R 18 ROCTANE RETRO ROCK 'N' ROLL

We ride BMW Motorrad's new take on the brilliant R18, the Roctane, in Germany. Here's how it all went down!

- SUNDEEP GAJJAR

THERE are not a lot of motorcycles on the planet that announce themselves with as much pomp and show as the R18. One from BMW Motorrad's Heritage line and an ode to the olden-golden age of the Bavarian marque's history, the R18 is a motorcycle that impressed me a lot when I got to ride it for the first time. Ever since then, I have been looking forward to taking it for a spin again. But that was a long time ago, and since then, BMW has launched a fair few iterations of the R18. The one in question here is called the R18 Roctane... and I got to ride it in Germany recently.

Now, the name is quite straightforward. If you remember my account of the first time I rode an R18, I mentioned that it had riding modes called... Rain, Roll, and Rock. If they are not self-explanatory, Rain is mild, Roll is for a nice run down a highway, and Rock, well, it is meant for ballers! Based on that, Roctane combines Rock and Octane. So it is a Rockier variant of the R18. If that is not self-explanatory, let us get to what you're all here for.

The R18 is all about the old days of motorcycling. Cruisers were badass lumps of metal that could move at frightening speeds. The R18 is a modern take on that. But the R18 Roctane takes its heritage more seriously.