Bmw R9os

BMW R9OS

Cycle World Road Test

Overlooking The Superlatives found On The R90 Sport Is Difficult... And Overlooking The Price Is Impossible.

IT IS surprising, to be sure, and yet, BMW’s new R90S, despite a price tag of nearly $3500 (which means an out the door price of over $3500 in most areas), is being scooped up in remarkable numbers by a lot of buyers. Butler and Smith, BMW’s U.S. Importer, expects to sell each and every Sport model it can bring into the country this year, and that’s saying a hell of a lot.

It tells you that the BMW image of yesterday (stodgy, conservative, unexciting), has at last departed the scene. It tells you that this particular motorcycle must offer a tremendous amount of appeal and satisfaction to make working class people dig deeper into their pockets than they ever have before just for the privilege of riding home on two wheels. It tells you that the marketing staff at BMW knew what they were doing when they typed out their list price sheets. And it lets you know in no uncertain terms that people are more than willing to pay dearly for what they want. Obviously there are many motorcyclists out there who very dearly want a BMW JàfiO Sport. And we don’t blame them for a minute.

^Pjust what is it that makes the Sport so special, exceptional and remarkable? A combination of everything, actually. Because here is a motorcycle that offers plenty of power, which delivers not only superbike speed and acceleration, but operational economy as well. Simplicity? Yes, that too and reliability besides.

Did we hear you mention comfort? You’ll be hard pressed to find a machine that delivers more, including smoothness and quietness, than the Sport offers. On top of everything it handles fairly decently, stops on the proverbial dime, stays cleaner than a chain driven bike and has a host of conveniences. Yup. Resale value too. And on top of everything, styling is superb; right on the verge of being a traffic stopper. But don’t get the idea that it’s perfect. It isn’t.

Mechanically, the Sport is very similar to the more conventionally styled R90/6, which we tested earlier this year (Cycle World, Feb. ’74), but is styled to coincide with its sport/touring concept.

Both the R75/6 and R90/6 carry a single disc brake at the

*it, but the 90S goes them one better with two units. Caliper Lints are cast into the rear sides of the alloy fork legs where the metallic pucks grasp the greater-than-10-inches-in-diameter stainless steel discs upon brake application.

Activation is via a hydraulic master cylinder that is not located on the handlebars as is usually true of bikes using this method of braking. Instead, BMW has located the unit under the 6.4-gal. fuel tank, where it not only stays out of sight and cleans up styling a bit, but is less likely to be damaged if the machine were to be knocked over in a parking lot. A master cylinder doesn’t need frequent checking, so its out-of-the-way position isn’t detrimental in that respect.

Further up the fork legs, the absence of rubber boots is apparent if you’re at all use to other BMW models. This way, front end appearance is not so busy and the machine is given a “lighter” look. Fenders are fiberglass, as is the snappy-looking head fairing and seat tail section.

These pieces, along with the steel fuel tank, are finished in a custom fogged-gray color, which blends from a pearl silver into a gray black. A clear lacquer is applied over this to add depth, the gold striping goes on. Only thing is, this pin striping mis been applied with gold tape, not gold paint. When we saw this we had a fit; a $3500 motorcycle and the striping is out of a J.C. Whitney catalog! Must be a reason for it, so we checked.

Seems as though BMW couldn’t find a suitable paint for the job. The ladies at the factory who do the hand striping weren’t able to make the paint look uniform enough, so tape it was. Later models may get the paint if they find the right stuff, but until then, it’ll have to be tape.

The head fairing that adds such a racy appearance to the machine, functions surprisingly well, in spite of its size. Above 70 mph it really takes much of the wind blast off the upper portion of the rider, and that can mean a lot in terms of Comfort after a long day’s ride. Another bonus is the inclusion of an instrument nacelle that holds both an ammeter guage

and an electric clock, an item that hasn’t been installed on a motorcycle as standard equipment in more than 25 years.

Below this panel, the new instruments found on /6 series BMWs rest in the normal location. Non-glare faces on both the tach and speedometer are a help; and somehow BMW has come up with warning lights that are actually visible in sunlight, yet aren’t too obtrusive or distracting at night. The ignition switch resides in the left side of the headlight and has positions for parking lights, ignition activation and normal lighting.

The headlight throws an extremely bright light beam down the road at night, but the flat beam pattern doesn’t work too well in cornering. Handlebar switches are easily operated with the thumb of either hand; pushing in the left switch blasts the horn, depressing it downward flashes the high beam and a click stop upward turns the high beam on continually. On the right the switch operates in the same manner, but it operates the starter and turn indicators.

Magura control levers are a nice touch, but the throttle assembly (another Magura item), requires too much of a twist for wide open running. To really wick it up, the rider has to grab two handfuls instead of one. But one bonus of the mechanism is a throttle friction screw, so the rider can set the engine at a cruising speed and take his hand from the grip. It really helps on a long haul.

