Year: 1981 | Built by: Bolt Motor Company
Take a long look. This is one custom transformation that delights the eye at every glance. Spanish BMW specialists Bolt Motor Company have taken an everyday 1980s BMW R100RS and, for one lucky client, reimagined this Munich stalwart as a bespoke tearaway. Feast your eyes on the entirely unique style of Bolt 38.
There's so much to admire about this one-off custom transformation. The detailing is as fastidious as we've come too expect from Bolt, whose Valencia workshops are shared with some fast four-wheelers in boss Alex Campos's Formula Two team. Witness the multitude of custom parts fashioned by Bolt's craftspeople: exhausts, footrests, headlight mount and even the numberplate holder. And that's without the really big items.
Most striking of all is the saddle, a new take on the notion of a café racer seat and the true stroke of genius on the Bolt 38. The starting point was the look of a 1950s style suspended bicycle seat, with the job entrusted to the high-end leather specialists at Tapizados Llop, also of Valencia. They've crafted a small artwork: a hand-stitched mini-masterpiece in weatherproof leather, incorporating LED turn signals to the rear.
A take on classic Munich colours is in evidence on the deliberately large BMW tank, turning it into a central feature. A Monza fuel cap adds a racing flourish. The familiar two-cylinder "Boxer" engine has been fully rebuilt and upgraded, now featuring new caburation and boasting bespoke "Bolt" badging.
Elsewhere, the Bolt 38 is finished in low-key high-impact stealth black. Handlebars are from the Enduro range by Renthal, featuring a fully digital instrument cluster. Just ahead, nestling in the workshop 3D printed headlamp surround is a set of ultra-bright LED lights, a warning that something special is approaching.
There is so much to like about Bolt's custom BMW R100RS, even standing still. Now imagine riding it on empty roads, headed for essential groceries on a Sunday morning. That might be the very definition of bliss.
Discover another of Bolt's epic custom rides: the BMW 1986 K100RS.
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