Cytech Motorcycles - An Aladdin's Cave

We visit Cytech Motorcycles, located just outside Johannesburg, and talk to proprietor Donovan Müller who has not only travelled throughout Africa on a bike, but knows a thing or two about classic BMW motorcycles. 

Words: Wilhelm Lutjeharms

It feels like you are walking into a classic BMW encyclopedia. Make no mistake, Donovan Müller and his team at Cytech Motorcycles outside Johannesburg is just as clued-up regarding modern customisation parts and motorcycles, but it is the classic and modern-classic BMWs that get their blood pumping and which makes up the largest part of their business. However, there is also a R Nine T that is receiving a full carbon-fibre aftermarket kit... 

Background

This is a second-generation business which Donovan’s late father, Ray Müller, founded in 1978 from his parent’s garage. He called it South End Wheels. The next step was Cytech Motorcycles which became the largest BMW dealership in the Southern Hemisphere.

“My dad did his apprenticeship at Club Motors BMW in the '60s and used to work on the old R50s. I still have a picture of him and his partner in the workshop dressed in their BMW overalls.” A few years later Ray Müller decided to go on his own, and today, 42 years later, Cytech Motorcycles is still the one-stop BMW shop and the principal go-to place for all your classic BMW motorcycle needs in South Africa.

But, it is when you sit down with Donovan and listen to his stories that you can’t help but be amazed at what his dad did back in the day, and then how the motorcycle bug eventually bit him.

There are also several artifacts from across the continent in the workshop, highlighting all the various trips Ray, and at times with Donovan, have done through Africa and Southern Africa. There are pictures that really capture moments that could be chapters in a book - being it where tree trunks are being carried to build a bridge, to articles from newspapers and magazines covering the various trips. Donovan shares some of the anecdotes of these trips.

“On one of the most significant trips my late father did was with a fleet of 20 riders, all on K100s. It was 1993 and they rode from South Africa to Germany. Then the guys could order their new motorcycles off the production line. We even had clients from Australia who joined us. The guys were completely overloaded with equipment for the trip. They carried their own luggage and even own spare tyres. There was a Mamba ex-military vehicle as the back-up transport.”

“They chopped down trees to make a bridge for the bikes to cross over a river at one stage. As you can see on the other picture, a tree fell over the road and blocked it. But no other vehicle had been on that road for months, so they had to chop up the tree for the motorbikes and the Mamba to pass. They carried chainsaws with them on the trip so they could use it for a scenario such as this. It is absolutely mind-blowing.”

“In 2002 I was 23 and that was the first Cape-to-Cairo return trip we did. At that time I was the youngest guy to have ever travelled to Cairo and back. We travelled up to Cairo in 36 days, and then we had new clients who joined us there. On the way down we went through Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo and we also ran into problems. The Nyiragongo volcano had erupted. We then had discussions with the United Nations and they told us that we would have problems if we used the ferry. That was if we could find a ferry to board to continue our trip. The chances of being robbed by the guerrilla fighters were also high.”

Trouble

“We went and found Russians who flew a cargo carrier in the area for transport purposes. We explained to them that we needed to fly out of Goma. They helped us load the one plane with two motorcycles and one vehicle and a few of us. We thought the plane was full, but then the trucks arrived with the vegetables! Our motorcycles and back-up vehicle were so packed full of vegetables that we could barely see them. We looked at the plane’s tyres, and they were shockingly smooth. We asked the pilot where we should sit. He said we could sit with him in the cockpit… on a plastic chair.”

“Then we noticed he was flying back to Uganda, and we asked him why he was going that way. He said it was cheaper to get fuel in Uganda. As we landed it was already getting dark, and there were almost no lights at the airport. But he taxied to a specific area, stopped, and opened the rear door of the plane. The next minute we saw people running out of the bush, jumping into the back of the plane and then he took off again! Then we saw tree tops and we asked him why he was flying so low. He responded by saying that he couldn't fly any higher because then the people in the back of the plane wouldn't be able to breathe because he can’t pressurise the plane as he flies with the back door open!”

“We landed in Kinshasa, and the next moment we saw all the blue lights coming towards us. We were arrested and sat at the airport for two days. They took our passports and asked how we were involved in this 'operation' and why we were bringing people across the border? There was a guy who analysed the situation and understood we needed help. After all, you need operators in Africa. Long story short, he assisted us and a couple of days later we were allowed to go. We made our way through Angola, then through Namibia to Cape Town.

