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/674407
feature d-j rally ride P78 only to spoil it by running straight on. Another is for entering the gruelling dirt roads Roof of Africa marathon (across the mountains of Lesotho) on the same com- pletely unsuitable machine. He almost completed the first of two days before collapsing exhaust- ed in the middle of the road. The BMW R12 is a classic version of the air-cooled flat-twin breed, and one of the bikes that helped Hitler lose the war, not through any shortcomings of its own. It's worth recording that three BMWs entered the 2015 D-J: another side-valve R12, and the much more exotic twin-cam overhead-valve R5. And three BMWs finished it. It was much the same in 2016. Side valves apart, the R12 was surprisingly modern in some respects; a beautiful low-slung hunk of gleaming black enamel and white pinstripes, with flared mudguards, footboards and a heel-operated rear brake strong enough to lock the wheel. Pioneering telescopic front forks provide some suspension at that end, while a large sprung seat insulates the rider from the pain felt by the hard-tail rear. A pressed-steel frame keeps the wheels apart; levers projecting from the bar ends operate clutch and (rather notional) front brake in the normal way, the reverse- hinged layout not only keeping cables tucked out of sight within the bars, but providing better le- verage, with the stronger fingers having the greatest mechanical advantage. The major difference from a modern was the four-speed gear-change, operated with a car-style H-pattern (first to the left and forward, and so on). It proved easy to operate, though slow and inevitably clunky on downshifts. With your right hand off the throttle, you can't blip. As Gawie Nienaber, riding another R12, explained: "At least you starter. By 5:30 a.m. the next morning, Dave Harris (formerly a Yamaha factory technical depart- ment guru for Africa) had located a wobbly clip on the carburetor float that was causing the flood- ing. Thereafter, it didn't skip a beat. Compared with the BMW, the AJ reflected a different design ethos, typical of the British bike industry that thrived so strongly between the wars. It was small- er, lighter, and everything was much more familiar. No smooth casings concealed its workings; the pushrod-operated valve gear was out in the open. It's advis- able to give it a squirt of lube every so often. Likewise to top up the oil-bath chain primary drive and keep an eye on the oil level in the underseat tank. For all the oil you put in, the AJ always gives some back, vis- ible when you park for any length of time. Just like all the other British bikes. "They don't leak," said Holmes. "They just like to mark their spot." It also had a foot gear-change, to my relief, but it was a very early version and not refined. The pedal, on the right, had long travel, and the easiest way to lift it for downshift was to take your foot of the pegs and used your heel. The crudity of the era was reflected also in the undamped girder forks, with short travel and a clangy ride. But the pedigree was also clear—you had to pick your line carefully over any "rider sAmAnthA Anderson jumped off sAfely As the bike burned out under the shAdow of mAjubA hill" know you're in gear." It was the generosity of Clerk of the Course Ian Holmes that put me on the entry list in 2016. The bike was a really sweet little 1936 AJS Model 18, not as smooth and comfortable as the BMW, but with overhead valves and a sportier chassis much more lively and responsive at swinging through the passes. It threw a fit on the day before the rally, and I spent most the day fruitlessly pumping the kick-