The Indian city of Mumbai is a thriving metropolis that rivals any other on the planet. It’s the home of Bollywood, the financial capital of the sub-continent, and in a place where you can party 24/7, there is always the incredible street food to recharge your batteries. But if you want to stand out from the pack, and it’s millions strong, then the place to go for all your motorcycle needs is Mean Green Customs. Nothing is ever too hard, each challenge is welcomed, and turning a BMW R nineT into a flash and fun street scrambler was just another day at the office for the talented team.
Run by Aditya Deshmukh, an industrial designer turned motorcycle builder, his background in product and surface design shapes the way his bikes are put together. Rather than radical redesigns, his approach is to keep the structure of the donor bike intact and improve its proportions, fit and finish. Like most Indian builders, he’s a big fan of the Royal Enfield product line, but he’s built everything from hot rod Harleys, deadly Ducatis and a host of badass Bobbers, all with an uber high-end finish.
Now was his chance to work with a German machine, and the plan was to take the brilliantly engineered Bavarian and give it some more muscular lines and a taste of Bollywood bling. The BMW R nineT Scrambler, called “THRYX,” started with a totally standard bike, and as he always does, Aditya began to sketch out his ideas, putting pen to paper until the direction was clear, long before even a single part was ordered or a spanner spun.
When work began, it was the visual side of the build that was first to go under the microscope, and a shortened subframe lays the foundation for the all-new rear end. Understanding that the tank dominates the landscape on a NineT, Aditya wanted to combine it with a rear cowl that was small in dimension but big on impact. And the design certainly achieves that, the three central humps add all of the right angles, and the razorblade-like back section ensures the whole bike ends with a very deliberate statement.
Down below, a custom belly pan was added to visually tie the front and rear of the bike together. It adds mass low in the chassis and makes the boxer engine look more integrated into the design. The headlight cowl is another new piece, with small side vents and smooth contours that give the front end a more finished appearance, and even the front fender has some venting added, so that all of the bike works to create a uniform theme across the build.
Then, to bring it all together, the colour choice had to reflect the bold and aggressive design, and nothing does it quite like an ultra glossy burnt orange finish, which reflects the light with ferocity from every angle. To define the lines, a gloss black has been added to the knee dent section of the tank. And more black and gunmetal grey finishes across the chassis that allow it to visually shrink into the background and let the main elements take centre stage.
The riding position remains upright and usable. Mean Green kept the scrambler ergonomics, but the more upright bars add that extra leverage when required. To give the rider a nice place to sit and match well with the paint work, the aged tan leather seat is a beautiful addition. To further tidy up the rear end, the factory number plate mount has been ditched, with an axle-mounted item creating a clear path for the final mods to come. The first of these is the triple lens taillight, all custom made and lit with uber-bright LEDs.
But the big mechanical change and the one that transforms the whole bike from mild to wild is that exhaust system. A neatly routed front section runs under the seat, before a pair of custom pipes deliver the side-by-side shotgun boom, with a true Indian touch coming in the way of the copper look machined end caps. Then, to get the bike rolling, the team wrapped things up with a set of Pirelli dual sport tyres and the BMW was battle-ready. The often understated nineT now has all it needs to stand out on the stampeding Mumbai streets, and Mean Green Customs continue to deliver exactly what their customers desire.
