Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1980's

BMW's sporting intent for 1990 front and 18-inch rear three-spoke. light-alloy wheels with low -profile radial tires, dual four-piston from disc brakes. from fork , Paral ever and ami- lock brakes. As on the KI, top (fifth ) gear has been upped to allow a claimed top speed of 136 mph. Some subtle changes from the K I OO RS ' previous specification include nea rl y two-inch wider handlebars (to increase leverage). and th e . incorporation of the steering lock to the cen tral ignition switch (ra ther than in its formerly a wkward position down on th e steering stem ). Options incl ude a lo wer sea t, luggage rack , saddlebags, tank bag , h ea ted hand grips , em e rge n cy flashers, chin spoiler, engine cras h gua rds. alarm, temperature and fuel p ug~ . . . The KI O ORS will be avai lab le from J une 1990, in pearl-silver metall ic or yucca-green me ta lli c wit h silverpainted wheels; no price has been set. In the interim. BMW will continue First and foremost is th e new K75. an " en try-level" BMW with a lo w 29.9-inch seat height. com para bly light 467-pound dry weight. rai sed handlebars and no fairing. At th e press conference, Ro b Mit ch ell . BMW 's product information man age r, stressed th e problem of a ttracting new rid ers to a sport whic h is graduall y losing new blood to the other sports and hobbies co mpe tin g for would-be buy ers' dis creti onar y in comes; th e sta nda rd K75 will hopefull y fill th at ni ch e with a rea listi c pri ce of $5990. At th e other end of th e spectrum is the new K75RT. a full y-equipped louring bik e in the KIOORT tradi tion, but with less weight and a lower price; it wi ll sell for $7990. For 1990. all three K75 models wi ll receive the 17-inch rear wheel and disc brak e of th e KlOO and the sport s, suspension of the K75S. BMW p lans to begin equipping the K75 series with ABS, and while Two new 1C75 triplesround out BMW's middleweiglrt offerings: (abOre) the K7SRT is a liglrter weiglrt, lower· cost altematire to the fullJ-equipped K1001lT touring model; (left) the K75 is a no-frills, entry·lerel BMW witJllow seat "eig#rt andhigll-rise handlebars. (Below) The Rl00GS "Adrerrture" bike is also arailable in this attractire Paris-Dakar guise. to sell th e two-valve per-cylinder 1989 KIOORS ABS. which retails for $11,790. T he KIOO has won titl es as Motorcycle of th e Year in Germany five tim es running. with worldwide sales exceedi ng th e 35,000 mark, and thes e improveme nts shou ld do nothin g bu t en ha nce its reputation. Not as sta rt li ng as th e KIOORS . but no less sign ifica nt , was the introduction of two new mod els to the th reecylinder 750cc K75 range. BMW-by-Corbin saddle; the $6990 K75S sport bike, with a BMW -byCorbin saddl e a nd a $335 price . reduction from '89; a nd th e ven erable RIOORS sport-tourer a nd RIOORT to uring bike (p rices unavail abl e). All 1990 BMWs a re covered by a th ree-year, unlimited mileage warra nty and a free Road sid e Assistance Plan. Hans Koud ell a , BMW' s vicepresid ent, motorcycle group. said tha t he was "amused to hear rumors tha t BMW is going o u t o f th e motorcycle business," and cited its eigh t percent inc rease in producti on (fro m 24,000 units in 1988 to 26.000 in '89), new research and develop- no formal decision has been made. it is likely th at ABS will only be available as a n option from m id1990. in th e interest of keeping costs down o n non-ABS-equipped un its. The fourth and final new mod el is th e RIOOGS Paris-Dakar. which was fea tu red in Cycle N ew s issu e - nu mb ers 39 and 44. T he Pa ris-Dak a r em p loys BMW ' s venerabl e air coo led, horizon tally-opposed . twin cyli nder 980cc fou r-stroke engine, with two pushrod- actuated valves The erer-popular RJlJORS 'Boxer' twin hasbeen gradually improred orer the Jears; it still represents what many ~siasts COIIsider the ultimate sport·tourer. . per cylinder. It 's decorated in th e them e of th e Paris-Dakar desert raid, and features a 9.25-!f

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