2023 DJ Rally South Africa

  I would just like to report that there were two Sopwith ABC Motorcycles entered into this years Durban Johannesburg Motorcycle Rally.
There were 100 odd entries and only 67 Finishers. The route this year was 650km , just over 400Miles. 
The ABC I was riding in the 60 Km/hr class performed well and was easily able to maintain consistent speeds as required by this rally. This is a Regulation and Reliability Rally. The rally is over two days and includes a lot of hill climbing especially in the first 100km. I managed 18th overall position which is quite surprising considering the technology comes from the First World War. Most of the motorcycles ahead of me were of the 1934 to1936 era. 
I managed again to get the Trophy for the rider of the Oldest Motorcycle to Complete the Course. ( Duckhams Trophy) 
I also got the Trophy for the Best Result of a Motorcycle Manufactured before 1926. 
interestingly I did not work on the Motor or the Motorcycle at all during the Rally. I did not even adjust the valve clearance at the overnight stop. I had a small clutch issue but this worried the other road users mor than it worried me.
The other ABC was running with the H…A pistons and was quite a bit quicker than my motorcycle especially on the climbs. It however had a few problems including pushrods and did not finish. What a wonderful weekend we had with these Motorcycles. 
Regards
Peter

well done peter keep the flag flying  ps you always seem to let other peole borrow the one that does not finish or is it your expert riding that gets you through, hope paul does not read this
 

Keith, The other bike is supposed to be the better of the two, it is definitely faster. It has a lot of good minds scratching their head trying to decide why it always throws the same pushrod.  I think we have worked it out. 
They say You must first finish to finish First. PS Paul is a very conservative rider.

Bravo Peter c'est un bel exploit.

Well done Peter. Fantastic achievement, again I think?