Frame design is typically BMW and the Sport possesses the same unit as the R75 series, but with additional gussets and a longer swinging arm added. New this year on each of the BeeEm models is a rather unique steering damper assembly. The unit is hydraulic and double-acting and has three positions, set with a twist of the wrist by the rider. At one end the shock absorbing unit connects to the frame. Opposite this, the end fits in a slotted rectangular box that locates under the lower triple clamp. By changing positions of the knob, the rider moves the unit through various degrees of the steering axis. Damping in turn goes from neutral to stiff; it’s a surprisingly nice set-up.

Although the Sport's suspension softness contributes greatly to a comfortable ride over rough roads, it can be annoying when trying to snake your way at high speed on a winding road. Front fork travel is overly abundant at eight inches; this length coupled with soft springing allows the R90 to wallow at speed.

Drive into a corner hard and get on the brakes and the Sport will nosedive alarmingly. This dive uses up important ground clearance when you’re ready to pitch it into the turn. But if the road gets rough, the advantage is yours. It depends on the situation. Were the Sport our own, however, we’d perform some fork modifications.

At the rear, we offer the same criticism that we did on the front. For really fast riding, the damper units are simply too soft, even in their stiffest positions. But, in turn, they allow one of the most comfortable rides imaginable.

If the seat looks as though it does the job, you’re right. Both rider and passenger are amply cradled. Too, there’s a grab bar for the hanger-on, and the unit flips up. Underneath there are two large trays for tools or a camera...whatever. The front tray lifts out to reveal the 12-volt, 25-amp-hour battery.

As usual, the tools supplied are more than enough to do plenty of maintenance or almost any roadside repair; there’s even a tire patch kit, an air pump and a rag to wipe your hands. BMW thinks of nearly everything, including a lock to keep thieves out and a prong to hold a couple of helmets when they’re not in use.

Like other BMWs, the Sport features both a side and cent^^ stand; the side stand is self-retracting, something we’re mV that keen on, but the center stand is about the easiest to use we’ve seen on any motorcycle.

The typical BMW niceties are naturally found on this top-of-the-line model. On top of the others we already mentioned that includes aluminum wheel rims. Tires are by Metzeier, and though their hard compound offers exceptional tire life, traction in fast cornering is borderline acceptable. If you’re a tourer at heart, leave the Metzelers alone. But if you get your kicks by boogeying down a mountain pass, better fit some TTlOOs or something similar.

Another strong point of owning and maintaining a BMW is the overall simplicity of design. Though the engine displaces nearly 900cc, there is no mechanical complexity. Carburetion is not found in rows and neither are cylinders. Instead, the flat Twin juts a cylinder out each side of its unitized central housing. This not only sticks those finned aluminum bores out into a cooling airstream, but it allows a mechanic an unhindered access to valve adjustment and each 38mm Dell’Orto carburetor. And that makes a bunch of difiérenos when you’re doing the work yourself at home.

Both the crankshaft and I-beam rods are forged, and the crank in the Sport is the same found in all three BeeEm engines. It rides in three plain-type automotive main bearings, with rod journals spaced 180 degrees apart. Pistons are large enough to look as though they’ve come from the internals of a mining locomotive. Compression ratio is up to 9.5:1 on the Sport, from the /6’s 9.0:1. This is the only internal difference between the two 900s; the rest, with the exception of the rear axle ratios, is outside.

Early production R90s had no choke system on the giant 38mm Dell’Orto carbs; just the messy float ticklers. Fortunately, BMW didn’t go that route for long, and a conventional choke system for cold weather starting is now employed. Intake air is drawn through a paper filter element hidden in the hollow aluminum crankcase hump. Not only does this system eliminate some of the dirt before it even reaches the filter, but mechanical and intake noises are held down, as well.

BMWs have long been due for a decent five-speed gearbox; this year it finally happened. But the unit on our Sport te^k machine didn’t work nearly as well as that on the 90/6 mod^^ we tested earlier in the year. Dissappointing, considering the overall performance of the rest of the machine.

Neutral was difficult to find the majority of the time when stopped at a light; trying to find it when rolling to a stop didn’t help much either. Gear changes were not the smoothest, and clutch pull was not the lightest. Upsetting, indeed, on a $3500 motorcycle. The S transmission is the same unit used on other BMWs, ratios included. But the Sport’s high rear axle ratio (3.00:1 versus 3.09:1 for the /6 900), requires some clutch slipping in town, emphasized by the fact that the S engine is not that thrilled with the prospect of accepting much throttle below 3000 rpm. As a result, in-town riding is more pleasant on the roadster version of the 900.

And the hardest decision that a prospective BMW 900 buyer would have to make would be which 900 to ride home on. The roadster version does nearly everything that the S version will do; it’s just a tad slower and lacks the styling punch and image that the Sport carries. But the Sport is another $500, and regardless of how fine a motorcycle it i^fc that extra tab tacked on to an already very expensive piece or machinery is more than many people can handle. El

BMW R90S

$3430