Welcome Big Red

It’s been a couple years since I took a 6-day trip in the southwest on a rented R18 Classic. At the time, I was essentially test riding the bike to see if I wanted to buy one. After almost a week and around 2,400 miles, I decided it wasn’t quite for me.

The summer following that trip, I decided to trade my 21 RnineT Scrambler (Project Gold) for a 23 R1250RS. I still miss Goldie, but most of what I used that bike for is replaced by Project Red. Now that Red is more fully sorted out, I don’t regret the trade. I do miss Goldie, though. It’s nice to have a modern bike with a retro vibe.

All the while, I have regularly found myself thinking of the R18. Fantasizing about different configurations, taking newer versions out for a short test ride here and there, and lurking in R18 communities. At the end of my test trip, I did not feel like I could justify the price. That has now changed.

Since the R18 has not been the smash that BMW hoped for, there is excess inventory. That means that deals can be found pretty easily. After deciding to evict the largely unridden Kawasaki Versys X300 ABS from my garage, I found myself with a bit of freed up cash and an empty spot in the garage. As before, I began thinking of what to do about that.

The excess inventory issue made that an easy decision. I was able to pick up a new 23 model R18 Classic in Mars Red for a price that feels like I committed a crime. As we are well into the winter in Chicagoland, it will be a while before I get a good chunk of miles on this, but that will definitely be on the agenda once it warms up a bit.

Like the RnineT, I am not going to do a lot of modifications to this one, but I am going to swap out some parts for my aesthetics. It has a bit more chrome than I like, so that will be addressed slowly. I’ve got a good list of parts to acquire and will post updates as appropriate. More likely, it will show up in my journeys category.

I did change the locking fuel cap for the machined non-locking RSD option and already added a Clearview windscreen. The shopping list has a bit more creature comforts and aesthetic changes, but again, nothing major. It’s just a solid cruiser and that’s what it will be used for.