What you see in the video below is history being made. What you hear (volume up folks) is ‘SALT BOLT’ a, err, … 1982 BMW r100 hitting 154.912 mph (250km/h), and setting the ‘Dry Lake Racers Australia‘ APS PG1000 speed record!
Salt Bolt, and the new record, are owned by Paul Marcos. After running 135.5 mph in 2023 Paul came back for more in 2024 and nailed it, quite literally. Feast your eyes and ears on this:
Ok, it might have a few sensible modifications over the factory r100 but its what you can’t see that counts. Such as the …
- Carrillo rods.
- Rooney heads.
- Rooney cam.
- Moto Israel Pistons.
- Moto Israel cylinders.
- Moto Israel pushrods and pushrod tubes.
- Rooney designed fly wheel (for land speed application)
- Suzuki fuel injection.
- EMS EFI Computer.
Of course it’s more than just parts that make a machine perform like this. As Paul Marcos notes:
“This crazy idea could not have been possible without the genuine enthusiasm of Paul Rooney in advising on the project and, of course, his remarkable engineering skills.
And mates like David and Alex McLachlan and Jeff Mitchell lending their expertise also made the process of developing the platform for this motor far smoother.
My darling wife Heather’s indulgence kept the money (life blood of the project) flowing.
Thank you all.”
Astute readers will also note the boxer engine being rotated 90 degrees in the frame. But it’s all function over form here. This is not a bike for the cafe racer set. Just the racer set, who also happen to enjoy visiting cafe’s.
Says Paul, “the motor is turned sideways in the frame to convert to belt primary and chain final drives giving easy drive ratio change options and more efficient horsepower transfer. Surprisingly, to me at least, is that Paul notes the configuration “… gives almost zero extra benefits aerodynamically as it’s virtually the same width”.
Most importantly, it’s an engine that revs very freely. While currently rev limited to 8500rpm for competition purposes is tuned to run to 9000rpm if the extra revs are required.
Says Paul Marcos, “Maximum power achieved on the dyno is 103.5hp at the tyre but this has been tuned back to a steady 100hp at the tyre at 7800 rpm to give a very nice linear power curve that starts strongly at 2300rpm.”
The once refined r100 boxer engine now drives through a TT Industries 5 speed gearbox (a copy of the AMC gearbox usually found in a Norton Commando) but properly engineered for positive shifts and to take this level of power.
“All this resides in a custom land speed racing frame by David “Bones” McLachlan and bodywork by me”. And nice work it is.
CONGRATULATIONS PAUL(s) Salt Bolt is a credit you Paul Marcos, and you are a real credit to racing.
And a credit to Paul Rooney ‘s “quick’ mind.
Stu King
Rooney Tune 