THE ARRIVAL OF BMW’S NEW R90S SPORTS BIKE exactly 50 years ago in 1973 represented a milestone moment in BMW Motorrad’s product development. The debut of this landmark model showed that the German manufacturer could make exciting bikes and allowed BMW owners to compete on equal terms for the first time against the modern generation of high-performance superbikes, like the four-cylinder Kawasaki and Honda, the V-twin Moto Guzzi, and British twins and triples (there were no desmo Ducatis just yet). A total of 17,455 were sold worldwide before the model was replaced by the fully-faired R100RS in 1976 as the BMW headliner. And in racing, the marketing tool of the 1970s, nobody did this more effectively than German privateer racer Helmut Dähne.
The only handicap races ever run in the Isle of Man TT Races, the two 10-lap marathon Production TTs staged – and that’s the right word for it – in 1975/76 were a stupid idea and didn’t give due credit to those who most deserved it. An artificial formula of time penalties and credit laps was used to combine the separate 250cc, 500cc and 1000cc classes into a single race in an effort to find an overall victor, rather than the standalone classes run hitherto. That meant the 250s, for example, had to only complete nine laps against the big bikes’ 10. Why? Some might say it was to give manufacturers like Yamaha or Suzuki, which didn’t then have a big four-stroke in their catalogues, a chance of winning the road bike race (which, remember, had a huge influence on showroom sales), as an inducement for their commercial support for the TT. In 1977, a 250 Yamaha won, with a 250 Suzuki second. Helmut Dähne and Hans-Otto Butenuth on their improbably quick BMW R90S Boxer, despite completing all 10 laps as fastest finishers, were only awarded fifth place on handicap, with a small trophy for winning the 1000cc
