Reviewed 

BMW R90S

Greatness is a label that’s easily applied, but accurately defining what makes someone or something great adds value to the admiration. Widely acknowledged as the motorcycle that saved BMW motorcycles, Spandau‘s podium-topping favorite son had everything it needed to soar straight into superstardom. And more. Launched into a market where bravado increased annually, 1974’s R90S was a hand stitched leather glove across-the-face of its superbike competitors – combining class, sass and considerable dash. Reliability? Every inch the trusty, cross-country wanderer as BMW’s legendary R69S, and with redefined levels of comfort. Performance? It’ll nip at the Desmo’s heels climbing the passes, hang with a Mach III through the change up and pull the Z1 in top gear. Regarding the R90S’s most dramatic feature, it is said the black on the original gray smoke model represented BMW’s foundational elegance, while its fogged silver depicted the motorcycle’s white-hot push into the future. Indeed!