BMW R 18 to be unveiled in April

The long-awaited BMW R 18 cruiser will finally be unveiled on April 3. After multiple concept bikes and seemingly endless teasers, fans will get to see the finished production bike for the first time.

With an 1800cc engine dubbed the ‘Big Boxer’ and classic cruiser styling, BMW will use the R 18 to target the American cruiser market.

BMW Motorrad boss Markus Schramm revealed the company’s intentions to return to the cruiser market, and take on Harley-Davidson, during an interview with bikesales in February 2019. Two custom builds in Japan and the USA utilised the Big Boxer engine and gave fans a teaser of a potential BMW cruiser.

Punters got a glimpse of the first official concept, dubbed the Concept R 18, in May, 2020, at the Concorso D’Eleganza show in Lake Como, Italy. The concept bike featured the Big Boxer engine and a classic bobber style build that harked back to BMW’s from earlier in the 20th century.

Many expected the German marque to pull the covers off a production version at EICMA in Milan in November 2019. Instead, it presented a second official concept, the R 18 /2. The new concept featured a slightly more modern look.

Since then rumours have swirled about when the production version will drop. Spy shots revealed BMW was trialling a ‘bagger’ version of the R 18, while many believe the original bobber concept is a good indication of BMW’s final product.

The production version of the BMW R 18 is expected to arrive in Australia in the second half of 2020. Until then, fans will have to wait patiently for April 3, when BMW will finally show the world its new cruiser.