Re: [MV] BMW R12/Chinese replica m/c

Antoine (antoine@usa.net)
Thu, 18 Nov 1999 19:45:45 -0800

Hi Raimondo...
That Chinese replica is called the Chang Jiang CJ 750 and made
in Xiamen, PRC. Tim Conover, who is one of our fellow listees,
and a plant executive in Xiamen, can give you the full low-down
on these machines.
As far as I can tell, they are more a replica of the BMW R71
than of the R12, and indeed they quite a few of their parts are
interchangeable with the "other" copies of the BMW, namely the
Harley-Davidson 42XA, and the Russian made military bike M72,
which has actually been built on BMW tooling seized in Germany
by the occupying Russian forces and brought back. The Russians
subsequently made URALS and Dneprs which are civilian versions
of the military M72 or copies of other BMW models.
The Harley just copied the powerplant and the rear final drive
of thre R71, and retained their springer front end, brakes,
electrical system and carburetors, whereas the Russian M72 is
mostly undistinguishable from an original R71.
The Chang-Jiang is imported in the US of A, and I think there
are actually a web site and a newsgroup or forum for users of
this machine.
Tim Conover will enlighten you on the merits and reliability of
this work horse, but don't expect stellar performance, we are
still dealing with 60-year old flathead technology here..

It is interesting to compare engine images between the R12 and
the Harley 42XA anyway:
> http://web-hou.iapc.net/~smh/BMWr12.html
>http://www.freehomepages.com/antoine
>http://www.powow.com/harley42xa
There is a picture of the CJ750 with sidecar here:
http://www.chinamotorcycle.com/sidecar/cj750.htm
and of course, the most important and complete site for these
machines would be:
http://www.narma.org/narma/

Antoine
Sherman Oaks, California
Normandy, France

43 Willys MB
43 MBT Trailer
Harley-Davidson 42 WLA
Harley-Davidson 42 XA (x2)
MVPA #14803, MVCG France

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