[dZired]

"Cause the machine you sit on tells the world exactly where you stand"

This thinking led Vijay Singh to start a small company, named Rajputana Customs, back in the year 2010. Rajputana Customs is basically a small motorcycle outfit based in Jaipur which builds custom motorcycles on order basis. In just three years of their existence, Rajputana Customs has made 16 custom motorcycles which have earned them a respectable spot in the Motorcycle Customization scene in India.

Being from the city of Jaipur, from which this Company evolved, I am creating this thread to showcase their superb Craftsmanship and Designing. But before going into the details of their creations I would like to point out the following disclaimer.

DISCLAIMER
1. I am in no way related to Rajputana Customs and am making this thread just because I loved their modifications and thought it was worth sharing.

2. The pictures and details mentioned in this thread are directly taken from the FB page of Rajputana Customs and hence are copyrights of the respective owners.

3. The videos attached are courtesy 350cc.com

4. I would like to thank our moderator Rehaan for his prompt replies, whenever I needed him during this write-up.


Well, finally coming to their product line up, Rajputana Motorcycles have till date customized 16 major motorcycles. The names Vijay Singh gives to his creations are quite distinctive, and singular indeed. They not only represent the riders he builds for, but also the quality and vintage of the bike itself. Ranging from 'Nandi' and 'Aghori' to 'Bittu', an especially unique characteristic of these baptized beauties are their very Indian, and if I might add, very 'solid' names.

Without wasting more time, I would like to introduce, one-by-one, the creations of Rajputana Customs, along with whatever knowledge I was able to gather.

[dZired]

ORIGINAL GANGSTER (OG)

This was the first attempt of Rajputana Customs. It was also showcased at the New Delhi Auto Expo 2010, where it got an over whelming response. It has a Royal Enfield 350 engine as its heart.
I'll let the pictures do the talking.

Keepin it old school with the white walls 17' rear & 21' front and the hand shifter.


Clean looking front (no massive disk & calipers, springer fork and internal wiring)


Built everything apart from the wheels, tires, and 350 Twinspark engine block


Streamlined



Internal throttle assembly (I dont know its exact working)


Notice the absence of throttle, clutch and brake on the handlebars.


And this is why the handlebars are empty - The Hand Shifter.


Chrome headlamps.


Electrical box and Air Filter


Closer look on the 'empty' hadlebars.


This is how the hand shifter is operated.


Parting shot. Retro meets retro. This background suits the OG best.

[dZired]

LIGHT FOOT

This bike was made for John Abraham. It draws inspiration from the American ‘Board Track Racer’ of the 1910′s where motorcycle races were conducted on oval race courses which were about 3km long and the surface composed of wooden planks. Not surprisingly, John being a true connoisseur of two-wheels was well versed in motorcycle design as well as its technicalities. According to Vijay Singh, the owner at Rajputana Customs, “it was a true pleasure to sit down with him and go over aspects of his custom machine.”

Tech Specs:
• The new RE 500cc engine
• Girder front suspension (Original 1948 BSA 500 Spring)
• Internal throttle assembly
• Hand engraving on all brass parts
• Hand wrapped & stitched leather for the 2 exhaust guards, hand levers, grips, footrests, & battery box
• Custom milled hub and spokes to support the 21″ front.
• Single side drum brakes to keep with the old school aesthetics
• Leaf spring seat perfectly tempered to support 90Kgs (John's weight)
• Charcoal gold highlighting on the mat black paint

Engine Specs:
Engine:Single Cylinder, 4 Stroke, OHV, SI Engine, Air cooled, and Fuel Injection
Displacement:499 CC
Bore x Stroke:84 mm x 90 mm
Maximum Power:27.2 bhp @ 5250 rpm
Maximum Torque:41.3 Nm @ 4000 rpm
Transmission: 5 Speed (left foot gear shift)
Ignition:Electronic Ignition

Low slung, subtle, without the any bling




Custom hand engraving for a few parts used to highlight the overall design.


The brass has been treated to look 'old and used' to match the matt paint job.


"Gas" cap. It says "GAS" if you read carefully


John with his new possession.



The creator, the creation, and the owner.


Following pics are courtesy Autocar India.





A video of John with Vijay Singh and his bike.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDA6mrcgtAs

[dZired]

NANDI

This was the third bike made by RM and the first to get a retro name.

Tech Specs
Royal Enfield Twinspark EFI 500 Engine
300 mm Rear Tyre
23in Front Tyre
Spoke Rims turned on our own dyes
Billet Aluminium Hubs machined here
Rear Sprocket and Jack Shaft (secondary drive chain) also made in-house
Springer front end in-house
Drop Down Mirrors
Brass Ring highlights and etching
Copper tubing to run the wiring for the rear tail lights



Notice the fat rear tyre



The helmet is painted to match the motorcycle's theme.


Closer look at the helmet.



That round thing in chrome below the petrol tank is the air filter.



Did you find something unusual? Take a look at the Rear View Mirrors on the handlebar.






The RE 500 engine block



Those tiny red things on rear end of the chassis are tail lights.


Closer look at the tail lights.


Some front shots.

[dZired]

UNO

Getting out of their old school theme, Rajputana Customs made a new school chopper in may 2011.

Tech Specs
23in Front and 240mm Rear tyre
Mono-shock soft tail
Airbrushed Snake-skin effect paint job
Super wide and think Front suspension, T, and handlebars to go with the butch 23in tyre
Everything was milled and fabricated in-house apart from the engine block, electricals and a few tit-bits here and there.

