The custom motorcycle scene in India is gathering maturity by leaps and bounds and while the influx of newer and modern techno-machinery delights many of the nation’s bikers, the flavour of the base or donor machine remains the classic single cylinder Royal Enfield lump, more often than not being the Bullet. It was therefore a very brave move for a young budding customiser cum motorcycle enthusiast, Jay Patel to think laterally within the Royal Enfield portfolio to shun the Bullet in favour of, well the Bullet-based Thunderbird!
It is this differentiated approach that marks out Jay Patel who has followed his heart in practically everything he has done to date but while convincing his parents – simple folks who always looked and hoped for the best for their son – that what he wanted to do wasn’t mainstream but yet he could build it into something substantial and worthwhile as a profession. And just to reiterate and reinforce what he could, to his disbelieving parents, he scripted a proper movie on the type of work he wanted to do, with design and craftsmanship all his own. This rare method of impressing his parents worked and from then on, his father let him be, allowing him free and total access to his engineering cum fabrication shop in Vadodara. Young Jay cut his teeth by restoring his father’s 1978 Land Rover Defender and then got on to creating his first custom two-wheeler based on a, wait for it, Bajaj Pulsar. His rationale then was to be uber creative, for the Pulsar was already a sporty machine so a café racer was out and bobber style treatment was meted out to it! That Pulsar got J & D Custom Co. off and running in 2014. Since then it has done a variety of machines (eight in all to date) and this, the eighth in the series, is perhaps the best of his creations and one which truly ranks right up there with the best of them globally!
First a small definition of what exactly is a bobber because this name has gathered ample moss in the Indian motorcycling lexicon over the last few years and a few months ago Triumph also launched its Bonneville-based Bobber in the market. It came from Yankeeland where enthusiasts used to cut and chop Harleys, Indians, Hendersons and whatnot and the phrases “cut down” or “bob job” were thrown up every time someone stripped the basic machine to make it look sporty or to get it going quicker than the original. Of course bobbers had to have that quintessential upright stance and that deliciously terrifying stripped down appeal, not exactly a rat rod style but one where the essence was basic, yet raw and sporty. Jay decided that for his eighth build he had to do a meaningful bobber and since he had never attempted one with a Royal Enfield, he decided this was the time to use an example of this brand and work his magic on it.
However there was a slight twist in his selection of Royal Enfield and he didn’t bite the Bullet so to speak but went after the heart of a bird of a different kind – the RE Thunderbird. Well, to be precise, he just picked the tallish Thunderbird 350cc mill worked on by AVL and based his new creation right around it. Barring the engine, everything on this Baroda Bobber (named by me, as Jay did everything but christen it!) is custom crafted by Jay who worked on this bike for close to eight months before firing it to life and into our subconscious!
Yes I mustn’t forget that a part of the original Royal Enfield frame was used, the front downtube but from there on even the frame was completely configured by Jay to give it a completely new steering head. From there it was but de rigeur to apply a set of rigid front forks with just a touch of springing. There is no springing at all at the rear; this being a rigid rear end and the only suspension for the rider is by way of the sprung saddle! No pain no gain mantra at play here.
The engine has been worked on by Jay with a handmade velocity stack for the carburettor but what sets the whole power unit ensemble differently from so many other RE-based custom jobs has to be the exhaust. This is crafted from well over 12 sections made from stainless steel bends that were TIG-welded to form one sinuously gorgeous unit that loops around on the right-hand-side of the bike and exhausts via a small tip just above the gearbox. Tuned length, open exhaust without a silencer box and the traditional RE thump has been given a strong bass to deliver aural pleasure of a different kind. One of the key elements of any custom job is the personal involvement of its creator and even though Jay didn’t know or have any experience whatsoever of TIG-welding, he learnt this himself and perfected it to make the exhaust with those coloured welded joints emerging to near perfection.
And to rewind into the past, he discarded the foot shifter and crafted a suicide clutch and jockey shifter on the left to add a new “old style” dimension to the art of gear shifting on this bike. If you notice in the images, there is no clutch lever on the left-hand-side of the handlebar, in fact there’s no lever at all there. Instead the left foot pedal actuates the clutch, as was the case with many bikes in the 1920s up till the mid-1940s. Even the hand-shifter is a work of art and something that has been done so brilliantly, as if the factory had conjured it up! I am sure that the Baroda Bobber revels in its old school feel when on the move; especially the way one goes through the veritable gearbox!
