The BMW R90S

In 1974 BMW entered the Superbike wars with its new R90S. At the time, the bike’s performance and hefty price tag–more than $3,400 – created quite a stir in the motorcycling world. It was, as Cycle magazine stated in their March ’74 road test, "a helluva motorcycle for too much money."

The R90S was more of a sport-tourer than a true Superbike. Yet on the street, the sporty boxer was capable of running with almost anything on the road. While it didn’t excel at the dragstrip, road tests from the day showed that it would beat the legendary Kawasaki Z1 in 60 mph roll-ons every time, and it could comfortably cruise at near triple-digit speeds all day. Likewise, the bike’s soft suspension–the front fork had nearly 8 inches of travel–might wallow when thrown into corners, but it would also permit hours of comfortable high-speed touring.

"It’s not the most powerful motorcycle on the road, but it will go fast enough to scare anybody. And it will do it mile after mile after mile," said Cycle World in their December 1973 preview.

The R90S was an evolutionary–rather than revolutionary–design, but it did wonders to break the stodgy touring-bike stereotype BMW acquired in the ’50s and ’60s. Refinement and styling were the keys to the R90’s success. It retained BMW’s traditional horizontally-opposed, air-cooled twin cylinder engine layout, but wrapped it in more performance-oriented components and racy bodywork.

Keeping with the sporty nature of the bike, BMW chose a unique "smoked" paint job (right) for the tank and cafe fairing. Because each bike was hand-painted, no two were alike, which only added to its aura of exclusivity.

The bikes had enough sporting potential that U.S. importer Butler & Smith entered a trio of R90Ss (left) in the first AMA Superbike race in 1976–a race which featured twins and multi-cylinder production bikes of up to 1000cc. The three heavily-modified BMWs, ridden by Gary Fisher, Reg Pridmore and Steve McLaughlin, were more than a match for the Japanese racers at Daytona. Fisher dropped out of the race with mechanical problems, but McLaughlin and Pridmore battled with the Phil Schilling-prepared 883cc Ducati Supersport down to the finish, ultimately taking first and second for the German marque.

Butler & Smith returned the following year to face much stiffer competition from Ducati and Kawasaki. Compared with the overhead-cam Italian and Japanese entries, the shaft-driven, pushrod BMWs were at a distinct disadvantage. Butler & Smith withdrew from racing at the end of the ’77 season, but the R90S won a final AMA National at Louden in 1978 in the hands of privateer Harry Klinzmann.

Despite its high price, BMW sold more than 17,000 copies of the R90S over its three-year production run. A 1,000cc version of the S remained in the BMW lineup through 1984.

The R90S featured here is on display in the Motorcycle Hall of Fame Museum as part of the Dawn of the Superbike exhibit, which ran through the end of summer 2001.