While searching the interwebs for international motorcycle events, I literally crashed into Scram Africa. Hosted by Karles Vives of Fuel Bespoke Motorcycles, this year's adventure takes place April 25th to May 5th, 2013 and is a 2000 KM (1,243 miles) ride with mixed terrain of road, trail, and dunes. Add in beautiful landscapes, an array of challenges, a taste of danger, vintage motorcycles, some African culture, and pure adventure.
Call it love at first site, the pictures alone brought me to my knees. If I had to choose one ride this year, it would definitely be Scram Africa. Attention Karles, please work out international motorcycle rentals for 2014 so we can gather a group! :)
For more information on the event, click here. Otherwise, enjoy an Interview with Karles of Fuel Bespoke Motorcycles, memories from a fellow rider- Ignition Rojasa, a promotional video, and both published and never seen before photos of last year's Scram Africa.
Photographer: Claudio Rizzolo
Here's a look at the route:
Interview with Karles Vives:
1. Karles, tell us a little about yourself.
My name is Karles Vives and I work and live in Barcelona, Spain. Before founding my own project two years ago, Fuel Bespoke Motorcycles, I worked as an art and creative director for various advertising agencies. My relationship with motorcycles started around 15 years. My first bike was a Vespa 125 Primavera and since then I have had all kinds of bikes ranging from enduro, custom, sport, etc. Before I bought a bike, I had fallen in love with motorcycles at first sight. This obsession with form and beauty inspired me to ask myself “why not create a motorcycle completely to my taste?” I bought a BMW R100 RT 82 (I’m a lover of boxer engines) and the book by Jerry Churchill: "BMW 2-valve Twins 1970-1993 ". For three months, I worked on the bike every single day. First, I drew the bike concept, and then I searched for spare parts. Next, I dismantled the whole bike and reassembled it with new parts. Thanks to the book, forums, friends, family, and many hours of dedication, I finally finished my first bike- a BMW R100 Scram. It is fun, reliable, and easy to drive, with the ability to ride on and off road. A bike with soul, that vibrates and in return makes you vibrate. It makes you dream of the desert and adventures in remote locations. It was a scrambler, it was beautiful and it was mine!
After the initial build, I decided to dedicate all my time and energy to the project, Fuel Bespoke Motorcycles. I searched for several months and found a pit crew. One of them was an engineer with extensive experience in the field of mechanical modifications. Add in people with talent, enthusiasm, and passionate for what they do that don’t think twice about working overtime.
2. What is the mission of Fuel Bespoke Motorcycles?
Our dream is to create a brand that can offer a classic bike designed and customized to your needs. We also produce vintage styled motorcycle clothing. Last, we create events and lifestyle trips, such as Scram Africa, that share the passion for old school bikes. Fuel wants to be an experience, a journey through time, a way of living, exciting and passionate- a lifestyle.
3. Explain your event Scram Africa.
“Scram” is a short word I use for “Scrambler”- the first dual purpose off-road/on-road motorcycles. They are street bikes modified to overcome cross country terrain.
Since I was a teen, I wanted to ride in the desert. Every year I watched the Rally Paris Dakar and dreamed of being there. When I finished the BMW R100 Scram, I thought the best way to test it would be through the trails, roads, and dunes of Africa. At the same time, I meet Pep from Soloraids, (a travel company specialized in Africa adventures) and he was the perfect partner to organize the logistics of the trip. Together we organized the first edition of Scram Africa with a lot of enthusiasm but only 5 riders joined the adventure. It was a little disappointing but the experience of the trip was very intense and caught the attention of many magazines and blogs so we decided to organize a second edition. This time with only 3 months to go, we have almost 20 riders registered!
4. Can you describe the Scram Africa experience and some of the challenges of the ride?
It is an adventure trip through the African desert designed for classic and neoclassic motorcycles. I think the main challenge is to leave behind fear and uncertainties and do something you really want to do, something you’ve always dreamed of. I think this is the way to also deal with life.
Other challenges are all the different surfaces where we ride- asphalt in good condition, broken asphalt, rocks, mud, sand, fesh-fesh etc. And not only that, the temperatures are extreme. We experienced 5 ° C in the Atlas mountains and 40 ° C in the desert . Add in that our bikes are old and heavy so any complications on the ground are much higher than if we were riding a light and modern motorcycle. Besides that, the legs are long and tiredness accumulates. I would say that the ride experience is similar to the adventure bikers had 30-40 years ago.
5. Share a story with us from Scram Africa.
We have a lot of stories from riders that got lost in the desert to accidents where foot rests, front headlights, or rims got broken due to accidents or falls in the trail or dunes. The people of the desert and Atlas Mountains were very hospitable with a hot cup of tea and ready to lend us a hand. One of the first days in the middle of the Atlas, it started raining heavily. None of us had rains suits (big mistake I know!) but nobody imagined finding rain and cold in Africa. Haha. We stopped at a small village in the middle of nowhere to eat something and asked for some type of cape or plastic bag to protect us from the rain and cold wind. Finally, we met a man who arranged for full motorcycle rain suits for a cost of 15€ ($20). We would have had to pay a fortune otherwise, and he also gifted us cake made of honey, nuts and marijuana. :)
6. Where do you see this event in 5 years?
I would like to learn and improve the ride, staff, organization and the route each year. I would also like more and more people enjoy and join the trip.
7. Is there anything that you would like to tell our readers?
I would like to mention that there are people from other continents such as Australia, India or USA that would like to come but, it was impossible to find a motorcycle dealer to rent out bikes. We will continue working on this to find a solution for the next Scram Africa.
We also caught up with Scram rider, Ignition Rojas, age 35 from Catalunya. He rode a 1988 BMW R100GS and described his experience. "When Karles first came with the idea of going to Africa with old bikes, I couldn't resist and I automatically said yeah! Of course I will come! It was not disappointing at all, we did all different terrains including tarmac, gravel, mud, and in the Atlas Mountains, dry dusty roads and of course, sand. I don't think there's any other trip as compact and varied as Scram Africa. It was a lot of riding every day; we just loved the camps, the hotels and the people we met there. Going with those old bikes there's always the possibility of having some mechanical problems, and we had a lot... haha but, it was part of the trip. I fell the most in the sand parts and as a result, my bike suffered the most there also. We always had a cold beer closer ;) One of the guys, Roman from Germany, fell and broke his collarbone the last day of the off road. The biggest challenge was to keep the bike working and to finish the trip. You'd love to do crazy stuff in the sand but, in the back of your head, you always remember that you need to have the bike working to come back home. The last day was the most fun. Most of the front lights, indicators and speedometers were not working. All the bikes dirty and half broken.. haha.. it was fun!"