The look of the bike may be stark but there’s something ethereal about its minimalistic beauty. The fuel tank is all-new and Jay says that it was definitely inspired by the Royal Enfield signature tanks in its cosmetic detailing, especially the pin-striping. The tank was beaten into shape and crafted by him and even though it has two fuel filler caps – both operational – the tank doesn’t have separate compartments but is one big reservoir for petrol. These fuel caps plus that chrome rod running as a spine across the length of the petrol tank is a definite design detail and sets the period perspective very nicely.
Moving on to the saddle then and this is another work of art, crafted in genuine leather that is set off in a medley of brown and light tan with diamond stitching, this sets off very well against the deep gloss black of the tank and the rear mudguard. This bobber has a hard-tailed back end (Jay says that he did this for it was representative of the commitment of custom bike builders who went by the “no matter how hard the road gets, but keep thumping ahead” motto!) and that rear mudguard also has classy pin-striping in keeping with the tank.
For me, as also with most of the great custom crafters globally, a motorcycle shouldn’t be seen with messy wiring and cables. This is one of the first bikes in the country where I have seen almost all of these spindly wires and ungainly cables having been shrouded! The entire wiring loom was redesigned and the entire electric system of the bike is housed in that nifty box (replete with gold leaf pin-striping) below the saddle – from the starter relay to the rectifier to the ignition switch, the push button starter switch, the toggle type kill switch and also the switches for the headlight, everything is so sanitary and clinical yet simplistically done to deliver a sheen of elegance to the entire ensemble. Maybe the only cables protruding are those for the front brakes and after I pointed this out to Jay he said that he would work on it and shroud it better. Also in case someone misses it, the battery is placed below the box housing the electric bits and it is also shrouded in a leather cover using the same material for the seat.
The handlebar is one tubular bar angled towards the rider with the grips as well as the foot rests being machined from raw steel bars and looking quite the business for this type of a rabble rouser. Even the gear shifter knob was machined in the same way and Jay specially made the front wheel brake lever to his own design. The chromed stays for the rear mudguard are the only other bits that get the chrome treatment and the delicious medley of black painted parts to chromed surfaces makes for a very harmonious whole.
Brings me then to two critical bits that gives this bike a sense of purpose, and that is its stance and its individuality. I think that the choice of tyres was very important and if typical modern rubber had been used this bike would have literally been robbed – and not bobbed – off its character. Jay agonised a lot but then decided to go ahead and buy a pair of 4.00 x 19-inch Firestone Deluxe Champion tyres from the US, the only bits that were bought out. Literally square shouldered, these tyres give the bike not just its period character but also enhance its appeal.
On to the most creative aspect of this Baroda Bobber, and it is those mechanically actuated perimeter disc brakes that were crafted by Jay himself. This was also the toughest detail to accomplish on this bike and it took Jay the better part of three months to perfect it. The machining of these from a single billet and then their fitment to the wheel rim wasn’t a job for the faint hearted but the precision with which Jay managed to get the entire unit outfitted on both wheels is a credit to his workmanship and also his ‘press-on-regardless’ spirit. The rear brake is actuated using a bell crank mechanism while the front is operated via cable and it is this cable that needs to be better routed and shrouded in keeping with the clean ethos of the bike. However, getting back to the brakes, I quizzed Jay as to why mechanical type actuation and he said that time had run out for him to complete the job and doing this for the first time he didn’t want to add more complexity so it had to be mechanical callipers. However he called me just a day before this issue was being put to bed and informed me that he has begun work on a hydraulic system for the brakes and this should be ready within the next month or so. The adoption of the large perimeter disc on the front makes those wheel hubs look so dishy and the colour co-ordination of the wheel rims in black and the hubs and spokes in chrome lends a classy look to the entire machine.
The headlamp has a four-inch lens and was crafted by Jay himself and it blends itself so effortlessly into the whole scheme of things, not crying out loud for acceptance yet being very much part of the furniture so to speak. The tiny singleton rear tail light is placed on the level of the axle position on the rear wheel, blink and you’d miss it, so very well configured it has been and located.
Many a time, when works of rolling art on two-wheels are created, they more often than not seem to be kept in solitary static splendour but not this Baroda Bobber! The bike rides and hauls well while howling its way on the open roads. It is a scene-stealer for sure but it also is large-hearted in the way it runs, stops and shouts. So as I hinted in my intro, could it be a worthy contender from India for the AMD World Championship of Custom Bike Building and my answer is an unequivocal ‘Yes!” Go for it will you Jay!