In 2020, BMW rolled out the R18 – the mammoth of cruisers that combined retro styling with a 1800cc engine to make even the most American of motorcycles quiver.
Upon the announcement of the R18, it was already known that there would be two more variants to follow. These three bikes would diversify the lineup and allow customers to pick up an R18 fit for their style.
At this point, BMW has released the R18 and R18 Classic which features saddlebags, a windscreen, and other minor changes from the standard R18. This leaves a third R18 to be released which should be released in the coming months. The third variant is said to come with a batwing style fairing giving it a tough aesthetic and capability for long-distance trips.
Now that you’re up to speed on the R18, let’s jump into the juicy gossip. Rumor has it that once BMW has finished releasing the R18 trifecta, they plan to continue their cruiser bike offense by releasing smaller cruiser models.
According to RideApart, they picked up the word from a French publication named “Le Repaire des Motards”. The French publication was discussing what BMW had planned for the future with the head of BMW Motorrad, Dr. Markus Schramm.
Naturally, Schramm was refraining from answering the topics directly when he was asked about BMW releasing smaller variants of the R18. He did mention that would be a great idea but the company was not able to discuss future bikes.
Schramm later went on to mention that the cruiser segment represents the most important motorcycles over 500cc. He also mentioned that the R18 is not the end of the cruiser line and it makes the most sense to release smaller bikes following the R18.
The French site did toss out a logical guess at a smaller cruiser that could be dubbed the “R11” – as the engine used in the BMW R nineT could be easily transferred to an R18-style platform. But until then, we can look forward to the third variant of the R18 and be thankful for its arrival.