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New (to me) 2021 R18

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rlarue18

New member
Joined
Aug 31, 2025
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5
Location
Portland, OR
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2021 BMW R18. 2020 Triumph Bobber.
Hi y’all. I found a gently used 2021 R18 with only 3K miles at a killer price, so I couldn’t say no. Gotta replace this exhaust at some point, but it’ll have to wait until I sell my Triumph. Love the bike so far otherwise. Cheers!
 

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Welcome. Try to see the beauty in those unique fishtails, personally I love em. Sculpture in chrome. (I had a FE before my Roctane). Enjoy the forum 👍
 
rlarue18 said:
. Gotta replace this exhaust at some point,
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Why? They are as observed pieces of art in their own right. Also an homage to past bikes. The fishtail retro thing is obvious and the pear drop is to the early (pre featherbed garden gate framed Type 7) Norton Domi of early fifties. It is very much a focal point which makes this model stand out as unique. Again as observed; let it grow on you.

If the lack of sound bugs you, search for the exhaust flap or exhaust servo delete. It is a faff but pretty straight forward and does add just a bit of extra muscle to the music at no annoyance cost for the rest of the world.
 
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Keep the exhaust... chop that rear fender, swap out the seat pan and seat...

All seriousness... Congratulations on the new bike and welcome to the forum; you'll find basically everything you need to maintain your R18

Screenshot_20250901-063026.png
 
Thanks for the warm welcome. I find the fishtail design to be a bit too in the way, too quiet acoustically, too loud visually, and too much of a nod to the history of Harley type cruisers rather than a nod to Beemers of the past. There are tons of exhaust mods for the bike out there, and the 2025 editions swapped out the fishtail for a classic cylindrical pipes, so I'm not really alone in feeling like this. To each their own. That's truly the best thing about the motorcycle community. I personally prefer a more streamlined look overall, so I'll be aiming for a balance between modern and classic with my mods. I did the same thing with my Triumph bobber. If only mods didn't cost so much! Thankfully I got a killer deal on my r18 so I can do a few things soon.

Thanks again
 
Congrats on the R18. I love mine... and whilst I am a fan of the fish tales (mostly from the rear) I have subsituted some cones for them and love the sound and the cleaner rear end look.
 
rlarue18 said:
Thanks for the warm welcome. I find the fishtail design to be a bit too in the way, too quiet acoustically, too loud visually, and too much of a nod to the history of Harley type cruisers rather than a nod to Beemers of the past.
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The pear drop is just about a copy from the Norton Domi Type 7 and the fish tail .... you do realise that there was a wórld of European bikes with those? My vintage Nimbus* has a now 99 y.o. nickname because of the fish tail exhaust note; Bumblebee. The ubiquitous post ww2 two stroke (under 100) 98s all had fish tail pots. Heck even the mandatory Brookland damper was a fishtail. No, the nod is MOST definitely to the old world motorcycles and any Harley association is definitely a stateside bias 🤭

* in Denmark that Nimbus has in street registered bikes outnumbered HD for over a century. It is only post Covid that HDs have overtaken them.
 
If i were you, i would keep the exhaust. Its unique looking and becoming more rare since this exhaust does not come with new bikes.
 
Petrus said:
The pear drop is just about a copy from the Norton Domi Type 7 and the fish tail .... you do realise that there was a wórld of European bikes with those? My vintage Nimbus* has a now 99 y.o. nickname because of the fish tail exhaust note; Bumblebee. The ubiquitous post ww2 two stroke (under 100) 98s all had fish tail pots. Heck even the mandatory Brookland damper was a fishtail. No, the nod is MOST definitely to the old world motorcycles and any Harley association is definitely a stateside bias 🤭

* in Denmark that Nimbus has in street registered bikes outnumbered HD for over a century. It is only post Covid that HDs have overtaken them.
Click to expand...

