Steering Damper Handwheel / Knob Configurations

[Tekreck]

I'm restoring a 1974 R75/6 and looking to install the correct handwheel / knob for the damper.

I know the new replacements are all black and taller and require the longer bushing and a spring. They look good and shine, but my direction with this project is "original and worn" over "replacement and shiny".

The factory brochures and owners manual show a knob with white numbers and white diamonds. "0" has an outlined diamond while "1" and "2" have solid diamonds. I have seen some outlined or solid arrows instead of diamonds. I have seen black embossed arrows. I assume all 1974 models had the same knob. I know BMW is notorious for making mid-year changes.

So:
1. If anyone has a 100% original 1974, I would like to hear what your damper knob looks like.
2. If anyone knows of a source other than eBay for not-solid-black knobs, I would like to heard from you.

Kevin

[cbclemmens]

My /6 is a 1975. This is what the steering damper knob looks like. As far as I know it is original.

Craig

[wa1nca]

My 1975 R75/6 looks like Craigs arrow and some cracks

[schrader7032]

Motobins in Europe indicates they have the knobs on their website.

[Tekreck]

I appreciate your time and responses. I hope to get to a judging event at some point and find out a judges opinion.

[Tekreck]

FYI - just to give insight to my confusion - within the North American brochure 2 different versions are shown. Crazy.

[schrader7032]

You can't completely trust pictures in magazines or manuals. These nice pictures were part of a photoshoot and someone just set the bikes up. This is a small detail that people at the shoot weren't paying attention to and probably didn't know the proper orientation of the knob.

[sherman980]

Kevin,
You are absolutely correct that the steering damper knob changed over the years starting in '74, and that the new current production knobs are quite different. (And the differences in the pics you posted are clear and are NOT just the knob orientation.) I've attached two pics. The first is from a '74 R90S I bought in the early 90's with just a few thousand miles on it. It was about as original as a bike can be when I bought it. I owned it for close to 30 years before it went away. Note the white arrows and numbers. The second is from a '75 R90S that was also a very original bike that I bought with less than 10K miles on it about 20 years ago. I only owned it a short time and, unfortunately, the only pic I have that captures the knob doesn't get the hole thing, but gets enough that you can see the obvious differences. Hope these help.

74 R90S:

75 R90S:

[cbclemmens]

Ok, am I missing something?
Isn't a steering damper a device to adjust the damping of the steering? And, wouldn't the orientation of the arrows change as that adjustment is made?
Maybe I just don't understand how it works. I thought you tightened and/or loosened the damper against a pair of tapered bearing to get just the right amount of resistance to movement and then the damper knob is at that point regardless what direction the arrows are pointing.

Craig

[weh8127]

Craig, the slash sixes didn't use a friction damper, but rather an hydraulic one. When you turned the knob it changed the angle of the hydraulic cylinder to the forks. This was supposed to increase or decrease the resistance to the fork if there was any shake. I put 50,000 miles on my 1976 R 90/6 and so far as I could tell the thing did nothing at all from day one.