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For 2023, BMW has brought out heritage editions of the R18 and R nineT as part of the factory's celebrations of 100 years of production, so it seemed only right that we should take a look at how the Bavarian factory's retro bikes have been influenced by the past

- Dave Manning

BMW R18 & R nineT

The market for retro-styled motorcycles is not only one that seems to be expanding year by year, but is also one that has been part of several manufacturers' ranges for quite some time. So much so that some bikes are being produced that could be said to be a retro version of bikes that were originally produced as retros themselves.

In the main, manufacturers build retro bikes as a reflection of the machines that they had built themselves some 30, 40 or more years ago. And the names from the past are often used in the new models, with a few exceptions, of course. And that desire to reflect upon past glories is clearly a strong one in the motorcycle industry, hence the heavy reliance that the Bloor Triumph empire, as an example, has set on the range of Bonnevilles that the Hinckley factory (and its subsidiary factories abroad) now produce. A reliance on designs, if not technology, from years past is obviously conducive to sales in the 21st Century, and BMW was keen to jump on that particular bandwagon when it launched its monster-motored R18 in April 2020.

But there's also the thought that retro-styled bikes need not actually reflect the designs and aspirations of a bike that actually existed in the manufacturer's range. Such is the case with the BMW R nineT. There was no previous R nineT in contrast to the way that Triumph (as an example) has rejuvenated so many names - nor was there a bike that the R nineT has taken its styling influences from. It's just a machine that looks as though it's a retro, when in actual fact it is simply a modern naked bike, albeit an aesthetically-pleasing one.

Another recent theme of production bikes has been that of there being a basic version, with further better-equipped (and more expensive, naturally) models expanding the range. So, we were keen to try the basic versions of each model, getting some purity without looking at the top-of-the-range bikes.