BMW Motorrad and Roland Sands unveil R 18 based custom Dragster

BMW Motorrad stepped in a completely new direction when it unveiled the R 18 Cruiser, as most other two-wheeler companies are now heading towards the booming adventure motorcycle segment. Considering that BMW has already secured the best spot with the R 1250 GS, which is dubbed as the best adventure motorcycle in the world, the R 18 Cruiser should be a safe bet to take on the established cruiser brands like Indian Motorcycles and Harley-Davidson. It was evident at the R 18's unveiling that the company will spawn out multiple versions. However, the one that you are seeing in the pictures below is a result of BMW and famous ex-racer and now a popular custom motorcycle designer Roland Sands called the R 18 dragster, made from scratch to final in three and half months.

Mentioning of the inspiration behind it, "With an engine that's so visibly the centrepiece, I immediately thought of muscle cars. My family has always been into going fast and my dad was a drag racer, so I thought it made sense to strip the bike down to the essentials and shape it to go fast on a straight track" states Roland Sands.

For the R 18 Dragster, the team around Roland Sands retained the stock neck geometry of the R 18, removed the bike's rear end and turned it into a drag racer. Moreover, they chose to modify the front and rear fender to fit the modified frame while the rear suspension has been completely removed.

Notice the absence of the rear suspension and the beautiful nitrous oxide cylinder. Also, the exposed shaft drive and the custom megaphone silencer.

To make sure there is connect with the original design, the designer chose to retain the headlight which has a bezel from the design collection of milled aluminium parts by Sands. The standard exhaust has been replaced with a hand fabricated Stainless Steel twin megaphone system utilizing the exhaust tips from the milled aluminium parts. The hydraulic front brake and clutch master cylinders are from Roland Sands Design.

The paint finish is a two-tone metallic blue with classic white BMW pin-stripes by Roland's long time painter Chris Wood

The tank has been taken over from the original R 18. The paint finish is a two-tone metallic blue with classic white BMW pin-stripes by Roland's long time painter Chris Wood. The fork has been taken from the BMW R nineT. The front braking system has been taken from the BMW S 1000 RR superbike. The seat has been built from scratch and is an RSD custom seat by Saddlemen.

Roland Sand's range of exclusive milled parts includes speedometer housings, handlebar clamps, risers, handlebar grips and more

Apart from the R 18 Dragster custom bike, Roland Sands also created two different design collections of milled aluminium parts for the launch of the R 18 Cruiser - Machined and 2-Tone-Black. The Machined and 2-Tone-Black ranges include front and rear wheels available in different dimensions than the standard sizes. In addition, the range of these exclusive milled parts includes speedometer housings, handlebar clamps, risers, handlebar grips, hand levers and mirrors as well as engine housing trim elements, filler caps, intake silencer covers and much more.

In other news, BMW Motorrad India is gearing up to launch the R 18 Cruiser in India. The R 18's design is inspired by the yesteryear R 5 BMWs and therefore it showcased a similar, lean and minimalist design theme. It is powered by a 1,802cc boxer-twin engine - the largest of its kind on any production motorcycle - larger than even the R 1250 GS and is good for 91PS of power and 150Nm torque that is fed to a shaft drive configuration.