Motorcycle Investor mag Subscribe to our free email news
BMW R90 resources (introduction by Ian Falloon, Mar 2022) Boxer
game-changer
Although in production
for only three years, the R90S was the most significant
post-war production BMW
motorcycle. Its release coincided with the fiftieth
anniversary of the BMW
boxer motorcycle, and instigated a new era for the boxer
twin. The R90S made the
world look at BMW motorcycles in a new light. Prior to
the R90S BMW motorcycles
were idiosyncratic, expensive, and primarily luxury
touring machines designed
to appeal to the older rider. Although the
new-generation R75/5 did much to change the staid image
that existed during the
1960s, the R75/5 still couldn’t compete with the new
wave of high performance
Japanese Superbikes that emanated in the early 1970s.
That all changed when
Bob Lutz persuaded BMW’s conservative management to
sanction the development of
the R90S, a sporting machine that could take on the best
in the world. As ace BMW tuner Udo
Gietl says, “The R90S was a pivotal bike for BMW. It
showed the world that the
“always” black bike could be very pretty, and win races.
The R90S provided a
new face for BMW motorcycles around the world and is to
BMW as the 300SL Gull
Wing is to Mercedes-Benz. Neither was perfect but they
were iconic. The R90S wasn’t BMW’s
best product, but it had a profound impact on their
marketing direction. The
R90S was an example of the perfect combination of timing
and product.
Period road
test from Classic Two Wheels
------------------------------------------------- Produced by AllMoto abn 61 400 694 722 |
ArchivesContact
|