Guide: Converting your BMW R18 Bagger into a TransContinental

[adamchandler]

Disclaimer:

• This is a guide and not a technical document such as I am not including torque specs because I don't know them. I'm following the resistance + half turn method + Loctite 243 on most of my parts
• No guarantees implied or otherwise no matter how authoritative / confident my word choice is
• I have only done this one time so your experience may differ from mine
• This is a 2022 BMW R18 Bagger in North America so instructions may be different if you're reading this in Scotland in the year 2040

First, the elephant in the room. You can purchase a BMW R18 TransContinental for roughly $2,000 more than a Bagger. For that price difference, you are gaining:

1. Larger windscreen
2. Leg wind deflectors
3. Fairing mounted wind winglets
4. Larger pillion footpegs
5. larger seat
6. pillion seat heating
7. Engine guards
8. Auxiliary lights
9. Top case
10. 2 extra speakers
11. larger brake light
12. grey/silver forks & fairing (rider facing) instead of black
13. More chrome on front fender

These parts, if priced individually would be about $5,000 and, as you'll learn cannot be electronically retrofitted by a BMW dealer. This translates to the speakers, top case brake light, auxiliary lights cannot be enabled by a dealer. If someone figures out how, please let me know.

In this guide, I will highlight the things I've done and what is guaranteed to work. I will include part numbers and prices (today's prices).

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EASY:

Bagger to TransContinental Windscreen:​

The TC windscreen is quite a bit taller and you can see the side-by-side comparison here:

Here are your official BMW Parts Options:

The windshield at $509 is the Transcontinental windscreen and is part number 77 33 9 444 312. You can go for a non-OEM windscreen from a company like 7Jurock https://www.7jurock.com/products/bm...1-2022-windshield?_pos=1&_sid=99a35b66b&_ss=r. for about half of the price. It is a perfect fit but some think their screens are a bit ugly.

Note, when you buy a windscreen, you will need to move over the Grommets and hardware from your windscreen to the other.

Also, you can go TC to Bagger by purchasing the $375 windscreen which is part number 46 63 9 899 428. This would be great if your'e a TC owner and live in New Mexico or Florida and want some more wind on your helmet.

I put together a video showing how to change the windscreen:

The same instructions apply to no matter which one you change over. It's a very simple installation.

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EASY:

Changing your seat to the TransContinental Seat:​

Similar simplicity. This is much easier if you have a bagger where that rear T30 is accessible. the OEM seats are very easy to swap and while Mustang seats is an option among RDL, Corbin and others, I'm just focusing on an OEM+ build here.

Bagger Seats:

TransContinental Seats:

I have no idea why the OEM standard height heated TC seat is $1021 but it's safe to say you should just avoid that one entirely. I purchased the 760MM TC Heated seat because I'm a tall rider. The R18 isn't a tall bike anyway so this is what I'd recommend for most people based on price and the additional foam padding. Your pillion will thank you and the amount of back-rest area lost by getting the comfort high will be minimal (20mm over stock)

The TC seat also adds pillion heat. This is entirely plug & play for your bagger. You can buy any w/ heat TC seat and plug it in and you'll have front & rear heating. The TC seat minus the top box looks a bit weird just like the Bagger seat on a TC would put a huge air gap between the top box and pillion seat so keep that in mind. You're bastardizing the look of your bagger by adding just the seat but if you just want comfort, this is very easy.

Some photos for you:


STOCK:

TC 760MM seat added:

Top Box Added:

I also put together a video on how to do this and showing off how the heated seat now works. Pillion has their own button which is convenient. No shoulder taps asking you to heat up their ass.

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EASY:

Adding BMW's fairing-mounted winglets:​

I have NOT done this modification yet but I will over the Winter. Your bagger fairing on the bottom on both sides has two T25 screws sitting there just hanging out. You can retrofit the winglets easily and if someone has done this and wants to share a pictorial, please comment below and I'll link to it.

