On Saturday, the Dakar Rally kicks off in Lima, Peru. It?s the 40th edition of the notorious race, and a lot has changed since 1978, when intrepid racers lined in up Paris.
Modern Dakar bikes are lightweight, sophisticated off-roaders, with a maximum capacity of 450cc. But the early days of the rally were dominated by mammoth desert racers?like the mighty BMW R80G/S, which racked up four wins in the 80s.

This immaculate 1982 model is a restomod owned by Mark Johnston, and it’s a spectacular homage to the Dakar-winning days of the Gelände/Straße. Remarkably, it’s only Mark’s second build: we featured his first last year, and when we teased a shot of this R80G/S alongside, readers insisted on seeing more.

Mark lives in the northern suburbs of Cape Town, South Africa, but bought the bike blind from a guy upcountry in Pretoria. ?I wasn?t too concerned about the overall condition, as most of it was going to be replaced anyway,? he says. ?But the bike turned out to be OK in the end.?

‘OK’ didn’t stop Mark from ripping out the G/S’s motor and shipping it to Volker Schroer in Port Elizabeth. Volker rebuilt it from the ground up, bumping the capacity to 1,000 cc with a big bore kit from Siebenrock. The work included gas flowing the heads, and installing valves suitable for unleaded petrol. The exhaust silencer is from Akrapovi?, but the header is custom, courtesy of Scorch Design.
Back home, Mark began transforming the classic Beem...