In Pictures: BMW R nineT & R18 100 Years

To celebrate 100 years since the inception of the first ever BMW motorcycle, a pair of limited edition bikes have been unveiled and here they are in all their pictorial glory for your viewing pleasure.

Here’s the full lowdown, straight from the horse’s mouth…

“Munich. In December 1922, BMW chief designer Max Friz puts the first full-scale BMW motorcycle on the drawing board. At its heart is an air-cooled two-cylinder four-stroke boxer engine. The first BMW motorcycle, the R 32, was presented in September 1923. This heralded the beginning of BMW motorcycle production and launched an unprecedented success story.

To celebrate its 100-year history, BMW Motorrad is now presenting the two protagonists of the Heritage experience world - the R nineT Roadster and the R 18 Cruiser with big boxer - as 100 Years edition models. In keeping with the year in which BMW Motorrad was founded, both models are limited to 1923 units each.

BMW R nineT 100 Years: The great roadster tradition from BMW Motorrad in particularly refined and sophtisticated packaging.

The reduced design language of the R nineT is shaped by 100 years of motorcycle construction and BMW Motorrad's unbroken passion for the boxer engine. Classic roadster design skilfully sets the scene with a compact tank and upright seating position as well as high-quality materials and stylish design elements. The new R nineT 100 Years becomes an exclusive anniversary edition thanks to numerous other special features. The heart is still the air/oil-cooled, 80 kW (109 hp) two-cylinder boxer engine. In the anniversary edition the legendary engine is accompanied by a wide range of options and an elaborate surface concept.

Classic Chrome and Option 719 Parts: High-grade paint-on-chrome surfaces and exquisite milled parts and wheels.

Paint finishes in combination with chrome surfaces also have an almost 100-year tradition in motorcycle construction. Chrome surfaces, usually consisting of a copper, nickel and final chrome layer are characterised by their hardness and resulting high durability, very good protection against corrosion, but above all by a radiant, mirror-like shine. This made chrome a common stylistic device for designers from the late 1920s onwards, in combination with high-quality paint concepts. The BMW R 75/5 with chrome-plated tank sides and side covers, for example, is legendary at BMW Motorrad. With the new BMW R nineT 100 Years and R 18 100 Years and the Classic Chrome surface concept, BMW Motorrad is reviving this incomparably sophisticated interplay of paint and chrome.

The tank is a combination of black with chrome and white double-lining and is complemented by knee pads and a 100 Years badge. Classic chrome is also found on the seat hump. The front wheel cover is also painted in black and features white double lining. The seat bench in two-tone combination black/oxblood rounds off the high quality look.

Numerous black components such as fork tubes, air intake snorkel and some Option 719 components complement this harmoniously. The R nineT 100 Years includes the 719 Classic wheels option with black anodised rim rings, the Option 719 Shadow milled parts package with milled cylinder head covers, engine housing covers, seat holders, oil filler plug and the Option 719 Shadow II milled parts package, consisting of adjustable hand levers and a footrest system, pillion footrests as well as expansion tank covers and handlebar end mirrors. Adaptive turning light and the Comfort Package with heated grips, cruise control and Driving Modes Pro complete the extensive equipment of the edition model. An anti-theft alarm system can also be retrofitted as part of the optional equipment ex works or via the range of Original BMW Motorrad Accessories.

BMW R 18 100 Years: The big boxer stylishly designed using a special paintwork and surface concept with Classic Chrome.

The unmissable centrepiece of the R 18 100 Years is the 67 kW (91 hp) boxer engine with the largest displacement ever installed by BMW Motorrad. Both technically and visually, the BMW R 18 borrows from famous BMW models such as the BMW R 5 and puts the focus back on the essentials of motorcycling: Purist, no-frills technology and the boxer engine as the epicentre of riding pleasure. The big boxer is also complemented by numerous special features as well as a high-grade surface concept in the anniversary edition of the R 18.

The colour scheme of the R 18 100 Years, like that of the anniversary model of the R nineT, is in Classic Chrome and thus combines black paintwork and high-gloss chrome surfaces as well as white double lining and a 100 Years badge. The paint-on-chrome concept in Classic Chrome is also found on the rear wheel cover in combination with white double lining. The front wheel cover and the side covers are painted in black, complemented by white double lining on the front mudguard. The Option 719 seat upholstered in the bicolour combination black/oxblood with high-quality diamond embossing blends in harmoniously.

Black as a symbolic colour scheme of great BMW Motorrad tradition also adorns the engine, transmission housing and rear axle drive. The exact designation is Avus Black - a reminiscence of the legendary high-speed race track in Berlin, where BMW Motorrad once celebrated great racing successes and where the Avus monument with BMW Motorrad factory rider Ernst Henne still commemorates it today. Berlin is also home to the BMW Motorrad production plant. The plant located in Berlin-Spandau is not only a production site, it is also the lead plant for the international motorcycle production of BMW Motorrad.

The R 18 100 Years is complemented by numerous chrome parts from the Chrome design option. The high-quality and durable galvanic surface coating can be found on these parts: Handlebar fittings, gearshift and foot brake levers, handlebar clamps, handlebar weights, mirrors, brake master cylinders, brake calipers, engine casing covers, cylinder head covers and intake manifold trims.

Other features of the BMW R 18 100 Years also include chromed Akrapovič rear silencers with perforated tailpipe trims in the "propeller style" of the BMW brand logo. Safety and comfort are ensured by Headlight Pro with adaptive turning light, reversing aid, electronic cruise control and heated grips. As part of the optional equipment ex works, the new BMW R 18 100 Years can also be equipped with anti-theft alarm system, pillion package, running boards, Hill Start Control, lockable fuel filler cap and power reduction.

With the R nineT and R 18 models in the Heritage experience world, BMW Motorrad is paying due tribute to its almost 100-year history and tradition, which is inextricably linked with the legendary boxer engine. Tradition and history can also be found at the BMW Motorrad production plant in Berlin - the birthplace of almost every BMW motorcycle for over 50 years. The iconic design and the unmistakable boxer engine illustrate that it's about the roots of BMW Motorrad, about historically inspired shapes and details, about an authentic riding experience and about reducing motorbikes to the essentials. In short: The Heritage world of experience is all about a unique attitude to life, shaped by the legendary boxer engine.“