BMW Trademarks ‘Roctane’ Model Name

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Could this R 18 concept be the basis for a new bike that BMW trademarked the Roctane name for? (BMW Motorrad/)

BMW Motorrad has trademarked the name “Roctane” in Germany and applied for international rights to the title with the intent to use it on a future motorcycle—but deducing the bike it will be used on is much harder than with most of the company’s trademarks.

Normally, BMW follows very predictable naming conventions for its bikes, usually following the pattern of a letter, representing the engine configuration, then a number for the engine capacity, and a further combination of letters to describe the style of bike. Occasionally, however, the company switches to word-based names, and that’s what is happening with Roctane.

The German trademark confirms that the title is intended to be used on a motorcycle, with no mention of it applying to other goods—often companies hedge their bets when it comes to trademarks, covering multiple areas, but here there’s just one use listed. The fact that the name starts with an “R” is a strong indicator that it’s intended for one of the firm’s boxer twins, after all, an R-series BMW is inevitably a boxer. While these normally follow the letter/number/letter convention, the current range already includes the R nineT that deviates from the norm, and from 2001–2006 there was the odd, bug-eyed R1150R Rockster in the lineup—a play on the term “roadster,” for a bike that edged toward streetfighter territory while using the mechanicals from the more straightlaced R1150R.

The Concept R 18 /2, first seen back in 2019 could be the home for the trademarked name Roctane. (BMW Motorrad/)

This isn’t the only trademark that BMW has filed in the last couple of years for bikes that have yet to be launched. The company has already secured rights to several “M”-branded titles for bikes to sit alongside the range-topping M 1000 RR superbike, including the name “M 1300 GS”—a machine that’s looking increasingly likely to join the range in the next year or so. BMW also trademarked “M 1000 XR” at the same time, opening the door to a high-end version of the S 1000 XR.

More recently, the company has filed multiple trademark applications for the name “R 12″—surely to be used on a smaller cruiser model, probably based around the R nineT’s 1,170cc air-cooled boxer twin, to sit alongside the R 18 range.

The Roctane name might well be connected with either the R 18 or the forthcoming R 12 cruiser. The fact that the made-up word could be read as “R Octane” hints that it’s destined for an R-series bike that’s tuned for more performance, but it’s too mischievous a title to be applied to a high-spec version of one of BMW’s conventional models. If BMW was to create a faster R 1250 R, for instance, it would likely use the “M” designation rather than a name like “Roctane.” A high-performance cruiser, however, would be a much better fit.

BMW has previously hinted that such a machine is in the cards, showing the Concept R 18 /2 back in 2019, before the production R 18 was even launched, to show how the massive 1,802cc air-cooled cruiser could be given a sportier style.

How soon could we see such a bike? The chances are that the Roctane is still some ways off. At the moment, BMW has yet to get full trademark rights to the name globally, and while it’s a made-up term it’s already used on some other products including a brand of energy gels and an ATV tire, so there may be hurdles in BMW’s path when it comes to being able to use the title. Given that the M 1300 GS trademark application was filed in late 2019, and a production bike bearing the title is expected in 2023, it might be the middle of this decade before Roctane becomes part of BMW’s range.

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