Fuelled
by an ample supply of Royal Enfield machines and many amazing self
build projects the 2nd Annual Diesel Bike Rally was a roaring (or
should I say knocking?) success this year. Held at Brauhof Wilshaus
in the town of Hamm in mid Western Germany it was attended by upwards
of 30 machines.
The Landlord Willy was a most hospitable fellow and made sure that
all present sampled either his light or dark home brewed beer as well
as his roast boar and sauerkraut.
Most of the machines which attended were German owned Enfield’s
sporting the standard Lombardini Greaves block but a growing number
of owners had opted to replace this underpowered engine with the Hatz
1B40 462cc unit.
My Enfield, one of the only machines to travel out from England, was
the single example fitted with a Hatz 1B30 350cc motor. A conversion
carried out by the long established sidecar firm Charnwood Classic
Restorations.
The earth positively trembled when the Extreme Biking guys arrived
on their 1 litre Diahatsu self built bikes. Likewise when two 1000cc
twin Hatz machines complete with sidecars rolled in.
The Rally organiser, Reinhold Hoetgers, displayed his own machine,
an 850cc Italian Ruggerini engined MZ and also went to the trouble
of setting up a separate engine in the courtyard so all could view
more closely.
But I think most rally goers would agree with me if I say that most
attention was directed at some of the more awesome looking creations.
Karl Hofschaller brought along his Volkswagen Golf engined DieselFighter
machine and Mr Hubert wheeled out his amazing creation, the MoDite
1, a BMW R45 now fitted with 17hp water-cooled Lombardini LDW 602
engine.
Looking a little as if it had seen more road than the others was a
giant Honda machine bearing the name ‘Raps Bear.’ This
creation by Andreas Kossmann consisted of a 1.4 litre PSA engine married
to a Kawasaki gearbox. The whole lot was then dropped into a Honda
Bol’d’Or frame.
With private individuals turning out machines of this calibre surely
it can only be a matter of time before a major manufacturer decides
to build a half decent example of a diesel bike?
The Rally itself began Friday and finished Sunday and was punctuated
with the obligatory run out, on this occasion to the local dam and
reservoir at Mohnesee. Unlike any other classic bike run out there,
there were no machine failures or breakdowns, the diesel engine proving
to be reliability itself.
In fact the only casualty of the ride, if it could indeed be called
that, was a lone cow who on hearing the approaching hoard of noisy
bikers, gave us a startled look and bolted off across its field! Enjoy
the shots!
The
Diesel Fighter.
The
guys have a chat over the Mr Dabrowski's amazing trike.
Johnnys
bike.
One
of Reinhards motorcycles. I think he made five of these.
Tom's
NSU Outfit.
A
Fuji Robin Enfield conversion.
Towards
the end of I think it was Saturday all the bikes gathered in the courtyard
for a photo shoot. Here we see Helmut (in white) & Reihard (centre).
The
bikes at the Dam car park.
The bikes pull into the courtyard.
Another
shot of all the diesel bikes.
The
courtyard.
Taken
at the end of the rally, Me and Rafael.
Jeff
in the Mohnesee Dam car park..
Another
shot of the guys.
A
cream and grean enfield Diesel. If I remember correctly the guy who
turned up on this looked like moustachioed biplane pilot.
Another
shot of Toms Diesel Max.
Up
goes the tent!
The
Bar. Note that the covered area has not been added as yet.
Raps
Bear
Over
the years this cow has moved more times than I care to remember. For
the record, the first time we saw it, it was here, in the far corner.
One
of the many camp sites we visited on our tour.
Vim's
BMW.
Another
shot or rally organiser Rienhard checking out the bikes with Helmut.
The
Modite 1.
Vim's
BMW Daihatsu.
Tom,
Jochen and Sander checking out an 'extreme' bike for the first time.
The
Dam car park.
On
the dam itself
Additional shots of our tour to and from Hamm
in 2002. In no particular order.
Unusually
we couldn't find a rest spot and so pulled off here for a brew up.
The
Lucky Monkey at Mons.
I
too rubbed the lucky Monkey at Mon's and woke up the following morning
with a flat! Fixed it with a spare tube I carried.
Over
the years the campsite in the centre of Mons has become something
of a favourite stopping off place.
A
German campsite.
A
quick photo op in the Ardennes.
We
travelled back on a spectacular road in Germany and this campsite
was on it. It was in a vast valley and excellent riding.
The
NTV and Hatz at a Dutch campsite.
We
saw these Actor guys in Mons and followed them into an old courtyard
where they started acting out a play. Quite surreal.
On
the road.
Another
campsite.
If
only we had facilities like this in the U.K. In house cookers, the
lot!
We
really should have bought chairs back then.
Dutch
campsite infested with Mozi's. Bitten to death - almost.
Jeff
checks out an American war memorial at Bastogne. You could go up to
the top of this one.
Another
brew up on the road.
Down
at the German - Luxembourg border.
A
few beers in Mons if I recall.
A
Dutch camp site somewhere.
The
wait for the ferry home in Holland.
Return
to the German Rally index
Return
to Rally index
Home