It’s a bumper selection for Royal Enfield fans today, with a new parts kit from Bad Winners of Paris and a chunky custom from a English startup. We’ve also got an SR500 built by an aircraft technician from Canada, and details of a radical new land speed record contender.
Bad Winners Motokit for Royal Enfield twins Bad Winners is one of the biggest success stories in the European custom scene. Shop founder Walid Ben Lamine has built many, many fantastic customs over the past decade, from one-offs to limited production ‘series’ bikes.
He now includes kits in his repetoire, and the latest is this new ‘Motokit’ for the hugely popular Royal Enfield 650 twins.
Working with RE headquarters, Walid has taken a modular approach—so 650 owners can either take the whole shebang, or upgrade a bike in stages.
We’d start with the suspension first, which includes new fork internals from YSS and a choice of three different shocks. And maybe add the 17-inch wheels with Dunlop’s new Mutant rubber.
You can supplement that with a ‘Front’ kit of Renthal bars, matched to a custom set of push buttons, a control box to interface with the stock wiring loom, a new throttle, and Oberon mirrors.
We’d add the Motogadget Tiny speedo as well, attached via supplied brackets, and a Koso Thunderbolt headlight in a custom bucket.
On the performance front, Bad Winners have assembled a package of goodies including a custom mapped Power Commander, a free-flow S&S air filter, and a choice of exhaust systems from S&S or Spark. It’ll give the parallel twin a useful boost in power beyond the stock 47 horses.
For owners into the modern ‘flat seat’ look, there’s also a seat kit—but this requires getting the grinder out. If you’re confident doing that, you’ll get a new rear loop, a seat unit, a bobbed fender and license plate holder, and revised lighting to fit the new setup.
The 650s have been a well-deserved success for Royal Enfield, and we reckon this kit will be a hit for Bad Winners too. Keep an eye on their website to see when it goes on sale—some of BW’s other kits are so popular they’re on backorder.
Stu Lloyd’s Yamaha SR500E Ex-pat Brit Stu Lloyd has lived an action-packed life, jetting around the world as part of his job as an aircraft tech. He now calls Calgary, Canada his home, and spends his time spinning spanners on bikes rather than jets.
This 1978 SR500 is Stu’s latest project, and as you’d expect from someone of his background, it’s beautifully built.
Stu’s hobby is riding and racing superbikes, but this SR500 is an altogether more practical and safer machine—because it’s destined for his 12-year-old daughter when she’s old enough to ride. And Stu has built it using the same skills and tricks employed by bike builders from the 70s and 80s.
He’s given the Yamaha a Mikuni VM36-4 carb, an Omega Racer exhaust system, and treated the head to a mild porting. He’s removed weight by installing a fiberglass Benelli tank, a li-ion battery, and a fiberglass tail unit on a shortened loop.
After removing unnecessary tabs and steel from the frame, Stu strengthened the swingarm and fitted upgraded shocks and revised fork internals.
Visually, the bike is inspired by the Paul Smart Ducatis, and also the work of Pepo Rosell. An Imola replica fairing and twin 4.5-inch headlights create an endurance racer look.
There are far too many other details to list here, but we reckon Stu’s daughter is in for a treat when she’s old enough to pilot this machine. Get the full build story here. [Images by Adam Gregory]
Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 by Soldoutmotorcycles Shaun Walker is one of the biggest names in the British custom scene: he co-founded the Down & Out workshop, famous for its fat-tired Triumphs, and recently branched out into very cool motorized BMX builds.
After seven years of running D&O, Shaun has started a new company, and plans to spend more time getting his hands dirty.
“I needed a change, so sold the business and have gone back to my roots—and back to my original unit in my local town,” he tells us.
“Running the business left me no time to build one-off bikes. So this is about building bikes like I used to, back in the day, and the Royal Enfield Interceptor is a great platform.”
This Interceptor has got Shaun’s signature style written all over it. The key modification is the wide fork kit, with new triples and spacers allowing 3.5-inch wide Excel rims to be fitted, at 16 inches both front and back. The tires are 500-16 blackwall Coker Becks, shielded by custom fenders.
Shaun’s installed LSL bars on custom risers, with internal wiring. The bar-end indicators (and keyless igntion system) are from Motogadget, with discreet Kellerman LED units handling both indicator and stoplight duties at the back.
The gauge is a Cognito Moto GPS unit, which doesn’t require a transmission sensor to operate. It sits right above Shaun’s proprietary headlight unit, mounted on custom brackets.
Fabrication includes 2-into-2 exhaust pipework, and a plush new seat with classy diamond stitching. It sits atop a new rear frame loop, which includes mounting points for YSS piggyback shocks.
Finished off with classy olive-and-silver paint from Pro Kustom, this Interceptor is a brilliant calling card for Shaun’s new workshop. Hit him up if you’d like to give your own Royal Enfield an extra dose of custom style.
Soldoutmotorcycles Instagram | Facebook | Images by Simon Krajnyak
White Motorcycle Concepts goes for the world record Last year, veteran racer Max Biaggi broke eleven world records for the fastest speed set on a electric bike. On a Voxan bike, he set a best of 408 km/h (254 mph) during one particular run at a French airfield.
A British motorsport engineer called Robert White is now gunning for that record, relying on aerodynamics as well as outright power. He reckons his two-wheel drive WMC250EV streamliner has everything it needs to wipe out Biaggi’s record, aided by a drag coefficient of just 0.11.
The key is an air channel that runs the length of the bike—a patented concept he’s called ‘V-Air.’ It reduces drag by around 70% over conventional bodywork, removing the need for massive amounts of power: the four electric motors in this machine have a combined output of around 100kW or 134hp.
According to White, “For the land speed application, the three major factors are aerodynamic drag, grip between the tire and the salt to drive forward, and power, which is third in line.”
Development of the WMC250EV is well advanced now, and the team is aiming to break the British record before 2021 is out—and then the world record next year. Given the amount of tech crammed into this unusual-looking machine, we reckon they might just do it. [Via]