[dZired]

LOCO

This time Rajputana Customs made a budget motorcycle and named it LOCO. Loco was announced with a price tag of 75K to 1.5 Lacs, where the default look will be within 75K to 90K, if you don’t want some add on looks on those customs. Donor bike must be provided by the customer. No wonder, the price is worth the classic beauty they built.

[dZired]

CHINGARI

With a budget of 1.5 lakhs, Rajputana Customs made their first attempt to build a cafe racer and named it "chingari". They did not reveal any technical specifications of the bike.





























A video of Chingari

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJr-2fqMNVs

[dZired]

8 BALL

This time Rajputana Customs decided to take a project of building a Bobber using a Royal Enfield.

Vijay from Rajputana takes up the story. "The bike was built as an anniversary present from Mohit Sharma to his wife Anjali Sharma, it has a detachable pillion seat which you cant see in the pictures. This is the 8th bike from RCM and coincidentally Mohit is a great pool player. This gave birth to the whole "8 Ball" theme."





































And here is a video of the 8Ball Bobber.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FKAMjfoZxoI

[dZired]

AGHORI

Tech Specs
500cc RE engine block
Springer front-end, Monoshock rear.
Airbrushing done by "Tool Head Customs" Mumbai












Yes, you guessed it right. That is the fuel cap.




















Video time.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaUgJlZ91Vc

[dZired]

RAANGAD

Rangaad was, somehow a replica of their early production Nandi, which was another eye catcher. The term “Raangad" is a Rajasthani word (slang) for an aggressive and wild person.

Talking on Raangad, Vijay says, “It was made for a big guy in New Delhi, who does heavy weight training and wanted a big bike to go with his looks. He loved Nandi and was insistent that we build him an identical bike, nonetheless, everyone knows that we never build 2 bikes which are identical.” The bike was built from a Donor bike 500cc Royal Enfield, Vijay disclosed “Even though both the tyre sizes of the Nandi and Raangad are the same (3000 rear and 130×23 front), there are a whole lot of differences in the 2 bikes. If you start with the frame we have split double down-tubes on Raangad as opposed to to the single on Nandi, Raangad is a mono-shock softail & Nandi is a hardtail. The handlebars and riding postures (footpegs) are also completely different and the list goes on. ”

Now the main part is pricing, what Vijay says, is pretty justified for such an excellent custom. “A bike like this will cost 4.5 lakhs to customize and take 2 months to build“. They did all Justice with the price and accessories. He says, “we gave Raangad a detachable second seat along with 2 custom painted helmets which you can see in one of the pictures”.

[dZired]

BITTOO

Rajputana Custom Motorcycle, in short, RCM’s second custom on a V-twin engine. The first one was the Rajmata, which I will discuss later in this thread.
This motorcycle is called “Bittoo” because the boys in the shop have always called her “Bittoo” as opposed to “V-2 or V-Twin” since they sound the same. It was innocent mispronunciation that sparked the name, so there you have it, no heavy names with descriptive meanings behind them.

“The donor bike was originally a Honda Steed 400cc that was restored and customized by us. The owner wanted a simple and subtle looking bike which didn’t stand out in a crowd instantly. We stuck with an all Black and Chrome theme for the bike with a few highlights of metal work and led lights. She sounds like a beauty and rides real smooth as well.” Said Vijay.
How about the Price? Well if you have a Honda Steed 400cc, you’ll get a great deal. It’s about INR 2.2Lakh ($4400) for the custom charge. Since Vijay mentioned, the same custom can’t be done with a Royal Enfield.



Notice the detailing here.






That is the electrical box. Notice the switch.












Video of "Bitto"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dVkVEAhAzjo

[dZired]

RAJMATA

I believe that everything should end on a higher note, and hence I saved my favorite modification by RCM for the end of this post.

Rajmata was originally a 1200cc Harley Davidson 48 from Mumbai. It was RCM's first project based on a V-Twin. The owner wanted a bike that looks Rajputana. So Vijay Singh came up with a special plan for the Harley. Apart from adding two mean-looking, one-of-their-kind suspension springers, secondary drive trains, etc. and, basically remaking the bike from frame up, he decorated it in traditional Rajasthani style. “There is naqaashi on it and the leather work has been done by horse saddle makers,” reveals Singh. It took Singh six months to complete this project. This bike was also showcased at the Delhi Auto Expo 2012.

Redgarding the name, Singh said, ‘We always treat our bikes like women. And, naturally, the one which is most beautiful like the queen mother, should be called Rajmata'.











































And finally, Vijay Singh and Rajmata.

[Rehaan]

Such beautiful and bespoke stuff that really makes perfect use of the hand-crafted Jaipur flavour.

Loved the look of those clean handlebars (internal throttle cabling) too!

Thanks for putting this thread together. I had met the guy at Auto Expo 2010 when he had just started out. Only got a few pictures of one bike at that time. I'm just amazed we haven't had a thread dedicated to Rajputana since then.

cya
R

[alpha1]

Bloody awesome!
Super work of art ... and also great photography - who's done it?

My personal favorite would be the Original Charm - has the extreme vintage vibe to it.

[mayankjha1806]

Truly freaking awesome!

Surprisingly being closely tuned to auto industry and spending decent amount of quality time on Team BHP, and i was still not aware of them.

Some of them look truly awesome, any idea how much it could cost to own one? Also does RE service them in their shop or it needs something special to get serviced every-time?