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RIDE REVIEW I 2022 BMW R18 TRANSCONTINENTAL & R18 B
The weight of the Trans comes down to the extra
bodywork and luggage capability. Running twin 27-liter
side bags and a massive 48-liter top case, plus the larger
screen, the Trans is an imposing bike to behold.
The R18 B, on the other hand, while undoubtedly being
one of the biggest bikes on the road, carries its weight
well for such a long and low machine. There's no top case
with the R18 B, and both machines come with the option
of running the new-to-motorcycling Marshall Gold Series
Audio sound system. Marshall is normally associated with
your favorite band's amplifiers, and their first foray into bike
sound is a pretty good one. Although not as loud as what
you can find on some Harley models, the sound is crisp
enough to hear over wind noise and plenty loud enough
that everyone will know your terrible taste in music.
Despite its weight, the
Transcontinental rides beautifully on
the open road. The screen height
issue is clear to see here.
As we had two machines to test
over the day in Colorado, BMW asked
us not to pair our phones to our test
bikes for fear of our phones syncing
to our old bike when we switched. It
seemed a strange request, which later
bore more suspicion when, after we all
paired our phones anyway, we realized
that using the navigation and music
was annoyingly difficult. Using Spo-
tify was a pain, as you would have to
manually play one song after the other,
rather than letting it just play through.
The only way the system seemed to
work was when you played songs
directly off your phone on a playlist
you'd previously set up. I only had a
couple of tracks on my phone, so after
listening to Blur's Boys and Girls about
12 times, I turned the system off.
A better option would be to utilize
Apple CarPlay or the Android equiva-
lent, rather than trying to reinvent the
audio wheel.
