Scram Africa is a ride organized by Fuel Motorcycles from Barcelona: about a week of gravel, sand and mountain passes through Morocco on scramblers and old bikes that were never built for it. We rode it twice — in 2017 on a 35-year-old BMW, and in 2019 with a Ural sidecar. Neither bike made it easy.
2017: a BMW called “Wild & Dirty”
The sixth Scram Africa started with a ferry from Barcelona to Tangier. Ahead of us: eight days and about 2,000 km across Morocco, over the Atlas Mountains and into the dunes near the Algerian border — gravel, sand, dry sand rivers and fesh-fesh, a sand so fine it behaves like powder.
Our bike was a BMW R100/7, about 35 years old and around 200 kg, converted into a scrambler by Fuel and named “Wild & Dirty”. Probably one of the least suitable machines for that terrain. Along the way it broke two footpegs, cracked its oil pan despite the bash plate, lost its licence plate holder and finished the ride with the tank held on by straps.
Temperatures climbed to around 50°C, and every evening we had to reach the checkpoint before dark to get fuel. Of the 20 bikes that started, 16 reached the coast. What carried the group through was the team spirit — and by the end, riding in sand had actually become fun.
2019: back with a Ural sidecar
Eight days off-road on the back of a motorcycle wasn't an option for Barbara, so for the eighth Scram Africa we brought a sidecar: a 1970s Ural with a modified BMW R60 engine, around 380 kg loaded. It travelled by truck from Barcelona to Morocco with the other bikes.
The start was in Marrakech, with its colourful old quarters and open-air tanneries. From there the route climbed into the Atlas Mountains and out onto the sandy desert tracks.
The Ural had other plans. The clutch cable snapped on the first day. By the time we reached the Bedouin camp, the left cylinder was acting up; after the first sand sections we were running on one cylinder, and then the engine gave up completely. The Ural went onto the service truck, and we carried on in the support vehicle with Fuel's founder, Karles Vives. We weren't alone: three Harleys and two Triumph Scramblers also broke down for good.
We still wouldn't trade it: sunrise at the Bedouin camp, a sandstorm in the desert, and the days spent helping and motivating the other riders. One day we'll go back — with a Ural that runs on both cylinders.
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Scram Africa 2017 and 2019. Photos 2017: Götz Goppert Photography. First published on badandbold.com.