Cycle News is a weekly magazine that covers all aspects of motorcycling including Supercross, Motocross and MotoGP as well as new motorcycles
Issue link: https://magazine.cyclenews.com/i/126062
By John Ulrich I t gives y ou a real sensatio n of speed," says Ron Pierce as he steps off the BMW R90S. "But it's ju st lik e a street bike, ex cept for th e -idle, I always have 'em take the idle screws all the wa y o ut- o f any bike I ride , be cau se I want everything totally shut off going into a corne r. I brake to the maximum, and if th e en gine just burps twi ce, I've missed th e tu rn. " This page: Aspects of a feverish construction effort. Opp. page: Johnny Kokinos (I.) and Red Duncan (r.l plot the next stage. 24 Pier ce is a professional motorcycle road racer. As part of his job during 1975, Ron Pier ce road raced this innocent-looking BMW in AMA Production cla ss road races . In th eory , th e production class is for stree t bikes. BMWs, Du catis, Kawasakis, Moto Guzzis, Hondas - j ust lik e th e ones average motorcyclists ride. Th at theory would make this BMW just like the one yo u can bu y at th e d ealership down the street. The theory isn't valid. In fact , this BMW isn 't like an ything you 've ever ridden in your entire life . It 's a bullet, the fastest "private" BMW. Johnn y Kokinos and " Red" Duncan bu ilt the bullet. Kokinos owns Johnny's Motorcycle Company , in Bakersfield, California. Duncan works fo r Kokinos. The p air ha ve a long history of ro ad racing, mostly with BSAs before BSA went out of busin ess. "We got' used to winning," says Kokinos of his record with racers. "We've got the fever , and we like to road race. It 's a fever. You have to do it if yo u start:' Once you understand th at building this BMW was motivated by fever and backed by the co mb ined wizardry of two men who kno w an awful lot about BMWs and racing, you can start to understand the machine itself, It's a fever-bu ilt bullet. I climb aboard and hit th e elect ric starte rb ut to n, The engine fires instantly, but it won't idle. The BMW isn't loud, even though the mufflers are modified internally. But it isn't silent , either. At the first stop light I come to, the bike's revving draws attention. An old woman in a Cadillac Seville rolls up her window, even though the temperature tops 90 degr ees . I clunk the bike into first gea r wh en the light changes, and gas it . This BMW's transmission is n ot as hesitant or loud in sh ifti ng as most of its breed, because th e working surfaces h ave all been hand-lapped by Johnny Kokinos. It sh ifts as well as a BMW can shift , wh ich is pretty good , but not perfect. Like all Bl\IWs, this mach in e rises when gassed hard. I gr ab a handful, and the bike rises m aybe half an inch. Slam the throttle shut, and the bike set tle s. St oc kers can be made into flat-ground bronks by wo rking th e throttle open and shut rapidly . T his on e isn 't as susceptible be cause the suspension has been modified. A t th e ci ty limit, the broad avenue be comes a series o f straigh ts running over ro lling rises, and co nnecte d b y gen tle, sweeping curves. Farther north, the curves be come turns, and the straights become shorter. Finally, the straights all but disappear for sections of tarmac winding through pale brown dust hills punctuated by dry oaks, oil fields and refineries, and grazing cattle . Newborn calves run as the BMW approaches, while sedate mommas don't move. Here, on this road, the BMW slowly shows me its character. It is intimidating to be handed someone else's carefully built . .. timepiece. A machine into which someone has poured time and labor and love '- and speed. When Pierce rides this BMW, he tosses it around like a 125 . Between burnouts, wheelies and attempts to get a "front wheel wheelie" with hard braking,(Pierce actually can brake hard enough to stand some road racers on their front wheel) it seems that Pierce has no fear. It gives me enormous respect for the guy . But it also makes me feel very, very slow, and mixes cau tion in with my respect. I can 't just jump on this bike and gas it. But slowly, turn after tum , it feels natural. Then I gas it, Oaks and cattle become blurs, and 80 mph marks the top of seco nd gea r. Third revs fast and furiously to 110 mph . T hen co me t he 'curves. Over, over , th e K81 tires hold