Fiorello Galluzzo’s 1982 BMW R100 (980cc): Café Racer Inspired by the Le Mans Porsche 917 Racer
Fiorello Galluzzo has always been inspired by Porsches. He loves the trademark horizontally-opposed engines that for three-quarters of a century has been one of the main attributes of the marque. His all-time favourite car is the Porsche 917 that was so dominant in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and has been immortalised in Steve McQueen’s purist racing movie Le Mans.
But Porsche does not produce motorcycles and when Fiorello wanted a two-wheeled machine to keep company with his 1980 Porsche 911 SC (a driveable work in progress awaiting an engine and transmission rebuild but which, says Fiorello, ‘looks the part’), he naturally turned to BMW where the boxer engine has predominated for more than a century. Immediately, his choice of the Gulf Racing colour scheme explains itself and, frankly, it is impossible to imagine a better livery for his 1982 R100 café racer.
Image: wheelsage.org
The parallels between BMW motorcycles and Porsche sports cars run deep. Although BMW’s engineers did not invent the horizontally-opposed engine – that honour goes to Karl Benz – it was certainly the first to apply this technology to motorcycling. In the aftermath of World War One, BMW’s Max Friz designed a small boxer engine which BMW supplied to early German motorcycle companies. Dubbed the ‘Bayern-engine’ it was initially mounted so that the two cylinders ran along rather than across the frame, but the rear cylinder received an inadequate flow of air and overheated.
BMW planned to create its own bikes and Friz had his first one on the drawing board in December 1922. He solved the overheating issue by turning the engine 90 degrees so that both cylinders hung out in the breeze, as it were – a case of literal lateral thinking! This was the R32, forerunner to a century of awesome and inimitable boxer-engined BMW motorcycles.
Image: Benjamin Azevedo
Fiorello set his sights on a classic ‘raw’ boxer BMW. He didn’t want something too modern. Perhaps, too, he wanted a machine that would contrast with his other motorcycle, a Honda CB750. He put it like this: ‘the Honda is a very smooth four-cylinder motorcycle that develops its maximum power at very high revs, while the BMW relies more on lowdown torque and is more like a typical V8, so they are complete opposites.’
Because he was keen not to ‘ruin’ a perfectly good motorcycle, it suited his purpose to buy a tired example ripe for rejuvenation. About four years ago he found exactly what he was after, a rough-running 1982 R100 that had already been stripped of its original fairings and adorned with various aftermarket items; essentially it served as a donor bike.
The R100 is, of course, one of the most celebrated BMW motorcycles. Launched in 1976, this was the company’s new flagship. As well as featuring a 980cc edition of the classic boxer engine, the newcomer also had twin front disc brakes and for the 1980 model year the R100RS, RT and S models were fitted with a Brembo rear disc brake (although the drum returned from model year 1985).
Image: wheelsage.org
The R100RS became the first mass-production bike to be fitted with a full body fairing and it is impossible to overstate the significance of this development in motorcycle technology (first glimpsed on the Vincent Black Prince).
Two Wheels published a road test in its July 1977 edition. The opening paragraph reads:
The new flagship of the small BMW fleet is really some motorcycle, as it ought to be for a cool $4500 on the road. It is new in several regards, but the basic design is old, retaining the flat-twin and shaft-drive configuration first adopted by the Bavarian factory in 1923 and merely modified as the years slipped by.
It’s worth noting that in 1977, quite a few new cars cost less than the R100RS. I imagine Fiorello would agree with the conclusion of this test:
It’ll cost you big money, and that will make the bike fairly exclusive but you won’t ever need to buy another motorcycle. That would be too much of an anti-climax, no matter which way you want to view it.
Image: wheelsage.org
So it is easy to see why Fiorello decided that an R100 would be the perfect starting point for his Porsche-inspired café racer motorcycle. ‘My vision was to build something unique – stylish, sleek, minimalist, sympathetic to its period and along the lines of a machine that BMW itself might have created.’ He wanted to create a true original, a motorcycle it would be impossible to go out and buy. It was always intended to be retro in theme, and he didn’t want anything ‘too modern’.
Image: Benjamin Azevedo
‘It’s really the last of the raw air-cooled motorcycles, quirky, When you see the engine sticking out the sides, you think what the hell is this coming towards you – you can’t mistake it for a Kawasaki or something like that.’
From the start of what would prove to be a three-year project, photoshopping was key. Once Fiorello had decided on the final design he prepared a blueprint. In the process every single component was stripped down and rebuilt with, he says, ‘with no bolt left unturned’.
So, Fiorella, in love with the 917 racer, was keen to incorporate some of its styling themes into the bike, most notably the flat rear panel in contrast to the rounded rear which is typical of the café racer style of custom motorcycle.
Image: Benjamin Azevedo
His work of reimagining the R100 has been extensive. It has modern upside-down forks, for example, and the front disc brakes are 300mm in diameter and equipped with four-piston calipers.
Image: Benjamin Azevedo
The front fairing, windscreen, brackets and fenders are all custom-made. To harmonise with the new sportier streamline he envisaged, Fiorello deleted all the original foot rests, linkages and so on, devising his own to supplant them. He made special rear lights, turning them on a lathe and incorporating ultra-bright LEDs.
He fabricated a new rear sub-frame from scratch, incorporating new suspension.
The entire bike has been rewired with discreet routing to a MotoGadget M unit.
Image: Benjamin Azevedo
In order to get the Le Mans Gulf colour scheme perfect Fiorello obtained the correct colour codes and the result is spectacular.
He tries to ride it at least once a month. There are three machines, he says, ‘and just one of me!’
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