Exclusive: BMW R 18 coming to India by Oct-Nov 2020
If you are fascinated by cruisers and the BMW R 18 has caught your fancy, you would be glad to know that is now has a spot on BMW Motorrad's Indian website and will let you register your interest. We are expecting the R 18 to start around ₹20 lakh and stretch all the way up to ₹24 lakh. We did some digging and our sources in the know confirm that the BMW R 18 will be launched in India in the fourth quarter of this calendar year. We expect bookings to open around the festive seasons and deliveries to begin around Diwali.
The R 18 marks BMW's re-entry into the cruiser space and it rivals the likes of the Harley-Davidson Fatboy. 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.
The R 18 also features a BMW-typical electronics package, which includes riding modes, automatic stability and traction control, engine drag torque control which limits slip under hard downshifting, a reversing assist and even a Hill Start Control, much like the new R 1250 GS.
The R 18 has been received extremely well in the US and EU, says BMW, despite the ongoing pandemic. We hear that BMW wanted to bring the R 18 to India close on the heels of the recently launched F 900 series, but the overwhelming demand in the European market is likely to have delayed its entry into India to the fourth quarter.