You can see the winglets on this page: https://www.ascycles.com/bmw/2020/R18Transcont/Frame and mounting parts/Front panel.html#PartsTable

Here's what it will cost you add those winglets today - $380:

Part numbers:
SCREW - 46638527780 $12.68
Spacer buffer - 07147446440$12.72
Wind deflector left B0 - 46639899431 $181.74
Wind deflector right B0 - 46639899432 $181.74

Adding these should take no more than 10 minutes. Some people have acknowledged the reduced turbulence by having these installed. There are some home-made options as well.

NOTE: At this point in your build, you are better off having just bought a TransContinental if you're going whole hog!

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OEM Engine Bars: ​

This is a controversial one because there are aftermarket options available. I wanted to mount BMW's leg rests so I had to go OEM for my build. SW-Motech and others offer lower cost options but if you are wanting to install the $199 leg rests on top of the cylinder heads, you'll have to go OEM for this.

Engine Bars:
ENGINE PROTECTION BAR SET
77 14 7 924 349
$499.00

That's the part number. I will add an install video when these finally arrive. They're still back ordered at the moment.

 

[adamchandler]

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OEM Top Box with speakers, Brake light, interior cabin light and support for central locking storage:​

If you were to build this from scratch, the total cost for parts alone would be $6,401 USD. This may be off by a few bucks but that's roughly the total cost to do this in today's prices. NOT recommended.

DO NOT DO THIS. LOL

Find a donor bike, ideally someone who wanted other aspects of the TC like engine guards, aux lights, seat, windscreen, leg guards, winglets, etc etc but didn't want the top case.

Here's the really important thing about this next step before you proceed.

Under your seat of your bagger is the wiring harness you need. Here's a photo where I call out the TC top box wiring:

You will cut those 2 zip ties and you have 2 connectors that have blanks (to keep water out) over the plugs. You can just move that back to the newly installed top box and you'll have the following by default:
1. Interior cabin LED light when the top box is open
2. Support for the bike's central locking system. Your top box without any modifications will lock with the side boxes.

What you won't have?
1. Speakers will not work
2. Brake light will not illuminate

Here's a photo of the top box interior lighting:

It's REALLY nice to have when camping and you need to find your Bourbon. My XL Shoei Neotec II helmet barely fits in the top box. You can se some white markings on the top of the top box. It'll lock just fine but you won't have space for much else except a cup and some bourbon. (technically, that's rye whiskey, not bourbon)

INSTALLATION:

You can just watch this video if you want:

But a few details worth noting:

• Remove your seat
• Remove side boxes
• cut wiring already present
• Install frame carrier
• install plastic mounting bracket to frame and run the wiring through up and through the hole
• reinstall your seat (it's easier when the box is not installed)
• Install top box (a spouse can hold the box for you
• Test interior light & central locking to make sure those work
• Enjoy

I have a good relationship with my dealer. They updated my bike's software to the latest version and spent 4 hours trying to get my top boxes brake light & speakers to work. They charged me a total of $68 for this which was fantastic. They even fully reinstalled the box following BMW's service manual just to make sure I got the wiring correct and they hopped into BMW's diagnostic tools and there is no BMW Retrofit for the top box. Your bagger and TC are identical in 95% of their build but the software on my bike was the Bagger software, not TC so any top box configuration choices were not present. They spent a full Saturday and I appreciate their efforts but I drove home without the speakers or brake light working.

So again, if you want a top box, just buy the TC it's WAY cheaper.

This is for someone who wants more storage and more pillion comfort and has a a friend or donor bike who will give them this box for cheap (I paid about $950 with shipping)....at this point in your build, you would have a TC off the lot for much cheaper.


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Larger Pillion Foot Pegs from TC to Bagger:​

Your Bagger is setup for the larger footpads which is good news. This is a pretty easy installation it seems but I have not and won't be attempting this because my wife has her own motorcycle so I don't get much benefit from this.

