We knew when the BMW R18 cruiser was first being teased that behemoth air-cooled motor from the Germans would be a platform for multiple motorcycles.
Now with the second BMW R18 model debuting for the 2020 model year, we get word of a third model – this time a bat-faired touring motorcycle.
We have seen spy shots of the bagger before, so today’s patent images, found by the talented Ben Purvis of BikeSocial, come as no surprise to our eyes.
A direct competitor to Harley-Davidson, the patent images show a “Transcontinental” bike that has lost a big of its vintage charm, though looks almost indistinguishable from its American competitor – sans its boxer engine cylinder heads poking out.
Will this be enough to sway the Harley-Davidson loyal? That is a good question – one that can probably be answered best by the folks at Indian Motorcycle.
As the folks at Indian have discovered, Harley-Davidson riders are incredibly loyal to their brand, and it takes more than a better mousetrap to entice those riders over to a knew manufacturer.
Even though the American v-twin market continues to shrink, it is still a sizable volume of bikes sold each year…with hefty price tags. That makes taking a piece of the pie a delicious proposition.
It will be hard for BMW to crack into that market in earnest, but syphoning off a few thousand riders each might seem doable to the folks in Berlin.
Certainly, the very existence of this bike proves that there is blood in the water around the Bar & Shield brand. BMW Motorrad is just one of the several marques that are circling the waters.
Source: BikeSocial
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