He’s the Frank Zappa of the custom motorcycle scene, a totally independent, avant-garde artist who cares only about the creative process and the places it takes him. Daryl Villanueva is unlike any other builder we’ve encountered over the years, and along with the team around him, could easily adopt Zappa’s band name, Mothers of Invention. But instead, they are known worldwide as Bandit9, and their commitment to innovation and nonconformity is legendary, often sparking both enthusiasm and controversy. After putting in the hard work in the early years, high-end collectors, museums, and manufacturers have all come calling. And this bike, bound for a client in Germany and named Arthur II, is Daryl’s all-new take on an earlier design, adapted to the form of a Royal Enfield 650.
It’s not the first time Bandit9 has worked with Royal Enfield’s product. The original Arthur was built on the single-cylinder 535cc platform, as was a stunning bobber called Merlin. In 2021, Royal Enfield commissioned Daryl to create a kit for the GT 650, a true bolt-on affair that transformed the traditional lines of the company’s bike into a futuristic fire-breather, all with an instruction manual and a few hand tools. This gave Daryl a new challenge, creating a motorcycle that maintained true Bandit9 DNA, while still being easy to reverse. It was a far cry from his one-off, handbuilt bikes, but it taught him a huge amount about the RE parallel twin platform.
So, when the call came from Germany, Daryl was more than confident he could transfer the magic of the original Arthur onto the bigger bike, making it better and even more groundbreaking the second time around. The foundation of Arthur II is what Daryl calls a “custom parametric steel frame,” utilising stock areas of the frame, like the headstock, swingarm pivot surround, and engine mounts while removing elements that didn’t align with the design and adding new components to enhance the modifications to come. One key benefit is the ability to mount the new tank, lower over the frame.
Another big change is the complete removal of the subframe, replaced with a sleek new piece that has no lower mounting points arising from the bottom of the frame. Instead, they curl out from high on the centre posts. These changes may seem like small deviations from what others have done before, but they are crucial in allowing the Bandit9 design to come to life. A stunning aspect of that design is the twin lay-down horizontal shocks, which now control the rear end. New mounts have been added to the centre posts, and pivot points rise from the middle of the swingarm. All these parts are then hand-sanded and polished to a mirror finish.
Unlike the wild rear suspension setup, the front end remains relatively standard but still perfectly fits the brief. The forks have been internally lowered and then dropped through a set of triple clamps, which have been stripped of any tabs and bracket mounting points, leaving them utterly clean. Once again, it’s all hands on deck for the polishing process, as the parts are stripped down to their individual components and then polished to perfection. To add to the clean lines of the front end, Daryl designed a set of one-off bars that take on a board tracker style and mount below the lower triple.
The Bandit9 workshop never slows down, but it’s never more vibrant than when the team is working on creating one-off panels. Daryl chose to use only aluminium for the bodywork, and as always, the results are stunning. The cafe racer-inspired tail looks like it’s going a million miles an hour, even while standing still. The swooping lines and the complete lack of seams give it a sci-fi aesthetic. It literally slides over the new subframe, using hidden mounts to give it the appearance of floating over those new mechanical components of the back end.
The tank, on the other hand, is heavily inspired by the original Arthur build, this time using the lines of the GT 650 but with exaggerated knee dents and concave sides, evoking the image of a full moon beaming in the night sky. It’s finished off with a flush-mount, pop-up gas cap, and like the rest of the bike, polished heavily. To finish off the main aspects of the build, the seat is shaped to suit the design and upholstered in high-quality leather with matching grips. But those grips don’t just sit on a stock throttle, the mechanism, the switchgear, and the levers are all handmade to Daryl’s exacting specifications.
The engine remains relatively stock, but the long, sweeping header pipes that flow seamlessly into the handbuilt mufflers are a work of art. The side covers and other crucial components are polished, and the new airbox is stunning. It’s designed to give the twin intakes a single entry through a meshed enclosure, with a custom foam filter inside.
To complete the bike, everything needed to make this motorcycle road legal is once again handcrafted, from the lighting and indicator surrounds to the footpegs, heel guards, and company logo cut into the radiator protector. Like any Bandit9 bike, Arthur II will get tongues talking at a million miles an hour, but there’s no doubt that Daryl Villanueva continues to shake up the game, earning many admires along the way.
[ Bandit9 ]