“We were the guests of the president of Angola and were the first South Africans to travel into Angola right after the war had just stopped. On the side of the road you would see the blown-up tanks.”

Life experiences

Donovan believes that there is something very psychological about these trips. They have found that riders would much rather ride down from Cairo to South Africa, than the other way round. It is the feeling of riding home if you head South, as you head further away from home when you head North. Also take into consideration that some of the toughest parts are north of the equator, when you are already a couple of weeks into the trip. If you head down, you tackle some of the toughest part of the trip first, when you as a rider and the motorcycle are still fresh. 

“The trip I went on, when we got to Cairo, half of the planning crew said they had had enough and bought themselves plane tickets home. Suddenly we had to make plans on how we would tackle the trip back to South Africa. At age 23 I experienced some of life’s biggest lessons. When you get thrown in at the deep end, I realised the toughest love, in this case from my dad, is the best way of figuring things out.”

“Riders that went on a Cape-to-Cairo expedition never came back the same person. Their perspectives on life just changed in so many ways. And I will say that to you too... If you come back from a Cape-to-Cairo trip, you won’t come back the same person. Still today, after my dad passed away more than a decade ago, guys will still walk in here and say ‘Ray Müller changed my life’”. 

Switzerland to South Africa… and staying in South Africa

It seems everyone at Cytech Motorcycles has a story to tell, none more so than Donovan’s assistant Alain Morard. “I started off in Switzerland in November 1985. We went from Italy with several ferries all the way to Israel and then on to Egypt. We wanted to go into Sudan, but the Swiss Embassy cautioned that there was nothing they could do for us if we crossed into Sudan. We said that it was cool, that it is an adventure, and that is what we wanted. It was actually quite a process to get a visa for Sudan. There is a stretch of road back then that took three-and-a-half weeks to ride, which today will take only a day-and-a-half.

“We continued and in January 1986 the war in Darfur was already taking place. As we headed South there were many challenges and we were also robbed a couple of times. One time I was on the phone with my mother and a guy got shot dead in the street with an AK-47, only for my mother to ask what the noise was in the background!

“I eventually ended up in Johannesburg and that is when I met Donovan’s late father. He saw me riding on my R 80 G/S with my Swiss numberplate. They helped me fix something on my bike and he asked me what was doing that Sunday? I said 'nothing' as I’d just arrived in Johannesburg. He said I should join them for a breakfast run.” Then it became a habit. Every Saturday Alain used to rock up at Cytech, and Alain used to help at Cytech. That is how I became part of the Müller family.

The business

As I look up there is a long row of tanks, then there are also long shelves full of other parts. Many of these items Donovan saved when stripping motorcycles to customize. Thankfully he and his dad saw the value of these parts and have kept them throughout these years. You just get the feeling that there is nothing regarding classic BMWs that Donovan doesn’t know, can’t do or can’t find out how to do. 

As Donovan talks me through more adventures, he walks me to one of his storerooms. It is for me the best room of the facility and it captures this two-generation-long passion. The room is filled with several rows of mostly classic BMW motorcycles. There are a few modern ones and modern classics, but the rest are from mostly the '60s, '70s and the '80s. About a third are customers’ motorcycles, some being stored here, but the rest belongs to the company. Some of them are covered under such a thick layer of dust that you just know these were not been purchased a few years ago, but rather a decade or two ago. 

If you are an enthusiast, you can start the conversation with Donovan and then select a motorcycle for a restoration project. Obviously, several of these unrestored motorcycles are close to his heart and he would like to restore it for himself one day – so you need to be careful in your approach! 

“You know how it goes, you always end op fixing and restoring other peoples’ bikes, and I never get around to work on my own bike. Often, we receive bikes in pieces or bikes that have not received a thorough restoration. I then always tell the customers, first focus on the mechanicals, then the electrical parts and finally you focus on the cosmetics of the bike. It doesn’t help if the bike looks perfect, but it won’t start.”

“There are different elements I enjoy about the business. Firstly, sharing of the passion, excitement and knowledge – as well as the relationships you build with clients. Obviously, the building of the motorcycles and to witness how things are evolving. I’ve done so many restorations, which I’m grateful for, but it has become a very modular exercise for me. However, building custom bikes is very interesting because you need to watch what the trends are and at the same time you try and be different to everybody else.”

Custom or classic, it is evident that Donovan and his team can assist and can fulfil any BMW enthusiast’s dream.