At the close of the most recent financial year, the bean counters at Royal Enfield had one hell of an impressive number to take to management; the company had produced and sold a million motorcycles in that twelve-month period. The company is simply booming, and you’d be hard pressed to find a place on earth where you don’t see an RE on the road; but nowhere do they loom as large as in their home country of India. The love for the brand is a national pastime, and workshops like Eimor Customs service a clientele who want to do something truly special with their RE. The latest build to roll out of the Hyderabad-based powerhouse is ‘Shibusa’, a 2012 Royal Enfield Classic 350, which is transported back to a golden age as a brass popping Bobber with all of the fruit.
Eimor stands for East India Motorcycle Revolution and was founded back in 2011 by friends MJ and Joy, who decided because they couldn’t find anyone to build bikes to the quality they desired, they’d just have to go out and do it themselves. And over the years they’ve not only assembled an incredibly talented team, but they’ve built countless custom motorcycles of the highest standard. They like to use a lot of locally manufactured machines for their projects, and while it is not as evident on this build as it is on others, they have by far the best paint and graphics department on the sub-continent. Now, that’s a big call, we’re talking over 1.5 billion people, but if you look at their website and check out the incredible panel, paint and airbrushing work they do, I’m sure you’ll agree.
But for this build, they wanted to go more old school, “The idea was to make it a classic motorcycle with vintage styling and old school lines. The motorcycle was envisioned to be a simple yet sophisticated bobber, with minimal and purpose-oriented body panels,” the team tells us. This would give them a chance to show off some of their other skills, which include the signature Indian touch of beautifully machined brass work and timeless leather craftsmanship. So, they had to select a base, and in the RE Classic 350, you get a modern motorcycle that lends itself very well to the vintage look, straight from the factory floor.
The first task for the team was to strip back the bike until all they had sitting in front of them was the stock frame and the engine. From here they could not only envisage the design but sit down and sketch it by hand, before transferring the whole thing onto the computer. Eimor is brilliant at using everything from the latest in CAD to the oldest of metal shaping techniques, and with a 3D visualisation of their end goal, the guys could get to work. To get the stretched-out vintage bike look, the first step was to re-engineer the rear of the bike. This begins with a custom swingarm, which is three inches over stock, and when teamed up with the shortened shocks, gives the bike a slammed to the ground appearance.
To suit the change and add some extra strength to the upper shock mounts, a set of neat bars act as braces from the seat posts, while a custom side stand was also fabricated to deal with the new height. Then to really capture that vintage vibe, the guys set about crafting their own girder fork and knew that building it from scratch was the only way to go. Starting with seamless steel tube, all of the angles were calculated, measured multiple times and then cut with beautiful welds bringing it all together. An old school chrome spring captures that real best of British touch, and the dogbones are as neat as can be.
To get the bike rolling, a new axle slides through a highly polished front aluminium hub, with both ends wearing 18-inch rims, with zinc-coated spokes and brass nipples. Time for the bodywork and the team had a clear plan of attack, “to use a mix of naked aluminium panels, brass embellishments and painted steel panels.” The raw alloy fuel tank has that real mix of signature Indian fabrication work and Enfield styling, and it’s all given extra life thanks to a machined brass filler and strap, vintage knee pads and classic graphics. The fenders come to life using all of the desired materials, hand beaten from aluminium, with steel struts and more brass for that extra bling.
The final piece of the bodywork forms the first part of the mechanical transformation, and while most might think that’s an oil bag sitting under the seat, it serves a very different purpose. On one side it acts as the air box, complete with a foam filter, while the second half is used to hide the battery and a bunch of the wiring. The rest of the engine work is kept simple, with a set of highly polished side covers, and a brilliantly buffed exhaust system, offset by the machined brass that serves as the footpegs and the mid-controls. Even the small handles to access the battery are made from brass, as is the stunning rear light housing.
The headlight is a vintage 4.5-inch tractor item and the crash protection bars get fitted out with a single yellow lensed spotlight. Time to strip things down, and the paint shop had one of their easier tasks, hitting the frame and a large number of the components with a creamy matte white. But that just allows elements like the incredibly stitched leather seat to take centre stage and the matching leather grips are simply flawless. The guys kept the factory switch gear to retain full control, but the levers are brass and the adaptation of a disc brake to the girder is brilliant. A vintage Smiths clock is the perfect touch and if ever a bike could get away with wearing classic Shinko rubber, this is it. It’s another masterclass of Indian bike building from Eimor Customs and you can expect to see a lot more from the uber talented team, who can build a bike to suit any taste; like this creamy classic bobber with tasty bites of brass.
[ Eimor Customs ]