When you think of cruisers, chances are you think of big, beefy bikes with low seats and relaxed ergonomics. You know, bikes like the Harley Road King or Indian Challenger. Up until recently, it was really just those two names worth paying attention to in the cruiser scene.
But these days, BMW has joined in on the party with the R 18.
I’ll admit, when the R 18 first hit the scene back in 2020, I wasn’t quite sure what the heck BMW was thinking. And even today, it’s a bike that I think sits at the far end of BMW’s lineup—like, what are you even doing here? Nonetheless, I get its appeal. After all, it was the Bavarian company’s attempt at creating the biggest, baddest cruiser ever. It’s rocking the biggest boxer engine BMW has in production: a 1,802cc twin with a rather docile 91 horsepower and a punchy 120 pound-feet of torque.
So yeah, in a way, the R 18 is what a Harley or Indian might be if it were made in Berlin—precise, over-engineered, and very well-built. Love it or hate it, you definitely can’t ignore it. And for 2025, BMW has thrown in some extra spice to the R 18, and across the entire model range, at that.
In case you missed it, the R 18 is sold in quite a wide spread of variants. You have the base R 18, which is the one we’re all pretty much familiar with. But there are also the R 18 Classic, R 18 Roctane, R 18 B and R 18 Transcontinental. Across the board, the massive cruiser has been given mild styling tweaks, improved comfort, and of course, more tech. They’re also all Euro 5+ compliant, resulting in a tiny bump in torque, particularly at the lower end of the rev range.
But specific variants get their own updates, too. For starters, the base R 18 and Classic get new fenders, new double-spoke wheels, and more pronounced side covers. Meanwhile, the Roctane gets loud colors like the Two-Tone Dragonfire Red Metallic. As for the R 18 B and Transcontinental, well, BMW has turned up the tech, throwing in a new “favorites” button for quick access to key functions on these bikes’ massive TFT displays.
Now, in the whole microcosm that is the cruiser segment, BMW’s R 18 actually commands a reasonable price when compared to machines from Harley and Indian. With a starting price of $15,395 for the base all the way to $24,395 for the fully loaded Transcontinental, I never thought I’d say this, but maybe BMW might sway potential Harley riders away and into the Bavarian fold.
But here’s the thing, while bikes like the BMW R 18, Harley Street Glide, and Indian Challenger are undeniably cool, the motorcycle industry has been trending away from massive displacement and into smaller, more accessible machines. And the same is true for cruisers, too, with bikes like the Kawasaki Eliminator and Honda Rebel attracting new riders all over the world in droves. Quite frankly, it’s easy to see why, as these bikes are lighter, cheaper, and much easier to handle.
And so BMW can play the heavyweight cruiser game for as long as it wants, and perhaps even up the ante, as it plans to do with its R 20. But moving in the opposite direction—that’s to say go the way Royal Enfield, Triumph, and Kawasaki are going—will probably do them even more favors. After all, they’ve already got the 450 GS concept, which in and of itself looks like the perfect platform for a wide selection of new small-displacement models.
