1974 R90S
Again we had an opportunity to build a bike for <a href="http://www.bmwmoa.org/page/foundationhome">BMW Motorcycle Owners Of America Foundation</a> to build a BMW to be raffled off. We chose the iconic R90S that fueled <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reg_Pridmore" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Reg Pridmore</a> to the 1976 Superbike Championship.With a budget and bike in mind we set off to California's Oakland Hills to pick up a 1974 R90S that had great bones. Once back at the shop we started by stripping the bike down to every last nut, bolt & washer. Every piece of hardware was checked to make sure it was correct, replaced if not, cleaned filed, sanded, media blasted then sent out for chrome and/or cadmium plating.The next step was to take the frame, rear frame, battery, box, handlebar controls, headlight & mounts, etc.. and had them stripped and painted (not powder coated).The engine, transmission, forks and other aluminum parts were vapor blasted at Superior Boxer as well rebuilding the engine & transmission.The body work was painted locally and the 1974 only seat & instrument housing came from Siebenrock.
Hollywood Speedometer rebuilt the clock and volt meter. We sourced a new wiring harness and chrome plated spokes. The goal was to restore the bike to as close to original with in the given budget like re-anodizing the clutch and brake lever and painting the control housings. Attention to detail was very important.If we would have had a larger budget we would have sourced a more accurate exhaust system, rebuilt the rear drive unit and done a 100 point restoration on the instrument (speedo/tach).In the end we built this beautiful BMW. A restoration would imply 100% to original specifications. We say Revival. The BMW MOA Foundation's R90S raffle ended Saturday night, April 21st, 2018 at the MOA Getaway Fontana. Dave Cowgill of Clayton, Delaware was announced as the lucky MOA member in front of a crowd of over 160 MOA members at the Getaway. Dave will ride away on the perfectly restored R90S motorcycle.
Over 3,000 MOA members purchased raffle tickets for Tomorrow's R90S raffle, making it the most successful fundraising effort to date for the MOA Foundation. The raffle of the restored R90S raised over $100,000 for the Foundation's Paul B. Scholarship fund, GEARS program and Motorcycle Awareness campaign.