2021 BMW R 18 Transcontinental and R 18 B announced
The BMW Transcontinental and R 18 B is the German brand’s assault on the heavy weight cruiser segment
HAVING seen the bikes at various stages of on-road testing in the last months, the arrival of the BMW Transcontinental and R 18 B is really no surprise.
The two bikes signal BMW’s move into the heavyweight cruiser/touring segment, as the German marque looks to take the fight to the likes of Harley-Davidson and Indian.
Over and above the standard BMW R18, the heavyweight Transcontinental gains the obligatory bat-wing front fairing and high screen and wind deflectors and flaps. The dash includes four analogue round instruments and a 10.25 inch TFT colour display, while the nose includes additional lights. A Marshall sound system is included, along with engine protection bars, panniers and a top case, heated seats, chrome trim and an engine in Silver metallic. The R18 B features a lower screen – in keeping with the bagger style – a slimmer seat unit, a blacked-out engine and no top case.
Surprisingly, as BMW has added around 50kg to the R18 B (398kg) and over 80kg to the Transcontinental (427kg), the engine of the two bikes seems relatively unchanged. The 1,802 cc engine has a 107.1 mm bore and 100 mm stroke. The engine output is 67 kW (91 hp) at 4 750 rpm and the maximum torque of 158Nm (116lb-ft) is available from 3,000 rpm.
BMW R 18 Transcontinental and R 18 B features:
- Handlebar-mounted fairing
- High wind shield (R 18 Transcontinental)
- Low wind shield (R 18 B)
- Cases in body colour paint finish (27 litres, with audio 26.5 litres)
- Vibration-decoupled top case in body colour paint finish
(48 litres, with audio 47 litres, R 18 Transcontinental only) - Wind deflectors in body colour finish (R 18 Transcontinental only)
- 24 litre fuel tank.
- Output 67 kW (91 hp) at 4 750 rpm, maximum torque 158 Nm at 3 000 rpm
- 150Nm (116 lb-ft) peak torque
- Rear swinging arm with enclosed axle drive in rigid-frame design
- Telescopic fork with fork sleeves and cantilever spring strut with travel-dependent damping as well as automatic load compensation
- Disc brakes at the front and rear and cast light alloy wheels
- ABS
- Dynamic Cruise Control (DCC) as standard
- Active Cruise Control (ACC) – cruise control with integrated distance control for relaxed touring as an ex works option.
- LED lighting
- Adaptive turning light
- Engine guard (R18 Transcontinental only)
- Seat heating as standard (R 18 Transcontinental only)
- Heated grips as standard
- Keyless ignition
- Three riding modes as well as ASC and MSR as standard.
- Reverse gear
Simon (AKA Toad) has been working within the motorcycle industry for more than twelve years, and a member of the motorcyclist family since birth. Growing up around British-built single and twins, it was inevitable that a life on two wheels was on the cards, from a very early age!
