Golden oldies still showing their mettle
CLASSIC NEWS/ The 2017 DJ Rally once again tested riders and their machinery, writes Roger Houghton
Gavin Walton, a prominent member of the classic motorcycle community in SA, has notched up his second win in the DJ Rally for classic motorcycles made before 1937. He had a total error of 220 seconds for the two-day 2017 event, which took competitors from Durban to Johannesburg with an overnight stop in Newcastle.
This was the 46th running of this regularity rally which commemorates the annual motorcycle races held on public roads between Durban and Johannesburg from 1913 to 1936.
In the latest event, there were 70 finishers from an original field of 93 riders, with four nonstarters and 19 nonfinishers. The riders had favourable weather for most of the trip, with only one slight shower.
Walton, who rode an immaculate 1936 500cc AJS, won this event in 2009 and was second in 2010, 2014 and 2016.
However, where he showed true grit was that he recovered from severe injuries received in a road accident in 2013. On that occasion, he was riding home in the rain after the 2013 Pre-DJ Rally. He stopped under a bridge to shelter from the downpour when he was hit by a car skidding out of control. Walton broke a leg, among other injuries.
Second overall was another former winner, Mike Ward, who rode a 1936 500cc Velocette MSS. His error was 304 seconds. Third place was filled by Walton’s brother, Kevin, on a 1931 500cc BSA, who had won the Pre-DJ Rally a couple of weeks before the main event.
The 2016 winner, Ralph Pitchford, said he found it difficult adjusting to riding at set average speeds on his latest motorcycle, a 1933 500cc BSA, compared to his previous mount, a less powerful 1926 500cc Triumph. He finished 15th in the latest event after an erratic first day when his error was 443 seconds. The second day was much better and he finished fourth with 124 seconds’ error, for a total of 567 seconds’ error.
The number of first-time riders — 15 — was an encouraging sign for classic motorcycle rallying and nine of them qualified as finishers.
The best performance was by Greg Kendall (1936 500cc Velocette MSS), who finished 13th overall by recording errors of less than 300 seconds on each of the two days for a total error of 455 seconds. Two wellknown first-time riders, television presenter Harry Fisher and Franschhoek Museum curator Wayne Harley, finished 77th and 76th respectively.
First-timer Stuart Thompson, well-known in the local motorsport world, came 48th. He said he had thoroughly enjoyed the rally and would be back again with his 1932 Sunbeam.
The youngest rider to finish was first-timer 19-year-old Tyrone Edwards, who was mounted on a 1936 250cc BSA.
The oldest rider to finish was 82-year-old Neville Smith, who rode a 1936 350cc Ariel Red Hunter and came 46th. The oldest motorcycle to complete the rally was Hans Coertse’s 1913 1,039cc Matchless 7B.
Only one woman rider, Beverley Jacobs, completed the course as the other woman in the field, Samantha Anderson, suffered cruel misfortune when her 1909 Humber pedal cycle — the oldest motorcycle in the field — ran out of sparks near Heidelberg, on the final run in to Johannesburg.
This venerable machine had been meticulously rebuilt after sustaining serious damage when it caught fire during the 2016 event. Anderson was rewarded with the Hard Luck trophy for her efforts.
The fathers of two MotoGP riders, Derek Crutchlow (father of Cal, who races in MotoGP on a Honda) and Trevor Binder (father of Brad, the 2016 Moto3 world champion on a KTM) finished 51st and 55th respectively.