Today we're going to be comparing two of the best cruiser motorcycles
on the market the harley-davidson heritage classic 114 and the bmw r18 classic we're also
going to talk about some other models and manufacturers in this video too
now some of the other bikes that you might consider would be the triumph rocket 3 maybe the
gt because it's a bit more of a touring capability the indian springfield or the springfield dark
horse and the harley-davidson road glide now all those bikes have similar rakes which means they
have similar handling so they're more comparable to each other than they are to these two bikes
if you wanted a bike of this sort of style i think these two are the most similar to compare
so we're going to start by comparing the bikes on various different points we'll start from the
front of the bike and finish at the back and we're going to award a point to either bike depending
on which one is the better bike on that round and if they're the same then neither gets a point now
both of these bikes have the same size front wheel and tire so that's one of the factors that gives
them their similar handling but the bmw has double disc brakes at the front and the calipers on the
bmw are styled really nicely and the heritage classic only has a single disc brake on the front
um so the stopping power on the bmw is a little bit better so one point to the bmw the next point
is the dial now on the r18 the dials at the front between the handlebars and on the harley-davidson
it's on the tank so on the harley you have to look down more and you sort of take your eyes
off the road and the r18 dial is absolutely beautiful it's a nice small size it's chromed
it's easy to read you can see the gear indicator you can see the rpm and the speed very easily
so i will award one point to the bmw r18 for the dial now the second point we're going to talk
about is mud guards the bmw r18 classic has a much more minimal mud guard so it's quite a bit smaller
and the heritage classic one is quite a bit larger the styling is obviously
subjective whichever one you prefer i think the shape and styling of the heritage classic
is slightly nicer in my opinion i like how it comes down very low and it sort of flicks out
it's kind of mexican style like the if you've seen mayans mc on the telly it's that sort of
style which is really cool but practicality wise the heritage classic is going to keep more mud off
the bike so you're going to have to do a little bit more cleaning on the r18 so therefore one
point to the heritage classic now the next point we're going to come to is on the handlebar area
both of them have ride by wire throttles but the bmw r18 classic has three modes
um the harley davidson has one mode but it's not a mode you can change so it's in a mode all the time
the only way to change it on the harley is to get a tuner that's a cost of upwards of 300
pounds or your dealer can do it with the r18 you've got rock and roll and rain so you've
got your three modes which are easy to change on the move so i think because of that the r18
gets the point now the next point is screens the screen on the r18 classic is a little bit smaller
than that of the heritage classic one thing i do like about the r18 screen is that it's
completely clear whereas the one on the heritage classic is half blacked out on the bottom which
means that your immediate view is slightly worse but it's not really a massive problem
but as the screen is bigger it does do its job better and keeps the wind off you a little bit
more than the r18 classic so therefore one point to the heritage next point is the suspension now
the suspension on both bikes is very equal you've got a very similar ride with both these bikes
so no winner there so next we're going to talk about bags now both bikes have very similar sized
bags or panniers whatever you want to call it and they're slightly different styling so it's up to
you on that one that's subjective the heritage has a locking mechanism so that's a bit of a bonus but
it's slightly harder to get stuff in it because of the way that the locking mechanism sticks out
the r18 classic comes with an inner liner with the bike the heritage doesn't and you
get bolts to fill in the holes when you take the bags off and with the heritage you have
to buy them separately but overall i think it's kind of even on the bag side of things
now next on the list is the engine both bikes have massive torquey engines and as engines that
work to move the motorcycle along they both work very well indeed the bmw has a characteristic lean
to the left when you blip the throttle and the lean to the right when you come off the throttle
more so in neutral when the bike's still but it does it a little bit when you're moving
um both shake and rock and roll when they're still which is kind of cool
the harley-davidson engine is narrower the bmw engine sticks out more so really the bmw
because of the engine's sticking out more the cylinders are in the way and you don't
ideally want a motorcycle to lean one way or the other on a throttle on or off position
we'll give the point to the harley-davidson now we're going to talk about the stand the stand
on the rit and classic is definitely better than the heritage classic it comes out a lot further
and it's much more secure in place it kind of scoots up at the end so it doesn't tend to grab
on any objects whereas if there's a crack in the ground or something with the heritage
and any harley to be honest it will grab that and you kind of don't know whether it's on the stand
once it's on the sand it's fine but there is a slight problem with um not knowing whether the
bike's going to fall over and it actually has in the past so definitely one point to the r18
for that one next point to cover is the gears now both have six speeds the harley-davidson gearbox
is clunky as we all know but that's not a fault it's just the way it is it's a characteristic
