10 days with a 1975 BMW R90/6
(Page 2 of 5)
September/October 2007
By Richard Backus
Production of the R90/6 phased out in 1976, by which time BMW had sold over 21,000 copies, making it the most popular model in BMW’s /6 line-up. After 1976 the R90 designation disappeared, replaced by the 980cc R100 line.
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Riding the R90/6 today
The R90/6 we sampled is a 1975 model loaned to us by classic bike and BMW enthusiast George Paley. It’s not everyone who will let you take their pride and joy for a quick ride, let alone hand it over to you for 10 days. But George was genuinely intrigued to see what we thought of his Beemer, and bravely (some would say foolishly!) handed over the keys for our test.
An excellent, original-condition survivor, George’s bike had just over 42,000 miles on it when we picked it up, and is a perfect example of how well Beemers hold up in the hands of sympathetic owners. The original black paint still shines and the chrome hasn’t lost any of its luster, and except for a flat tire that kept us from a final Sunday morning ride it performed almost flawlessly.
Getting familiar with the R90 is easy. The switchgear is mostly logical, although it took us a bit to get used to the blinker switch on the right-hand instrument cluster, which pushes down for left and up for right. The instrumentation is clear and simple, with the speedo to the left and tach to the right. Starting the R90 is a simple matter of turning on the fuel, giving it a bit of choke and thumbing the ignition button. Starting on our bike was mostly immediate, although it was a bit rough on warm mornings, when it seemed hard to dial in just the right amount of choke for a smooth start.
Warm-up was generally quick, and the bike would settle into a steady idle after less than a minute. The cable-actuated clutch is a bit stiff, but that’s not too surprising given the bike’s automotive-style, single-disc dry clutch. Clutch feed is smooth and linear, making it easy to pull away from rest regardless of terrain. Shifting into gear produces an audible “clunk” that’s familiar to anyone who’s ridden an old Beemer, although it is quieter than earlier models. Cycle World’s review claimed that BMW had finally exorcised that familiar clunk with the R90, but our experience suggested otherwise, with the exception of the shift to fifth, which generally produced a nice quiet “snick.”
The R90’s heft makes low-speed maneuvering a bit awkward, but get it out on the road and it turns into another machine. Thanks to bags of torque (53ft/lb at 5,500rpm — by comparison, a Z1 only developed 45ft/lb, and at a heady 7,300rpm) the R90 pulls like the proverbial train from idle to 6,500rpm. An indicated 80mph comes up faster than you’d expect, and the R90 feels like it would happily hold that speed all day long.
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