“What would BMW build today if they decided to create a factory Boxer rally machine?” BMW was one of the earliest, most influential, and most successful manufacturers in the Paris-Dakar Rally. The R80G/S won the […]
Tag: Rally Raiders
Dakar Legends: Gilera RC600 & RC750 Rallye
Italy’s Big Thumper in the Twin-Cylinder Era… By the late 1980s, the Paris-Dakar Rally was no longer a romantic expedition but an escalating arms race among the major manufacturers. Twin-cylinder prototypes were growing larger and […]
Underworld Champion: Royal Enfield 865 “Wildfire” Rally Bike
What if Royal Enfield had Built a Big Twin Paris-Dakar Rally Bike? While we love to watch the 450 singles of today’s Dakar Rally, we can’t help but harbor a heavy nostalgia for the big […]
Desert Bomber: BMW R80G/S Paris-Dakar Rally Bike
The Boxer That Changed the Desert Forever… In 1981, the Paris-Dakar Rally was still raw — more expedition than sport, more survival than spectacle. Riders crossed the Sahara on machines that were barely adapted from […]
Gravel Express: Suzuki XF650 Freewind Adventure Rally
Hessler Motorsport’s Suzuki Freewind ADV Rally… Available from 1997 to 2002, the Suzuki XF650 Freewind was a European-style all-rounder built around the proven air-cooled lump from the DR650 dual-sport. Though a single cylinder, the Freewind […]
Desert Boxer: BMW R900RR Dakar Rally Bike
Dakar Legends: Last Roar of the Desert Bombers… In the late 1990s and early 2000s, BMW found itself at a turning point in rally-raid racing. The boxer twin had already written one of the most […]
The Honda EXP-2: The Two-Stroke Desert Racer
Honda’s 400cc “Experimental 2-Stroke” Baja 1000 / Dakar Rally Bike… In the mid-1990s, as emissions regulations tightened worldwide and the future of two-stroke off-road bikes looked increasingly uncertain, Honda did something nobody expected: it built […]
A Lighter T7: Custom Yamaha Ténéré 700
From Superslab to Singletrack: A Lightweight Yamaha T7 from SPKS Lab… The Yamaha Ténéré 700 (T7) represents something of an answered prayer for ADV riders who’d been wishing for a modern, affordable, streamlined middleweight adventure […]
Xuxu’s Team Sandraiders: Honda NX650 Dominator Rally Bikes
Two Classic Rally-Raid Bikes from a Father-Son Rally Racing Team… Today the Dakar Rally takes place each year in Saudi Arabia. While the landscapes and competition remain as epic as ever, there are those of […]
Dakar Legends: BMW F650RR Rally Bike
BMW F650RR: Grandfather of the Modern Rally Bikes… In the late 1990s, BMW quietly executed one of the most important strategic pivots in rally history. They developed and unleashed the BMW F650RR — a lean, […]
