BMW Motorrad has been building motorcycles for 100 years and to celebrate its centenary, it’s releasing the BMW R nineT 100 Years and the R 18 100 Years.
To celebrate 100 years of BMW Motorrad, the BMW R 18 100 Years gets a unique color scheme, which is sort of a throwback to the 1936 BMW R 5. It’s black, with some pin-striping, and high-gloss chrome surfaces. The specific black color is called Avus Black, which is a nod to the 12.1-mile-long high-speed racetrack through the Grunewald Forest, West of Berlin. That track is where BMW Motorrad had great success
Mechanically, the 100 Years model uses the same 1,802 cc boxer engine with 91 horsepower as the standard BMW R 18. Which means it’s still the largest internal combustion engine ever fitted to a BMW motorcycle. The only real mechanical difference between the standard bike and the 100 Years model is the latter’s chromed Akrapovič exhaust.
The BMW R nineT 100 Years, like the standard nineT, is a throwback design that borrows from 100 years of Motorrad designs. The 100 Years edition isn’t much different but it does have a few unique touches. For instance, it has certain paint-to-chrome pieces, such as the gas tank, which is an incredibly difficult process. Chrome doesn’t like to be painted by the solvent-free paint used on modern cars, so BMW had to go to great lengths, including immersing it in electroplating baths and adding copper and nickel to the chromium to get the paint to properly adhere.
To distinguish the 100 Years version from the normal version, the centennial R nineT gets a few different black “Option 719” upgrades. Things like black fork tubes, intake snorkels, milled cylinder heads, engine cover, wheels, and so much more. All in, it looks like a proper throwback to old-school BMW motorcycle designs and it looks great because of it.
Mechanically, though, the BMW R 18 100 Years is mostly the same as the normal bike. Its 1,170 cc two-cylinder boxer engine still makes 109 horsepower. However, it does come with an adaptive turning headlight, heated grips, and different ride modes.
