BMW R  Transcontinental BaggerBMW R  Transcontinental Bagger

Confirmed: BMW R18 Transcontinental Bagger Will Indeed Enter Production!

The BMW R18 is an absolute beauty and is now available in our country as well. Shortly after BMW Motorrad rolled out the R18, it spawned another motorcycle based on the same platform named as R18 Classic. Now, it seems like BMW is going to continue the streak and bless the world of two-wheels with yet another motorcycle based on the same platform. While the R18 and R18 Classic are all about the swagger and sass, the upcoming motorcycle named ‘Transcontinental’ is going to be a proper bagger.

More details

Filings with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) now suggest that the BMW R 18 bagger, expected to be called the Transcontinental, will indeed see production.

BMW R 18 Transcontinental BaggerBMW R 18 Transcontinental Bagger

While the R18, as we mentioned earlier, carries forward a heritage cruiser design approach, the bagger dubbed as ‘R18 Transcontinental’ moves ahead with a contemporary bagger style. The bodywork as showcased in the design filings and spy shots looks bulkier than the standard R18, all thanks to its wide, bar-mounted fairing up front, a larger fuel tank, and even the fenders are longer and more enveloping over the wheels. It also gets hard panniers in typical bagger style while the exhaust seems to be carried over from the BMW R 18 Classic.

BMW R 18 Transcontinental Bagger

The front fairing encompasses a more comprehensive instrument console with two round clocks, as well as a huge TFT screen, with possibly a whole lot more features than the R 18, including built-in satellite navigation.

BMW R18 Transcontinental Design filings (2)

It is also being assumed that the Transcontinental will feature the radar-powered system from Bosch which made its debut on the 2021 BMW R 1250 RT. The radar system deployed in the BMW R1250RT is claimed to be able to pick up target vehicles that are over 100 metres down the road, matching the vehicle’s speed between 18 and 99mph. It will most probably borrow the same 1,802 cc boxer engine that does the job in R18 and R18 Classic.

BMW R18 Transcontinental Design filings

BMW claims that it is their most powerful boxer engine in series production. The humongous boxer twin is capable of producing 91 bhp of maximum power at 4,750 rpm and 158 Nm of torque at 3,000 rpm. The engine comes mated to a constant-mesh 6-speed transmission.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Scroll to Top