BMW R 90 S
“THE MARINE CORPS TAUGHT ME COMMITMENT, COURAGE, FOCUS, AND A VALUE SYSTEM THAT CAN EASILY SUFFICE FOR PEOPLE LIKE ME WHO AREN’T RELIGIOUS.”
BOB LUTZ
THE RIDER OF THE S 1000 RR waiting at the traffic lights diagonally opposite me gave the bike I was riding a cursory glance and then concentrated on his various electronic readouts, LED lights and other bling until the lights changed and he could screech away.
I pity the fool.
The bike I was riding, my recently-acquired Silver Smoke R 90 S, might not have been the first ‘superbike’ but it was one of them, and is the ancestor, in a direct line, of that S 1000 RR. Without it, there might well have been no BMW motorcycles today. BMW introduced the air-cooled twin in 1973 for the 1974 model year, and though it is pretty tame by today’s standards (for S 1000 RR riders, anyway) it was radical stuff then. Let’s not forget that Reg Pridmore won the 1976 U.S. Superbike championship on a stock-looking R 90 S*.
It did not take the press long to catch on, either. One often quoted review at the time (I’ve never been able to find the original) summed it up pretty well.
“The R90S handles and stops almost as well as the best Italian sportster; is almost as fast as the fastest Japanese road burner; almost as uncomplicated as the good old British twin; and almost as smooth as the best multi. When it comes to comfort, and capability for traveling at maximum