Here are the larger pegs:

Bagger Pegs:

TC Pegs:

They're slightly larger. Here are the part numbers & Prices:


FOOTREST FOR PASSENGER LEFT
46 71 9 899 349
$122.00

PIN - L=42MM
46 71 7 680 530
$16.91


RUBBER FOOTREST LEFT
46 71 1 599 107
$30.17

PIN - L=42MM
46 71 7 680 530
$16.91

FOOTREST FOR PASSENGER RIGHT
46 71 9 899 350
$122.00

RUBBER FOOTREST RIGHT
46 71 1 599 108
$30.17

ISA SCREW - M5X12-8.8-ZNNIV
07 12 9 904 849
$1.97

PIN - L=42MM
46 71 7 680 530
$16.91

You're going to spend about $325 to increase the size of your bagger footpads which are very nice and pretty sufficient to the chrome and larger TC pegs. I guess ask the spouse if their foot comfort is worth $325 if you need help getting household approval to buy these. I used the same argument for the seat and back rest and your mileage may vary.

I have not installed these but you can use those part numbers to go down the path.


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Engine Bar Mounted leg wind deflectors:​

I have not done this modification yet and probably won't but you want to build a TC so here's how:

It's a few parts. This might be better off as a donor bike option. Someone may not like how they look and would be willing to sell them to you for $200. You must have BMW's $499 engine guards installed (see above) to do this. They mount to your guard.

LEG SHIELD LEFT - ROHTEIL / BLANK
46 63 1 541 283
$156.30

LEG SHIELD RIGHT - ROHTEIL / BLANK
46 63 1 541 284
$156.30

TRIM LEG SHIELD LEFT - ROHTEIL / BLANK
46 63 1 541 287
$109.42

TRIM LEG SHIELD RIGHT - ROHTEIL / BLANK
46 63 1 541 288
$109.42

LEG SHIELD INTERIOR TRIM LEFT
46 63 9 899 439
$150.06

LEG SHIELD INTERIOR TRIM RIGHT
46 63 9 899 440
$150.06

BRACKET LEG SHIELD LEFT
46 63 9 899 443
$31.15

BRACKET LEG SHIELD RIGHT
46 63 9 899 444
$31.15

RUBBER BUFFER LEFT
46 63 9 899 445
$15.41

RUBBER BUFFER RIGHT
46 63 9 899 446
$15.41

BRACKET LEG SHIELD LEFT BOTTOM
46 63 9 444 307
$41.51

BRACKET LEG SHIELD RIGHT BOTTOM
46 63 9 444 308
$41.51

BODY SCREW WITHOUT SHOULDER - M5X16-A2-70
46 63 8 568 781
$3.58

C-CLIP NUT, SELF-LOCKING - M5
46 63 8 532 314
$3.42

MOUNTING CLIP BLACK
52 53 8 393 655
$3.59

BODY SCREW WITH SHOULDER - M6
46 63 8 521 658
$6.00

ISA SCREW - M6X14 MK
46 54 7 694 305
$3.44

Quantities vary but as you can see, doing this yourself would cost about $500-$650.

All you're doing is adding these leg deflectors for your money:

I took a photo of one in person on a TC last month:

So it is compatible with the OEM engine leg rests you should buy if you're already spending all of this money anyway. Winglets are also pictured above in this same photo.

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Fairing Mounted Auxiliary lights & relocation of turn signals:​

I don't have 100% verification of this but my dealer indicated that this is not something they can retrofit. They looked in the coding and if you go down this path, you may not get the Aux lights working so I would recommend not doing this to your bagger even though it would all marry up and instead just get some aftermarket aux lights and mounting them to your engine bar or front works.

You're going to need Front Panel Carrier: https://www.ascycles.com/bmw/2020/R18Transcont/Frame and mounting parts/Front panel carrier.html#PartsTable for about $175

and you'll need 2 LED Aux lights: https://www.ascycles.com/bmw/2020/R18Transcont/Lights/LED auxiliary headlight.html#PartsTable at around $1000 total cost

Parts diagrams are below:

I'm not going to say much more about these because there's just a lot of work involved for very little additional lighting. OEM+ is a good and fun way to embark on a project but for $1200, you're better off getting a Clearwater or Denali setup.

