Recent content by JBacklund

Not a 'girlie glamour shot', just my wife, 'Trixie', riding my just-purchased new R18 home from the dealership. We rode the '18 Goldwing (now sold) up to Sturgis BMW to retrieve the new bike, and at 5'4",125 lbs, she wasn't about to tackle the GL.

I just rode a 1300 mile trip to Mpls/St. Paul from Rapid City, SD about ten days ago. My average mpg was 50.7 for eleven fills (US gallons). Low mpg was 45.5, highest was 54.4 My R18 has about 5500 miles on it now, and for my local riding, it's getting 49-50 mpg consistently.

I've only been here a very short time, but long enough to see that it's someplace I don't need, or want, to be. Have a nice day.

I don't need their detailed instructions to change my R18's oil and filter, smartass, the information is readily available elsewhere. But give me one good reason why such things are now omitted from their 'owners' manuals? Is it to sell more full service manuals, or to get you into those $150 an...

Interesting, and consistent with other annoying little items, such as not providing any oil and filter change procedures in the 'Rider's Manual' (note, not 'Owner's Manual') provided with this machine. Heaven forbid that a rider of a modern BMW motorcycle might want to take a proactive and...

Yes, what a pain-in-the-butt 'feature'! If they're going to bother putting a reverse in this machine, they could at least have made it actually useful. Our '18 Goldwing has a reverse system similar to the R18's, except that it is simple to use, and it works when the rider determines it's...

What I was trying to do, is possibly narrowing the hand positions of the very wide R18 handlebars. The only way to do that is to cut an inch off of each end of the bars (with a pipe cutter, for example), and reposition the grips, clutch/brake levers, and switchboxes inward by one inch...

Nice, but he skillfully avoids the one thing I had asked about, which was if I could readily reposition the handlebar switchboxes by loosening them and rotating them on the bar, assuming they weren't 'pinned' in one position by the factory, as most motorcycle handlebar switch housings are these...

Does anyone know if the R18's handlebars are the type that utilize 'pinned' switchboxes and clutch/brake master cylinders?

I was thinking about getting CC added on my new R18 if it was available, but with a 2018 Goldwing sitting in the garage for any long rides we might want to take, I question the practical necessity and cost of getting it right now.

Last Saturday, I took delivery of our local BMW dealership's 190 mile demo R18 (Sturgis, SD). It was offered to me for a very good price, and I found the deal irresistible. This dealership had two R18's, and both had languished on their sales floor for over a year now. I had always been...

We'll, it's a minority it two then. Other than the removal of the passenger seat and pegs, I have no desire to add anything to, or change anything on, my R18.