Un quarter past ten in the morning the cliché has already become reality. Bayern 1 lets AC/DC rock, Highway to Hell, while the thick R 18 Transcontinental rolls south over the Autobahn and gradually leaves Munich behind. Highway to Karwendel.
The lows are turned up a little so that the 280-watt Marshall system with its subwoofers can demonstrate what sound pressure is. The formidable sound system, which has been upgraded on this machine to the surcharge maximum with loudspeakers not only in the front paneling but also in the side cases and in the top case, asserts itself against traffic noise and wind noise even at 120 km/h. While adaptive cruise control maintains an even distance from the vehicle in front, there’s not much more to do than sit back, listen, breathe evenly. And maybe put your feet forward to relax, like the Americans do when they ride their Harleys through the prairie and wave at the bison.
Because the typical American way of stretching your feet forward is in principle impossible because of the blocking cylinders of the typical German boxer engine, BMW had to use all of its development expertise. The solution: leg supports. These are solid chrome parts, costing 400 euros, which are mounted above the cylinder. Hip-wise, it’s a challenge to maneuver legs and feet off the footboards, around the cylinders, up onto the exaggeratedly placed leg rests, but what has to be done, has to be.
A super tourer with all the bells and whistles
While the Transcontinental growls towards the sun, we ponder for miles whether the folding of the body caused by using the leg rests should be described as casual or cramped. Until the thought process is finally interrupted by the sight of the first heavy clouds in the distance.
The R 18 Transcontinental is the fourth, heaviest, most expensive variant of the still young classic series with a specially created huge two-cylinder boxer engine. A full dresser, as the Ami says, a super tourer with all the bells and whistles: cinema screen in the cockpit, heated comfort seat, automatic load compensation, hill start assist, central locking, cornering light with swivel module, to name a few examples – some of them standard, others optional extras. BMW created this motorcycle for markets around the world, but especially for the American one.
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BMW R 18 Transcontinental
As is well known, Harley-Davidson dominates the cruiser market there, and Indian also plays a role. In order to be able to attack there, BMW trumps with equipment without gaps, a processing and attention to detail that touches the edge of madness. Even for the selection of the screws that hold the brand emblems on the tank, they looked around in the company’s own collection of historic motorcycles. As already reported, fanaticism of this kind abounds in the four R-18 types.
According to tradition, only a boxer engine, iron constant for almost 100 years, was suitable for this series. Its cardan shaft to the rear wheel rotates openly, as it did decades ago, and provides a wonderful spectacle. This combination embodies the soul of white and blue motorcycle construction, like the 45-degree V-twin in the case of Harley-Davidson. Unfortunately, many Americans do not understand this. Unsuspectingly on YouTube, they ask themselves why cylinders are placed exactly where one’s feet are stretched out when cruising. They think that’s a design flaw, the philistines.