In late September, BMW Motorrad North America filed a Safety Recall Report notification with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regarding certain 2021 through 2024 R 18 motorcycles.
Very specifically, this recall applies to bikes outfitted with the optional reverse gear. On these bikes, the way they're sealed could break down over time and allow moisture inside the unit, where it shouldn't be. This could, in turn, corrode electrical contacts, result in overheating, and potentially also in a fire hazard.
According to BMW of North America, around 5,048 R 18s sold in this region could be affected. This represents approximately one percent of the population. Affected units were produced between June 19, 2020 and July 11, 2024.
As for any warning signs that could occur to inform the rider that a reverse gear issue was occurring, the main one is that the reverse function just stops working.
BMW (not North America; the main parent company) received reports of a thermal event from an R 18 in a different international market back in June 2023. At that time, it began investigating to diagnose the problem and determine whether it was isolated, or could potentially be a larger issue affecting more bikes.
At first, the investigation seemed to point to this seal mainly having an issue in climates that are particularly hot and humid, as most of the warranty claims for this issue were coming from Southeast Asian countries. This led to BMW announcing a recall for this issue in Southeast Asian markets back in February 2024. At that time, their analysis did not indicate that this was an issue in markets that did not feature those types of constant hot and humid weather conditions year-round.
But then, as time progressed, BMW received reports of this issue occurring outside of Southeast Asia, in other markets. In September 2024, it decided that a recall was in order for North America. So far, the company says that it has not had reports or been made aware "of any accidents, injuries, or thermal events in the US market related to this issue." At the time of writing, it has so far had 21 warranty claims in the US related to this issue, however.
BMW North America notified its dealership network about this issue on September 26, 2024. It plans to notify registered owners of R 18s outfitted with the reverse gear unit on November 18, 2024 via a postal letter.
The recall remedy service for this issue will involve an authorized BMW technician permanently disconnecting the reverse gear control unit from the electrical system of your R 18, in such a way that you will not be able to reconnect it.
At a later date, when an improved part is made available, it will be retrofitted to your bike by a BMW technician to replace the faulty unit. However, it's not clear how long you'll have to wait for the improved part to become available.
In the US, owners may contact BMW Customer Service at 1-800-525-7417. Owners may also contact the NHTSA Vehicle Safety Hotline at 1-888-327-4236 (TTY 1-800-424-9153) or go to nhtsa.gov. NHTSA's campaign number for this recall is 24V-716.
