General all round advice

[Kenny]

Almost at the point of buying an R18. It will have reverse selection and heated grips ! Is there anything to improve or watch out for re this ( to me ) amazing bike ?
( Arsey need not bother getting involved btw ) Will come with Akorapovic silencers and is low mileage Edition 1. I will need a sissy bar for my loved one !!

 

[JJH]

Lovely. Enjoy it. JJH

 

[LockieP]

There is a recall on the reverser so if you’re buying from BMW Motorrad it will probably already have been disconnected. There is a fix in the pipeline rumoured to be ready in the new year. Mine is going for its first MoT on Monday & the reverser will be disconnected. I don’t use the reverser much but it’s handy in certain situations as these bikes are fuck off heavy. I mainly use it to get the bike out of the chock stand I use. I use a chock stand to keep the bike upright in my garage as they only have a side stand & there have been reports of the left cylinder smoking probably because of the oil settling as the left cylinder sits lower when in the side stand.
I find BMW grips too skinny & uncomfortable so very BMW I’ve had I put Grip Puppies on to fatten up the grips.
My R18 is a first edition Classic. I’ve got a day rider seat which I find comfier than the stock seat. I’ve bought a new front mudguard which is like a Harley one as the stock mudguard is too small & ineffective. Aesthetically I think the bigger one looks better too. It’s plastic, Chinese & cost £70 on eBay but the paint quality is good & it fitted perfectly.
If you remove the side panels for any reason make sure they are secure when you put them back on. They secure old school style with rubber grommets & my rhs one went awol & cost me £100 plus another £100 to get painted.
I only ever use E5 petrol. They will run happily on E10 but I prefer to use E5. On a long run cruising at 70 I get c50mpg which is pretty good. The tank isn’t very big but I get around 140 out of it. No petrol gauge but you get a warning at around 40 miles left.
I love my R18. It’s plummeted in value but I bought it to keep & to ride & I’ve had it 3 years now.
Enjoy!

 

[steve hughes]

Kenny have you been to Halliwell Jones in Chester? When I was last in there c 4 weeks ago , they had lots of low mileage ex bmw bikes. I saw at least three R18’s. All the bikes had the same last three letters on their reg , someone on here said they were all Bmw staffers or demos. Big savings though.

 

[Kenny]

Chester Motorrad website is awful ! They have a toe/heel version in. This is the one I am after ( excuse me comparing my F6c with it )....but damn, the F6c looks the business as well !!

 

[Bravo]

They do sound like an old air cooled VW camper van though.

 

[Kenny]

They do sound like an old air cooled VW camper van though.

What exhausts do you have on yours; this one has Akarapovics on?

 

[Bravo]

What exhausts do you have on yours; this one has Akarapovics on?

I've not got one but I was down at Holyhead wistfully staring out to sea on a bright summers day and I heard what I thought was an old aircooled VW camper van,on turning to look i saw it was a R18.

 

[Kenny]

I can tell by the lack of replies or actual owners that this isn't the bike for me....so decided to hang onto the superb Honda F6c Valkyrie. Thanks for all the replies, appreciated