You do realize that BMW went hard after the HD market with the release of the r18, right? Regardless of when fishtails came out, they became synonymous with chopper culture in the U.S. and abroad. And chopper culture is a big part of HD culture. You have heard of the movie Easy Rider, right? Kind of an influential moto film. I think the fishtails are overly ornate, and block the beauty of the gorgeous drive shaft. It’s important to understand that over here in the U.S. many R18 owners chose the BMW as an alternative to HD culture.
 
rlarue18 said:
You do realize that BMW went hard after the HD market with the release of the r18, right? Regardless of when fishtails came out, they became synonymous with chopper culture in the U.S. and abroad. And chopper culture is a big part of HD culture. You have heard of the movie Easy Rider, right? Kind of an influential moto film. I think the fishtails are overly ornate, and block the beauty of the gorgeous drive shaft. It’s important to understand that over here in the U.S. many R18 owners chose the BMW as an alternative to HD culture.
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Yes I have seen Easy Rider and it was hardly an influence on European motorbike world. That came waywaý later with mainstream chopper magazines et all and even then nóthing like US. You claim a fish tail association abroad but that simply is not true and a US vision.
Yes they did aim for the HD and Indian market with the Bagger and TransContinental but.... mainly in the US. Again over here in Europe BMW is way bigger than HD and the R18s there own thing. BMW are ww bigger than HD so you can imagine how that is in Europe. Also BMW motorbikes are but small change for the company. They will stay in that market because it is an important part of their heritage. Again why that was a big thing with the conception of the R18.

As to BMW, do take a look at the marketing prelude. The R5 homage and the R18 Concept including the whére those were presented. It will make clear that with the first versions it was heritage and not HD market they ´went for´ with the introduction. See also the 100 years edition.
I too bought the BMW because of the BMW heritage thing.
They dropped the fish tailed pear drop with the B and TC so HD link?? Nâh.

Lastly HD did not exist over here till the fifties and then only as more mythical american WW2 ´Liberator´ than real because there was no money for that. Why do you think the fish tailed ´under 100´ 98 cc sold in gazillions, why do you think Vespa was conceived or p.e. Ducati and Laverda went motorbike? Till mid seventies HD was a US culture thing and the AMF quality did not make buyers run to get one. It is not untill the ´born-to-be-wild-on-Sturday´ white collar soft chopper buyers that HDs sold better.
HD never was and never will be nearly akin as in the US. US market and Europe cannot be compaired. Our roads thus the use cannot be compaired.
Again, BMW would appreciate a piece of the US cruiser market but it is far from priority. It is important to understand that what US buyers do is but a footnote in BMW financial reports and the US geo-politics have not made it more of a priority.

Anyway; fishtails. As I observed earlier the BMW retro with them goes back predating the EasyRider film by decades, is not HD related at all ;)

Bottom line about fish tails there is no discussing taste and also if for yoú being american there is an association with HD then there is for you and in your culture it is even historically correct.
For me being european there is a different history, no association with HD and mind I raced 2 and commuted 1 HD; made in Italy by Aermacchi. Another one of those manufacturers that were going motorbikes as affordable transport in the decades after WW2.
 
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As a citizen of the world (Noel's world) .... I say do what rocks your boat....

As a weird aside.... last year I was talking to a guy that had a triumph 1200 bobber with a catless exhaust with cone's (at a bakery somewhere).... and when we left and started our bikes his sounded awsome... mine sounded like a 6 month old braking wind. So off came the fish tails and on went some cones (and no fish tail was hurt in the making of this story... they are just on ice).
 
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2024 Units sold
Germany 26,177 12.4%
France 20,693 9.8%
Italy 16,617 7.9%
Spain 13,009 6.2%
Cenrtral Europe 11,411 5.4%
Other Europe 30,820 14.6%
118,727 56.4% Europe TOTAL

US 17,272 8.2%
Brazil 15,267 7.3%
China 13,872 6.6%
India 8,301 3.9%
Other 36,969 17.6%
91,681 43.6% Non-Euope TOTAL
210,408 World Total
 
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