Photo: BMW Motorrad
Back in 2019, German bike maker BMW Motorrad showed at the Villa d’Este the concept of a motorcycle it was soon to throw into the fight in the Harley-Davidson dominated cruiser segment: the R 18.
The production version arrived one year later, and presently the number of R 18s on the road is rapidly increasing. But to really take the fight to Harley, BMW knows it has to do more than just sell cruiser motorcycles. It has to show they can be customized to the owners’ desires.
Several times since 2020 the bike maker tasked its network of partners to come up with custom designs. Most recently they did that in November 2022, when no less than seven models born in Poland came into the spotlight.
We’ve already discussed a number of them, and now it’s time for an interpretation of the cruiser called Roar. It was born from the minds of Polish BMW dealer Smorawinski in Poznan, and it is supposed to harken back to the original concept from four years ago.
To do that the shop kept things simple, and avoided adorning the ride with unnecessary equipment. In fact, the bike now looks even lighter than its stock self, thanks in big part to the rear end, basic in nature and highlighted only by a short mudguard and swinging saddle.
The engine of the R 18 Roar remains the stock one, meaning the 1,802cc boxer unit that cranks out 91 hp and 158 Nm of torque from two-cylinders. It was however beefed up with the help of a side pipe-style exhaust system with no silencers.
The bike also looks particularly unique thanks to the wire wheels, the chrome brake calipers that go with them, and the elegant black paint sprayed all over.
The BMW R 18 Roar is a one-off, just like all the other builds shown in November, with BMW probably hoping it’ll be used as inspiration by riders for future and perhaps even cooler projects.
Several times since 2020 the bike maker tasked its network of partners to come up with custom designs. Most recently they did that in November 2022, when no less than seven models born in Poland came into the spotlight.
We’ve already discussed a number of them, and now it’s time for an interpretation of the cruiser called Roar. It was born from the minds of Polish BMW dealer Smorawinski in Poznan, and it is supposed to harken back to the original concept from four years ago.
To do that the shop kept things simple, and avoided adorning the ride with unnecessary equipment. In fact, the bike now looks even lighter than its stock self, thanks in big part to the rear end, basic in nature and highlighted only by a short mudguard and swinging saddle.
The engine of the R 18 Roar remains the stock one, meaning the 1,802cc boxer unit that cranks out 91 hp and 158 Nm of torque from two-cylinders. It was however beefed up with the help of a side pipe-style exhaust system with no silencers.
The bike also looks particularly unique thanks to the wire wheels, the chrome brake calipers that go with them, and the elegant black paint sprayed all over.
The BMW R 18 Roar is a one-off, just like all the other builds shown in November, with BMW probably hoping it’ll be used as inspiration by riders for future and perhaps even cooler projects.
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