Dirty 30: Bolt Motor Co.’s BMW street scrambler

BMW R100 RT street scrambler by Bolt Motor Co.
We’d love to peak behind the curtain at Bolt Motor Co. Shop boss Adrián Campos is also the sporting director for Campos Racing, and Bolt is based out of the race team’s Valencia workshop. So there’s no shortage of engineering prowess or high-end equipment on hand.

Even though Campos Racing works with competitive and modern race machines, Bolt Motor Co.’s deal is older bikes. But each bike that rolls out of their workshop is tastefully executed, well-specced and clean enough to eat your tapas off.

BMW R100 RT street scrambler by Bolt Motor Co.
For their 30th build, Bolt have taken a humdrum early 80s BMW R100 RT, and turned it into an edgy street scrambler. It’s a trifecta of sharp lines, perfect stance and tasty upgrades—with a little parts bin digging sprinkled in for good measure.

The goodness starts up front, with the upside down forks and triple trees from an MV Agusta Brutale. Bolt stripped the paint off the fork legs and refinished them in silver, then added a small plate with their logo to the bottom yoke.

BMW R100 RT street scrambler by Bolt Motor Co.
But that was a cakewalk compared to the work that went on out back. This classic boxer now sends power to the rear hoop via the more beefy final drive from a newer R1200R.

Matching a newer shaft to an older motor has been done before, but it’s a laborious task that involves clever splicing of components.

BMW R100 RT street scrambler by Bolt Motor Co.
As if that wasn’t enough work, the R1200R swing arm is single sided and set up for a mono-shock. So Bolt removed the R100’s entire subframe, then welded on a custom-built unit that included a new shock mount. The actual shock was upgraded with a new unit from Hagon.

The 17″ wheels are from an R1200GS. They normally measure 19” up front, but Bolt re-laced the front hub onto a second 17” GS rear rim, for the sake of symmetry.

BMW R100 RT street scrambler by Bolt Motor Co.
They also widened the wheels to 4.5” (front) and 5” (back), and fitted chunky dual sport rubber from Avon. And then installed a full Brembo brake set.

Bolt left the R100 motor stock, but cleaned it up and gave it a fresh coat of paint. The carbs now breathe in via a pair of K&N filters, and the air box has been repurposed as an electronics box, with a Lithium-ion battery inside. Look closely, and you’ll spot some neat details—like the pull-style chokes on the carbs, and the braided fuel lines.

BMW R100 RT street scrambler by Bolt Motor Co.
The exhaust setup is pretty neat too. Adrián’s crew bent the headers by hand, rerouting them into the frame and around the rear shock. The only welding happened at the back, where the headers terminate with a titanium muffler from Spark.

As for the bodywork, the only stock piece left is the fuel tank—though it now wears a screw-in gas cap. The seat and front fender are both custom, and even the bezel around the LED headlight is a one-off.

BMW R100 RT street scrambler by Bolt Motor Co.
There’s a small LED taillight tucked into the rear frame loop, and a license plate bracket lower down with a pair of Motogadget turn signals.

Up in the cockpit, Bolt added a set of Moose Racing handlebars, along with Motogadget grips and bar-end turn signals. The dash is from Motogadget too, but the push buttons are from Motone.

BMW R100 RT street scrambler by Bolt Motor Co.
This airhead’s also got a new throttle, new levers, and CNC machined brake reservoirs. The rear-set foot controls and passenger pegs are all from Tarozzi, and are mounted on custom brackets with the Bolt logo cut out of them. (Heck, even the side stand is custom.)

As we’ve come to expect from Adrián and his team, the livery is striking and aggressive. The predominant finish is gloss black, with a simple white graphic and yellow logos. And to signify their 30th build, the ‘BO’ of the tank motif doubles up as a ’30.’

BMW R100 RT street scrambler by Bolt Motor Co.
With the bike buttoned up, Bolt had a special customer request to tend to. They built a custom parking platform for the bike, along with a helmet refinished in a complementary graphic.

We hope Bolt #30 doesn’t spend too much on that stand though. Because to our eyes, this wild boxer deserves to be out on the street at every opportunity.

Bolt Motor Co. | Facebook | Instagram | Images by Mario Rodrigo

BMW R100 RT street scrambler by Bolt Motor Co.

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