of this model were produced.
The R18 100 Years Anniversary uses “Avus Black” as its main theme color – Avus stands for Automobil-Verkehrs- und Übungsstraße, the track located in southwestern Berlin was a motorcycle racing venue from 1922.
The Avus Black is highlighted by white line features and chrome. The end result being a restrained but head turning aesthetic.
A BMW R18 100 Years Anniversary motorcycle is listed for sale on Bring a Trailer at time of publication. This bike is described as having only two miles on the odometer having been on display for most of its life.
You can find the sale page for this limited production motorcycle if you click here.
Picture Credits: All pictures courtesy Bring a Trailer.
Jon Branch is the founder and senior editor of Revivaler and has written a significant number of articles for various publications including official Buying Guides for eBay, classic car articles for Hagerty, magazine articles for both the Australian Shooters Journal and the Australian Shooter, and he’s a long time contributor to Silodrome.
Jon has done radio, television, magazine and newspaper interviews on various issues, and has traveled extensively, having lived in Britain, Australia, China and Hong Kong. His travels have taken him to Indonesia, Israel, Italy, Japan and a number of other countries. He has studied the Japanese sword arts and has a long history of involvement in the shooting sports, which has included authoring submissions to government on various firearms related issues and assisting in the design and establishment of shooting ranges.
