Why Incomprable?

[kirkpatrick3890]

BMW made the R90S for 3 years and made over 17,455 of them so they are not rare.

That model saved BMW Motorrad, see Bob Lutz's comments on page 33 of the book "BMW R90S". He is considered to be the Father of the R90S. Read up on Bob Lutz if you don't know of him.

The numerous "firsts" of the R90S have been stated well here and they are significant.

[MikeL46]

Except for the faded paint scheme, a R100S is very similar to the R90S but doesn't have the cachet.

The R90S was a 'Halo' vehicle. Changed the perception of BMW's from stodgy to Wow! There was nothing like it at the time. Of course the same is true of the R100RS, but the RS never had the same impact.

Mike

[srankin]

I think the RS had a major impact, probably just as much as the 90S. For both bikes, all you have to do is look at how the other guys followed suit, not the same exact but close.

The 90S saved BMW, the RS ushered in a new era of all weather riding with knock out looks. St.

[schrader7032]

Actooally, the BMW 700 car is what saved BMW!! Darryl wrote about the board meeting that happened in the late 1950s where BMW almost was bought by Mercedes Benz.

Now maybe the R90S helped boost the motorcycle end of things...or was it the introduction of the /5??

[cadcap2]

My Silver Smoke '75 has been with me since '76. It was our honeymoon vehicle (NW Indiana to Smokey Mt. Natl. Pk., the entire BlueRidge Pkwy. to Shennandoah Natl. Pk. and back in 7 days, she loved it!), was my first open track day bike, and has always garnered interest amongst riders and non-riders wherever it goes. Not sure why it is incomparable to anyone else but amongst the many many bikes I've owned and raced over the last 48 yrs... I love(d) my '07 R1200S, my FZR 600 Supersport road racer was a heart throb and a half (especially Road Atlanta & Road America) my Formula 3 class SRX-620 was pure joy (especially beating Nickey Hayden @ Putnam Park when we were both Expert class WERA club racers). My
Tigcraft/Yamaha 676 was absolutely thrilling on a big track...my Mert Lawwill XR 1000 Street Tracker was the most fun around town of anything I ever owned...and there were others...but my R90S...still incomparable in my mind... and still in the collection!!

[schrader7032]

According to the author of the article in the latest Classic Motorräder, the R90S likely saved BMW motorcycles. The management was ready to close the production line. When the R90S came along and with the success on the track, management saw the light.