 

[adamchandler]

I hope this was helpful. Once the Engine Guards & Leg rests come in, I'll have a video to publish for each of those installs. Pretty straight forward but I'm waiting.

Oh also don't forget, BMW makes inner bag liners for the side and top boxes. I have all 3 on order. You can see those here: https://www.ascycles.com/bmw/2020/R...s Motorrad/Case inside pocket.html#PartsTable

I also have a TFT screen protector on order: https://www.ascycles.com/bmw/2020/R.../Protective glass TFT display.html#PartsTable

One day this will be helpful to someone so if you're out there, enjoy but seriously, just buy the TC if you think you're going to want 2-3 of these things. Your'e better off.

 

[Gr8adv]

What a cool set of posts. Damn, you have been busy.

 

[adamchandler]

What a cool set of posts. Damn, you have been busy.

Trying to add value for others in hopes its helpful. I've poured over these pages for the past few weeks since there's nothing documented. The seat and top box have been transformative. Dealer offered me a $4,000 hit on my R18 B + $2000 on top of that to upgrade to a TransContinental. So I could spend $6K to get a TC or just spend about $2,000 retrofitting mine which I chose the later.

 

[PaulP]

I dont own R18B (C is my choice) but went through the entire guide

 

[R18B]

Nice write up, seen your videos as well, very well made and enjoyable to watch.

 

[ldeluney]

Thanks for all this work and writeup. The only thing I would like to add to my bagger is a top case for my longer trips. I am hoping someone gets a hold of the 'SPDaten' files for this chassis soon. It may take some individual option programming to get all the electronics working. Although there may be an amplifier for the speakers that needs to be added.

 

[Gr8adv]

Thanks for all this work and writeup. The only thing I would like to add to my bagger is a top case for my longer trips. I am hoping someone gets a hold of the 'SPDaten' files for this chassis soon. It may take some individual option programming to get all the electronics working. Although there may be an amplifier for the speakers that needs to be added.

@ldeluney If it were me, and it’s clearly not…I’d cut my losses and sell the bagger get a TC. Strip off the stuff you don’t want change the seat and boom you have a bagger. Add the top box when needed and take advantage of the upgraded speaker and functional electronics. You also would have a resellable tc/bagger combo. Unless I am missing something important, which is quite often the case…

I love spending other peoples money.

 

[ldeluney]

@ldeluney If it were me, and it’s clearly not…I’d cut my losses and sell the bagger get a TC. Strip off the stuff you don’t want change the seat and boom you have a bagger. Add the top box when needed and take advantage of the upgraded speaker and functional electronics. You also would have a resellable tc/bagger combo. Unless I am missing something important, which is quite often the case…

I love spending other peoples money.

For me, I hate the chrome bars/mirrors, prefer the look of a black engine and gauge surround, 90% of the time I don't need/want a top case, etc.. I already have a tail bag if I need it for a trip which has only been used 3 times in the 6 years I've had it. Resale isn't an issue as the wife would have me hanged if I tried to sell it..

 

[adamchandler]

For me, I hate the chrome bars/mirrors, prefer the look of a black engine and gauge surround, 90% of the time I don't need/want a top case, etc.. I already have a tail bag if I need it for a trip which has only been used 3 times in the 6 years I've had it. Resale isn't an issue as the wife would have me hanged if I tried to sell it..

This was my justification beyond just the money was I REALLY like the all black gauge and lower forks. The bagger is more black which is nice.

 

[quduoheng]

ENGINE PROTECTION BAR SET 77 14 7 924 349 is Discontinued. The engine protection bar that is currently installed on every 2022 TC model is not available anymore.

