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/127220
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