MaxBMW R90S Build

[khittner1]

I am not sure what all the fuss is about R90s's is.

I've owned two of them (my first ever bike that I learned to ride on 30 years ago was a silver smoke R90S) and I don't get it either. Their performance advantages were not obvious to me, and I swore off the seemingly fussy Del'Ortos 15 years ago, and haven't looked back. I still really like a well done Daytona Orange paint job, though it's a second-place finisher to a '78 red smoke R100S for me. But we should keep this kind of thinking on the down low, so that current 90S-backed securities and derivative owners don't end up taking a bath.

[Rev Light]

Sometimes you just get along with whatever bike is easier to get along with...

Perhaps it is about how much money you got wrapped up in the bike, makes you more wary or precious about it. whereas you can relax on the R90/6 as it does not draw attention to itself. I doubt if you have made a peaky, difficult to get along with, 'race bike' out of it.

I sail dinghies as well. I met a guy at one race meet who had a brand new version of the boat I was sailing. And it was certainly affecting his performance in a negative way. The wooden boat was beautifully made, but it was because of this beauty and the money he had invested in it that he was scared of damaging it. He confess to me that sometimes he wishes he had an old one like mine. He would be more relaxed about it.

My basic unfaired 1982 R100 acquired some wire wheels, a R90 type nose fairing and some reverse cone meggas(?)....But that is as far as it got. My R65 Café Racer became a 'Bobber' and was then bought by my brother recently, who is now putting his mark on it (a couple of small fixes and a colour change). I offered him either one for the same money and he picked the R65. I am helping him with the refresh.

I have plans for the R100, but it does not involve any performance mods and it will probably lose the nose fairing. I rather like the current trend towards the naked stripped down 'bobber' style bikes as I no longer feel the need to ride fast and like to see the country I am travelling through, as I am travelling through it. Bobber? well, as far as we can go in the UK and still have a rideable bike when it rains etc, i.e. it will be keeping some mudguards. Wider handlebars, shortened rear end, throw-over panniers for longer trips. Not too shiny.

R90s - great bike in its time. Now sullied by the collectors/dealers who are only in it for the profit.

Sorry for the ramble...

[Chuey]

Just look at those wheels! Wow!

This is a cool project. A really cool project. I don't know where I fall in the picture of how I feel about the R90S as far as others are concerned but mine is made from my first BMW, a R90/6. I've had my hand pretty deep into the making of it into an "S" but some of that was due to my need to make it back into a rideable bike after it was hit.

Mine has a self made lower handlebar...about two inches lower at the outer edges. It also has CC products rear sets. The wheels are flanged type like Akront but made in Japan, can't think of the name right now. They were beautifully polished when I bought them but I figured I'm too slovenly to keep them polished and so, had them clear anodized. The tank has the wrong kind of cap on it (later model). I do have the correct handlebar clamps with the raised section but I polished them and painted the raised part black. And, of course, Koni shocks. Lots of things to keep the correctness police busy while I admire their bikes.

I love the way it rides. Actually, even with the lightened flywheel and a mega buck rebuild job by Ted Porter's Beemer Shop, the transmission is very klunky. I do understand the desire for making a hybrid. The charm and style of the original without the roughness around the edges. Who cares? They're made to ride. I don't ride motorcycles a lot but when I do, it is with the thought that they..........well, that they're meant to be ridden. I love the fact that I have a Daytona Orange R90S and can appreciate what a cool bike it is today as well as realizing what a milestone it was when it first came out.

My bike is named Stan

Chuey

[chasbmw]

There was a lot of reverse snobbery about the 90s when it first came out, in today's money it cost around £15k and was significantly more expensive than the plain jane 90/6, and so there were lots of comments about the extra cost of a fancy paint job and a pair of Dellotos!

My first experiNce of riding a 90s was when I had an r80 with a big rickman fairing, on the open road, in top gear the 90s started accelerating when the R80 was fading fast, I always remember that. The Dellotos on my bike are not temperamental , but that might have something to do with them being rubber mounted.

[Ken in Oklahoma]

Dear Rev

I originally did the conversion on my RT because I liked the R90s, but preferred the later light flywheel, brakes and swinging arm and general drivability of the 81-84 twin shocks. I have always had a prejudice against the mono levers and later airheads.

Now I find that I ride my relatively standard R90/6 more......I haven't quite worked out why!

I don't know if my story is at all like yours, but I have an idea why. For years I had a '76 R75/6 stashed at my parents farm in the Boise area of Idaho to use during the times when I would fly in from Oklahoma for vacation. Sometimes I drove instead of flying. Those times I usually carried my '77 R100S with me in the back of my van. Most of those times my brother, brother-in-law, a friend, and myself would take a long ride, usually over the Lowman Loop in the Rocky Mountains north of Boise. Those times I would let my brother in law ride my R100S while I rode my R75 (with Luftmeister fairing). When I first jumped on the R75 I would wonder if it had a problem. The power just wasn't there. Then I would remind myself that it is a mildly engined bike compared to a significantly more powerful R100S.

My story sounds to me like there might be a bit of a parallel to yours.

For the long ride I would loan my brother-in-law my R100S while I rode the R75. The Lowman Loop is a lot of fun to ride with a more powerful, better braking airhead. But strangely I wasn't having any less fun on the R75. I've told this story before here on Boxerworks, but I eventually figured out that I was having a bit of a different kind of fun. In so many words, I was wringing the R75's neck. I was keeping the revs up higher in the power band, watching the gear I was in, and just generally sharpening up on my riding skills. And sometimes going up a long hill my throttle was fully open for extended periods of time. (I reasoned that my open throttle operation on the R75 wasn't pumping any more heat into the engine than a slighter throttle opening on the R100.)

The upshot is that I was having as much fun on my R75 as I ever did on my R100S. Maybe more. And it wasn't just power. The handling and braking suits me better on the R100S. But "sharpening up" was apparently the difference.

Editing: The '77 R100S is the bike I'm riding in my avatar.
Ken

[chasbmw]

There are other NEW old bikes being made

Norvil Norton Commando, price varies on spec, but with 20% sales tax around £22k

Godet Elgin Vincent, I believe around £40k

Various Manx Norton based bike......

[Zombie Master]

I remember when the R90S first came out. A five speed, disc braked, separate instruments, halogen headlight, silver smoke gentleman's express? Back then it was a revelation. I bought the 1974 R90/6 and sold eleven years later (for more than I paid for it) when BMW was going end production of the big boxer. I bought an R100S at that time. A lot of great memories, and still riding the R100. Golden times.