I ordered a set of OEM foot rest which cannot be installed without the OEM bar.In their offical commerical it shows you that you can install the crash bar + foot rest combo on a classic. Now im like WTF, what parts are going to be discontinued in the future? And how many more parts will be discontinued after the model went out of production in 2026 like R1200C did?

 

[adamchandler]

ENGINE PROTECTION BAR SET 77 14 7 924 349 is Discontinued. The engine protection bar that is currently installed on every 2022 TC model is not available anymore.

I ordered a set of OEM foot rest which cannot be installed without the OEM bar.In their offical commerical it shows you that you can install the crash bar + foot rest combo on a classic. Now im like WTF, what parts are going to be discontinued in the future? And how many more parts will be discontinued after the model went out of production in 2026 like R1200C did?
View attachment 6390

Where did you get that information from. I have an order now 60 days old and my dealer on Saturday today me BMW NA shows 1000 sets back ordered but 90-125 being delivered once a week and my ETA was 8/5 for arrival into Jersey then I'll get them a week later.

1000 sets is just how many BMW needs to make, not how many are sold to customers. some are going oil TC bikes and some are just for warehouse stock.

I have an order for Engine Bar + Leg Rest that I'm waiting to leave Germany.

 

[quduoheng]

Where did you get that information from. I have an order now 60 days old and my dealer on Saturday today me BMW NA shows 1000 sets back ordered but 90-125 being delivered once a week and my ETA was 8/5 for arrival into Jersey then I'll get them a week later.

1000 sets is just how many BMW needs to make, not how many are sold to customers. some are going oil TC bikes and some are just for warehouse stock.

I have an order for Engine Bar + Leg Rest that I'm waiting to leave Germany.

I got the info from the Motorrad Dealership, Parts department in Canada, verified with 3 different dealerships.

I guess it's a regional problem not a supply chain problem.

 

[adamchandler]

I got the info from the Motorrad Dealership, Parts department in Canada, verified with 3 different dealerships.

I guess it's a regional problem not a supply chain problem.

Hmm, good thing to share and report on though. I'm hoping mine still show up in a week. Another person posted here that they waited an entire year.

 

[quduoheng]

Hmm, good thing to share and report on though. I'm hoping mine still show up in a week. Another person posted here that they waited an entire year.

We do have to respect the german engineering

 

[Scott Semone]

Paint Code (Black color): Did you order the wind protection assembly painted or blank color? If not painted, do you have the paint code to provide to a paint shop? I've started a similar project in adding the Auxiliary Lights and the wind deflectors on the fairing; which requires the TC front directionals to be swapped out.

 

[Deleted member 1344]

I hope this was helpful. Once the Engine Guards & Leg rests come in, I'll have a video to publish for each of those installs. Pretty straight forward but I'm waiting.

Oh also don't forget, BMW makes inner bag liners for the side and top boxes. I have all 3 on order. You can see those here: https://www.ascycles.com/bmw/2020/R18Transcont/Optional Equipment and Accessories Motorrad/Case inside pocket.html#PartsTable

I also have a TFT screen protector on order: https://www.ascycles.com/bmw/2020/R18Transcont/Optional Equipment and Accessories Motorrad/Protective glass TFT display.html#PartsTable

One day this will be helpful to someone so if you're out there, enjoy but seriously, just buy the TC if you think you're going to want 2-3 of these things. Your'e better off.

Bravo! Great presentation for everyone and priceless for those wanting to do this major mod.

 

[Gr8adv]

Bravo! Great presentation for everyone and priceless for those wanting to do this major mod.

He he he.

 

[adamchandler]

Paint Code (Black color): Did you order the wind protection assembly painted or blank color? If not painted, do you have the paint code to provide to a paint shop? I've started a similar project in adding the Auxiliary Lights and the wind deflectors on the fairing; which requires the TC front directionals to be swapped out.

For a completely separate project, I’ve ordered a few of these; https://touchupdirect.com/shop/touch-up-paint/bmw-black-storm-metallic/

It is a perfect match and maybe you can use the code on their site. Alternatively, a local reputable body shop can mix it for you.