the bmw gearbox is smoother through the gears but it's a little bit vague when going from neutral to
first sometimes so on that point i'd say they sort of balance out so no winner there now the seat on
the heritage classic is a little bit more soft the seat on the r18 is slightly more firm and a little
bit more grippy than the seat on the heritage classic someone said about whether the badge on
the seat of the bmw gets in the way but you don't feel that when you're sitting on it but i think
overall the seats are kind of subjective so we're not going to give a point to either bike on that
next point is the foot position with the harley davidson you've got the floorboards and
forward controls with the bmw r18 you've got the mid controls because there's no cylinders in the
way on the harley you can have your feet extended and it's more comfortable for your knees on
longer rides and if you want to you can bring your toes back like this to be in effectively
the mid control position with your toes on the end so you've got more versatility with the
harley davidson so therefore the harley wins that point this next point we're going to talk about
the reverse the heritage classic doesn't have a reverse gear and this r18 classic and the normal
r18 have a reverse it's like an electric motor and this is really really a game changer if you've
ever ridden a heavy bike you'll realize that when you're maneuvering it about it's really difficult
to get it anywhere really especially if you're on a little bit of a slope and you're trying to move
the bike backwards it's almost impossible and i've seen a lot of people struggling
um not even just on the heritage on all sorts of heavy tourers and cruiser motorcycles
um it's definitely a big problem and this bmw r18 completely eliminates that the only other
thing i've seen a reverse gear on is a harley davidson trike so i mean it's nice to have it on
a two-wheel motorcycle especially of this weight so definitely one point to the r18 classic there
now to the exhaust the bmw r18 has quite a nice sounding standard exhaust actually
but of course you can get aftermarket pipes for both these bikes and we know that harley's sound
amazing and as loud as you want in standard form with the standard pipes they don't sound nearly
as loud and that's to meet the regulations and what have you um but it's just sort of it's basic
science that the bmw with the riot pipes would sound really loud and amazing because they're
big massive cylinders dumping their exhaust into a big hole so they're both going to sound
pretty amazing depending on the pipes so no clear winner there so even stevens on that one
now the next thing we're going to talk about is the fuel tank
looks wise it's completely subjective both look nice to me and they're slightly different shapes
and sizes so it's really up to you on that one the r18 classic has a 16 liter capacity
and the heritage classic has an 18.9 so you've got a little bit more on the heritage classic and the
fact that the heritage classic has a fuel gauge and the r18 doesn't makes the heritage classic
win this point handling next now both bikes have very similar handling uh the bmw's a little bit
longer in the wheelbase and has a 32.7 degree rake whereas the harley has a 30 degree rake
perhaps this is one area harley could sort of take note and um the the dimensions of the r18 are the
perfect dimensions for a cruiser absolutely no doubt about that and harley davidson have dropped
the break out they kind of need something between the heritage classic and where the breakout was
which would be more like the r18 but on balance taking the bike as a whole with the engine and
the extra weight of the bmw and the way the harley is i'd say the handling is about the same
so both bikes are at five points each and there's no clear winner on paper what it comes down to at
the end of the day is which flavor you prefer it's a bit like eating food if you eat chinese food all
the time and you love your chinese food after a few weeks you think i fancy an indian and then if
you eat indian for a few weeks you think i fancy a chinese again and it's the kind of similarities
between these two bikes are like indian and chinese food they're both fabulous bikes
but they're both different flavors so they have different characters the bmw has masses and masses
of character so does the harley davidson um in a different way so you have to make that decision
uh yourself which bike would be right for you but either choice would be a fabulous choice
now bmw have really raised the bar with these sort of motorbikes love it or hate it and it is
a love hate bike by the sound of things from the comments we've been having on our videos um but
they have raised the bar the reverse option is a game changer the dimensions of this bike
are absolutely perfect for a cruiser motorcycle harley-davidson need to make something between
the breakout and the heritage classic with a little bit more rake
and the sort of dimensions of this a slightly longer wheelbase then you've got the perfect
cruiser so mate this chassis to a vetoing engine and you've got the world's best
cruiser so whoever does that first is going to be there thanks very much for watching the video let
us know in the comments section below which bike you'd choose i think it's very subjective really
but we'd like to know your thoughts on which one you think is the better bike make sure you
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that's very good about the bmw r18 is that whichever side you look at the bike from it's
just as beautiful so one side is a reflection of the other with the harleys a lot of them
are beautiful from this side but the left hand side isn't as pretty as the right hand side it's
almost sort of slightly neglected so harley could learn a thing or two from the bmw on that point