There’s been lots of publicity for BMW’s new R18 cruiser, and it’s made the rounds on the IMS show circuit. Now, you’ll be able to buy one pretty soon, as BMW is officially revealing the production version of the bike next month.

On April 3, BMW’s taking the wraps off the finalized R18 design. The bike that went the rounds of the show circuit was pretty stripped-down, but no doubt there’s going to be some concessions to road legality on the production model—there’s lots of rules about things like signal light sizes, licence plates lights, etc., that must be met to keep the regulators happy. Not to mention lumpy extras grafted on the exhaust system, to meet emissions regulations.

However, Harley-Davidson’s able to build cruisers that still look pretty good, despite the rulebooks, so no doubt BMW can too. With a massive 1800 cc boxer engine, this bike is aimed right at that big-bore market.

BMW is making a big deal of this; if you hadn’t already gotten the message from the extended marketing campaign, the press releases BMW Motorrad’s big boss Dr. Markus Schramm as saying “All of us at BMW Motorrad are very much looking forward to the absolute highlight of the year for us – the world premiere of the BMW R 18.” Hmmm—”absolute highlight” of the year? A big deal indeed, and Schramm also says this bike is part of BMW’s “clear goal of becoming the number one in the premium segment worldwide.”

Considerately, BMW’s provided a countdown website to help you keep track of the wait time ’til the new bike is unveiled. Keep an eye out there, and maybe you’ll see more details in the coming weeks. Otherwise, it’ll all be revealed next month.

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