BMW International Assembly
Isle of Man

For my part, the one and only BMW I have owned was a very old and very tired R50 series 2. A machine whose extremely illustrious and noteworthy past deserves a tribute. To do so, I need to step aside from the BMW International Assembly of 1977 and 1978 for a moment.

Fresh from the German factory and brand new, this R50/2 originally commissioned by the French state landed somewhere in France, at the very beginning of the 1960s, and went straight into the hands of the French Gendarmerie. After a long police career on the roads of France, it racked up significant mileage as well considerable mechanical 'wear and tear' until it was finally 'retired' by the authorities and put on sale to the general public.

Following its sale the bike was relocated to Gueret in central France, and was bought at the very beginning of the 1970s by the father of Dominique Greffrath, a young member of the MC Creusois, (organiser of the 1970s famous rally 'Les Moulins' in the town of Gueret). This is a motorcycle club and a town that I know well, having spent my formative years there in a Catholic boarding school.

Gueret 1970 - Awards ceremony at the 'Rassemblement International des Moulins'

Dominique Greffrath's father was an engineer at Peugeot at the time and a fine mechanic. He had a very lucrative sideline though, buying lots of 10 or 15 ex-gendarmerie BMW motorcycles at auctions, restoring each machine to impeccable condition and reselling them to anyone who'd buy them.

In August 1972, this particular R50/2 took part in the very first major motorcycle raid. This was the legendary Orion trek, organised by the 'Guilde Europeenne du Raid' under the patronage of the magazine Moto Revue and the Automobile Club de France.

On the tracks of Kurdistan during the first Raid Orion in 1972, the two BMWs engaged by the MC Creusois. The R50/2 is on the right with its large capacity white tank

The raid started in Paris and was destined to finish in the city of Isfahan, 406 kilometers, (252 miles), south of Tehran, in Iran. This momentous journey covered 6,000 km of pure adventure, along unfamiliar roads, difficult tracks, through countries that were at times hostile to western travellers, and with populations wary of these strange noisy machines.

Raid Orion 1972 - Michel Mauve (left) and Michel Degaine (right) and Degaine BMW R50 serie 5 equipped for the track with its homemade protective grid supposed to protect against stones.

On the August 1, 1972 four members of the MC Creusois left Gueret travelling to Paris for the start of the raid on the Champs Elysees. Competing were my long-time friends Michel Degaine, (whom I mentioned before in my article on the Madonnina dei Centauri) and Michel Mauve on a more modern BMW R50/5, and Dominique Greffrath and Jean Francis Pons on the older R50/2.

During the round trip journey return trip from France to Iran, carried out in 14 days, these DIY protective grids turned out to have been very poorly designed. The meshes were too thick and the metal frame dangerous in the event of a fall

After a long career at the service of the gendarmerie, the 'retirement' in civilian life of the R50/2 was not the most pleasant. If this machine liked adventure, it was now teamed with its new owner, Jean-Francis Pons who clocked up many miles, not least of which was the painful journey along the Paris-Isfahan-Paris tracks of the Raid Orion 72.

The shaft is not to my taste

The bike then changed owners, but remained in Creuse. It was bought by Claude Champagne, a young member of MC Creusois and brother-in-law of Michel Degaine who added even more to the already formidable mileage.

Despite its tortured mechanical past, and knowing all about its history, I nevertheless bought it from Claude Champagne in 1974. The R50/2 therefore moved to the neighbouring county to live in my hometown of Montlucon in Allier.

Claude Champagne posing on the R50/2 that I bought from him in 1974

I had always wanted to own a German flat twin. My student budget however was obviously limited and since 1970 my meager means had forced me to acquire machines almost all second-hand. To begin with there were mopeds of various brands, followed by a 175cc Motobecane Z2C from 1954, then a 350cc Jawa from 1956, and finally a 1973 125cc Honda S single, the first machine I actually bought new. However, with the purchase of this R50/2, my dreams had finally come true.

But my experience on this machine turned out to be completely different to my expectations. Of course, it had seen better days mechanically, even before I acquired it, and its slight tendency to wobble at speed was perhaps forgivable, but for me, who had always ridden on chain transmission machines, I really didn't take to this shaft transmission bike.

However, the biggest fault in this machine was the emergency braking. On this R50/2, braking was kind of 'optional'. If I needed to brake suddenly, to avoid an obstacle for example, the near locking and skidding of the rear wheel when downshifting, quickly made me realise that shaft transmission was not for me.

As luck would have it, by chance I escaped a couple of potential accidents, realising that if I persisted any longer with the idiosyncrasies of this machine and my contorted reactions to it, the risk of serious accident would always be present. Reluctantly, but perhaps inevitably I sold it.

1974 - My R50/2 in Vise near Liege with my friend Dany Puiatti after returning from a rally together somewhere in Belgium. The two girls seated on it are in front Karine, Dany's girlfriend at the time; and riding pillion my Belgian girlfriend at the time, Sonia Patternote. I wonder how in the world my memory has been able 46 years later to recall her first and last names...

For those who have never heard of this illustrious French flat twin, I will paint a brief portrait of this machine and its history.

In the late 50s, Ratier decided to modify the 600 C6S model to produce a motorcycle which would enable the gendarmerie to pursue modern vehicles such as the Citroen DS, (launched in 1955), that were becoming ever faster and less easy to catch.

With its flat twin engine of 594 cc producing 32 horsepower at 6,500 rpm and reaching a top speed of 160 km/h, it was perfectly designed for the task

This new model borrowed heavily from BMW. Its engine already had much in common with that of the R75 'Russia', while the chassis and the gearbox were practically identical to those of the R71. On the other hand, instead of the Earles fork, then ubiquitous on BMWs, the Ratier C6S featured a very well designed telescopic front with two Lelaurin rear shocks.

The cast aluminum brakes were Ratier's own design and very effective with a 200mm double cam drum up front and a similarly sized single cam rear to stop this nearly 200 kilo motorcycle.

On resuming his duties in 1959, President de Gaulle decreed that all of his Republican motorcycle escort would henceforth be made up of Ratier C6S. The large 27-liter fuel tank then made it possible to complete the 280 km journey between the presidential palace at the Elysee Palace in Paris and de Gaulle's private residence in Colombay-les-Deux-Eglises without having to stop for fill up. In 1964, the presidential escort abandoned its Ratiers in favour of a fleet of BMW R69S

I persisted with the Ratier for a while. However, this second experience with a shaft transmission machine, although a little better than before, it nonetheless convinced me that my ideal riding experience could only be achieved on chain transmission machines.

So, at the end of 1974 I sold the Ratier and never looked back.