ROMA – Bmw Motorrad, just a few months after April, when the R18 returned to the “custom” world, sees that model used to create a special bike. It’s called the R18 Dragster, the production bike mainly uses the same 1802 cc engine, the “biggest” boxer ever made by the German house. But it is above all what supercharges that engine that arouses the curiosity of fans of the propeller brand, nitrous oxide. Thanks to the NOS system, the Dragster is able to unleash a searing power in the straight space of a quarter of a mile, just over 400 meters. Which is usually the length of the “drag races”, so to speak, those in which the “start” is given by a characteristic traffic light with colored lights, in the jargon “Christmas tree”.
These are very popular drag races overseas, which is why the Dragster is an American interpretation of the production R18. Roland Sands is not one by chance. Former driver, designer and tuner, he is also known to enthusiasts for having signed two ranges of aluminum accessories dedicated to the production R18 model, the “Machined” and the “2-Tone-Black”. Special parts which he obviously used , together using components from other BMW series models. For example the fork, which is the upside-down fork of a more tame “naked”, the R nineT. Or the brakes, in this case are the same as those of a performing super sports car, the S1000RR The R18 version of Sands seems to have been inspired by his personal story: “My family always liked speed. My dad was a drag racing driver,” he said.
Low and long, the Dragster, while maintaining the geometry of the front part of the production model from which it derives, sees both the saddle and the fuel tank changed. But the rear end has been radically modified: to block wheelies due to strong accelerations, it has become longer and “rigid”, ie without the cushioned function, as well as wider, to accommodate a wider, and dynamically more stable, wheel with increased section. The R18 Dragster, a one-off motorcycle, is also “signed” by hand, with the characteristic BMW thread performed on the two-tone paintwork. Craftsmanship also confirmed by the steel exhaust, of the double “tromboncino” type and with milled aluminum bottoms. Which, of course, is open: road homologation is not required to participate in the drag races.
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