A Moto Guzzi built to ride 2500 km through the Moroccan desert!
The Scram Africa is a 10-day, 2500-kilometer ride across the deserts and mountains of Morocco, from Tangier to the very southern end of the country and back. Participants ride street-legal scramblers and customized bikes, following a dizzying aray of trails, roads, and dunes. The organizers of the event, Fuel Bespoke Motorcycles of Barcelona, have become famous for their Scram Africa builds.
The machine you see here is the “Fuel Baja V65,” built for the 2016 Scram Africa. The base is a 1986 Moto Guzzi V65 TT. In this case, TT stands for Tutto Terreno, or “All Terrain.” The V65 TT was Moto Guzzi’s attempt to compete with the popular BMW GS series. According to Odd Bike:
“Moto Guzzi was a little late to the G/S copycat party, but when they did put pen to paper they introduced a series of machines that were so brilliantly executed that nobody outside of the Guzzista forums remembers they ever existed.”
Of course, this V-twin dual-sport is far from stock, with Honda Dominator suspension, large capacity tank, modified rear suspension, Baja-style lighting, and much more. The Baja 1000 and Paris-Dakar influence is strong, as it should be a bike built to race across the deserts of North Africa. In a world where most scramblers see only the lightest duty off-road, we love seeing a build that can walk the walk.
Below, we get the full story on the build.
Fuel Baja V65: Builder Interview
• Please tell us a bit about yourself, your history with motorcycles, and your workshop.
Fuel Motorcycles started back in 2012. Lots of motorcycles has been done over here, transforming dreams into sketches and then making them real! We started to make our own motorcycles to go to the Scram Africa and then we started to build other ones because people got interested in what we made.
• What’s the make, model, and year of the bike?
Fuel Baja V65: Guzzi V65 TT (Tutto Terreno) from 1986
• Why was this bike built?
Built to go to Scram Africa in 2016, an adventure trip to Morocco with 2500 km of sands, mountains, dry rivers and desert.
• What was the design concept and what influenced the build?
Influenced by the Baja 1000 (a race in Baja California famous for its hardness ), and the Paris-Dakar rally bikes.
• What custom work was done to the bike?
- The original front end was changed for a Honda Dominator one in order to improve the suspension and braking performance.
- The rear shocks were also changed for classic Betor motocross shocks with a longer suspension travel
- In front we built a support for the twin headlamps which comesfrom a Suzuki GSX-R750 88 for better lighting in the night stages in the desert of Morocco.
- The seat was tailored for comfort for long stages.
- The tank comes from a 70’s Triumph Bonneville T120, with a capacity of 16lt that had to be modified to adapt to the Guzzi frame.
- A mixed tires Heidenau K60 were mounted which are perfect for tarmac and off road stages.
- The bike behaved beautifully in the dunes of southern Morocco with its 21 front wheel, its light weight and good suspension travel.
• How would you classify this bike?
How to define this bike? It’s not a trail, not a scrambler nor a dirt track, is a mixture of all and with his double front light reminds us of those bikes riding the Baja 1000.
• Was there anything done during this build that you are particularly proud of?
To transform this bike into a multipurpose motorcycle, with comfort and also practical.
Follow the Builder
Web: fuelmotorcycles.eu
Facebook: @FuelBespoke
Instagram: @FuelMotorcycles
Twitter: @fuelmotorcycles
Photographer: @Jordicortespie
