Sublime Royal Enfield Continental GT Cafe Racer Is All About the Handmade Bodywork
It’s hard to pinpoint exactly why, but there’s a distinctive charm characterizing most custom motorcycles built in Indonesia. That shouldn’t really come as a surprise, because the nation is a genuine hotspot for customization and home to countless top-tier workshops. Each year, the city of Yogyakarta in south-central Java hosts the world-famous Kustomfest, where the most talented Indonesian builders come together to exhibit their work.
Proficient metal fabrication is Kromworks’ main specialty, and that should be pretty apparent when looking at this svelte cafe racer. Andika went with a Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 as the project’s starting point, taking an already-gorgeous machine and making it twice as sexy. The handmade bodywork is clearly the star of the show here, but there are many other tasty mods for us to admire throughout this build.
We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s dive straight in without further ado. The first step saw our protagonist taking everything apart and deleting things such as the stock bodywork, suspension, and brakes, which left him with a blank canvas ripe for customization. Starting with the powertrain sector, the GT 650’s parallel-twin mill was left pretty much unchanged on the inside. Externally, its covers got cloaked in a layer of gloss-black powder coating.
The intake and exhaust work was far more extensive, though, with the former involving the addition of twin velocity stacks where the factory airbox had previously been. There’s nothing too crazy about that, of course, but the exhaust side of the equation is where things got really spicy. Andika fashioned the new plumbing from scratch using stainless-steel, creating a seamless, uninterrupted curve from the ports to the silencers.
Photo: Kromworks
Moving on to the structural adjustments, he ditched the Continental GT’s original rims in favor of 17-inch Akront substitutes. These are hugged by grippy Michelin Power RS rubber fore and aft, but their larger width also called for a pair of fresh sprockets at the back. A D.I.D drive chain connects them to one another, and there’s a hell of a lot more going on in that area.
Gone is the Enfield’s standard twin-shock suspension arrangement, making room for a single adjustable nitrogen shock from Sachs. As you can imagine, the swingarm had to be extensively revised in order to accommodate this new setup, and Kromworks aced it without breaking too much of a sweat. Up north, suspension duties are taken good care of by inverted KYB forks measuring 43 mm (1.7 inches) in diameter.
For more stopping power than a GT 650 will ever need, the project’s author installed dual 310 mm (12.2-inch) Brembo brake discs and six-piston Tokico calipers at the front. Down south, we come across a four-piston Tokico caliper pinching a drilled rotor, and there are braided stainless-steel brake lines all-round. Take a look at the bike’s updated cockpit area, and you’ll notice clip-on handlebars equipped with Nissin master cylinders and brown leather grips.
Photo: Kromworks
A compact digital dial is placed in between all these goodies, right above a custom triple clamp with built-in ignition paraphernalia. Now, you’re probably aching to learn more about the creature’s breathtaking outfit, so that’s precisely what we will be covering next. Instead of shaping it out of aluminum, Andika used slightly heavier galvanized steel for the sake of durability.
Starting at the front, we’re greeted by a stunning cafe racer-style fairing fitted in place via bespoke brackets, along with a tiny fender lower down. Right behind the cockpit is a one-off fuel tank featuring knee indentations and a flush-mounted filler cap, all flanked by a pair of chrome-plated air scoops. At six o’clock, Kromworks first swapped the stock subframe with a tailor-made unit built in-house.
Then, the whole shebang got topped with a pointy tail section and accompanying air scoops wrapped in chrome, as well as two-piece black leather saddle with room for one. In a very subtle manner, the tail’s design echoes that of the exhaust pipework for some sweet visual continuity. With the bodywork fabrication taken care of, the last job on Andika’s list was the livery.
A superb matte-copper hue was chosen as the base color for the Continental GT’s new overalls, and it is accompanied by silver leaf detailing and chromed surfaces. All things considered, this rad cafe racer may not be a practical option for street riding, but its breathtaking looks made it a worthy addition to the Kustomfest lineup, for sure. As always, Andika Pratama spared no expense in making his vision come to life, and the result speaks for itself.
This article was originally published by a www.autoevolution.com . Read the Original article here. .