The new black midrise handlebar and blacked-out powertrain on the R 18 Roctane definitely make it stand out from its siblings.

In my early days with Rider, the BMW R 18 caught my eye. I had never ridden a BMW, and as a cruiser guy it was right up my alley. When one of my fellow editors, Allison Parker, got a chance to ride an R 18 at the BMW U.S. Rider Academy, I expressed interest to Rider EIC Greg Drevenstedt about doing the same.

A few weeks later, BMW announced a new R 18 ? the Roctane ? and invited Rider to get a first ride on the bike in Germany, so I made my pitch. The ride would coincide with the recently opened 100 Years of BMW Motorrad exhibition at the BMW Museum in Munich, so I figured this would be the perfect opportunity to get a little additional perspective on how we got to this point.
I came away from the trip not only wiser but after two days of riding through the Bavarian and Austrian Alps, much happier.

BMW R 18: A Growing Family

At this stop by Lake Plansee in Austria, it was hard to know what to pay more attention to, the Roctane or the scenery.

The 2024 BMW R 18 Roctane is the fifth member of the R 18 family, which launched its first model in 2020 and was inspired by the iconic BMW R 5 from the 1930s. The Roctane, which BMW describes as a ?cruiser, a bagger, and everything in between,? joins the standard R 18, the R 18 Classic, the R 18 B (Bagger), and the R 18 Transcontinental.

Related: 2022 BMW R 18 Transcontinental | Road Test...