“One of the most important things for me is the quality of the build. Its all in the details and I’m a big time details man. If I’m not 100% happy, I’ll redo it, until I am happy.” And therein lies the beauty of Mark Johnston’s work – in the details.
“I got my first bike when I was 15. It was a little Yamaha DT50. It was the freedom that it provided that got me started, and I loved the thrill of speed, not that you could crack any major speeds on a 50!” Mark lives in Cape Town, South Africa and is fast becoming a man to watch in the local custom building scene. His first Cafe Racer featured on Bike EXIF garnered a big response internationally. But it’s his second build that has adventure riders sitting up and taking notice. “I’ve always been pretty good with my hands. Given that I love bikes, it was a perfect thing to do to marry the two.”
Being the first in the BMW G/S Family of Specialized dual-sport bikes, the R80G/S is widely considered to be the first actual adventure motorcycle. It was manufactured in Berlin by BMW Motorrad from 1980 to 1987 with an estimated production volume of 21800 plus bikes. The R80G/S is probably most well known for it’s legendary Paris Dakar days. Most notably it’s 1984 and 1985 wins by the legend Gaston Rahier. Not to mention its first win in 1981 by Hubert Auriol who rode an R80G/S prepared by the now famous German company HPN Motorradtechnik with a second trophy in 1983.
Mark originally sourced the 1982 model from a forum post and bought the bike without having seen it. It was shipped from Pretoria to Cape Town where he started tearing it down in his home workshop. Mark has systematically been setting up his space to manufacture one-off bikes and parts. With equipment for sheet metal work and machining dominating his garage, he has been teaching himself the required skills to bring especially unique projects to life. Such as those needed to realize his vision for the R80G/S. “The R80G/S was used for the original Paris Dakar… and I wanted to modify mine in the spirit of the old Dakar bikes.”
The engine was rebuilt with a Siebenrock 1000cc big bore kit by Airhead specialist Volker Schroer from Port Elizabeth. The heads were gas flowed and new valves installed to handle modern fuel. Scorch Berserker made up a new header that runs into an Akrapovič exhaust. Mark also fabricated new breathers for the gearbox and diff. He extended the swing arm by 2 inches and offset it to run a 140 wide tire for better on and off-road handling.
A set of 48mm upside-down WP Suspension forks sit up front, taken from a KTM 525 EXC and rebuild by Superfoxy (Mike Fuchs) with stiffer springs and new stanchions. Ian Ketterer at BlackSilver Customs machined up a custom set of triple trees to hold them. Rear suspension, in turn, was built by Martin Paetzold at MP Custom Valve. The 21” front wheel rim is Excel Tagasago with a KTM hub while the rear is standard 18” rim. Both run the very capable Continental TKC 80’s.
Mark fabricated a custom subframe with a reshaped version of the original seat. Molding the cut seat pan around the rear fender to accommodate the intended design he wanted. A specially fabricated rear rack with luggage loops now occupies the pillion position. The original seat foam was cut down and hand shaped with a gel pad added for comfort with Alfin Upholsterers making the new cover. The tank, in true 80’s Paris Dakar spirit, has been sourced from HPN. Mark moved the side stand back fabricating a new pillow block and arm. Also manufactured in-house is the lowered footpeg mounts that hold Rockfox pegs. The rear brake pedal has been customized to protect it from rock strikes while riding off-road. Protecting the engine is a BMW crash bar while a custom made skid plate guards the bottom end.
The headlight fairing is an original BMW item as sold on the Paris Dakar edition of the R80G/S. Mark opted to go the LED route for the lights and installed quick-release straps to make removing the fairing a fast job. ProTaper Evo handlebars with custom risers run into original switches. Next to this runs an Acewell speedo along with generic charging ports. The clutch lever and standard BMW master cylinder are protected by Barkbuster hand guards. The foldaway mirrors is an especially nice touch when planning to go off-road. Although you wouldn’t want to drop this ride while out on the trail.
“I love the characteristics of the engine, the look, the style… and in South Africa, BMW is a well looked after brand.” Says Mark when reflecting on his choice to go with working on BMW motorcycles. “Best moment is getting to ride the bike. To ride something that you have made with your own hands. It’s quite a feeling of accomplishment.” Although he also reflects on the sometimes tricky road when building something unique. “You can get bogged down in all that needs to happen on a project. That happened to me on my first one. The best advice I can give to anyone doing the same is just do something, no matter how small, and eventually, you’ll get there.”
All images by Devin Paisley. Follow him on Instagram here and check out Mark’s account here.
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