Custom Motorcycles Builders From India

Here we have tried to highlight some well known Indian custom bike builders as well as big names from the global community. Hope you enjoy reading about them.

The custom motorcycle scene in the West, primarily in the U.S began in late 1940s and early 50s. The first surge in popularity was seen during the early 1970s fueled by movies such as the 1969 hit, Easy Rider. The second popularity wave hit the U.S in the early 2000s when TV shows about custom bike builders increased interest once again.

Globally, interest in custom bikes has never been as high as in the U.S. Nevertheless, the U.K, a few others European countries and Australia have their own share of well known Chopper and Bobber style custom bike builders and the industry has been kept alive by a enthusiasts in their respective countries.

Now coming to India, the business of building and selling custom bikes in India is still in a nascent stage. Very few in our country, even among bike enthusiasts are looking for custom, one-off motorcycles. Not surprising considering these two wheelers are pricy, but most often than not nothing more than novelty with little practical use. But no matter how small the custom bike community in India is there are always a few who cater to their needs.

Perhaps India's most well known name in the custom motorcycle arena and certainly the boldest custom bike builder in the country is this small company from Jaipur. Vijay Singh, the man behind Rajputana Customs built his first bike ‘Original Gangster' and showcased it at the 2010 Indian Auto Expo. The very next bike the company built - Lightfoot - was for John Abraham.

Since then Rajputana Customs has built more than a dozen bikes. Custom Royal Enfields, Chopper, Bobber, Cafe Racer style custom bikes, you name it and they'll build it. Rajputana Customs even engages in restoring old classics and building bikes from scratch.

Rajputana Custom bikes cost anywhere from INR 1 lakh to INR 10 lakhs. The Original Gangster, build on a Royal Enfield came with a price tag of INR 5 lakhs. John Abraham's custom Royal Enfield based Lightfoot also cost the same. Whereas Rajmata, a custom Harley Davidson will cost you anywhere between INR 6-8 lakhs.

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This Indian custom bike outfit based in Mumbai is the brainchild of Akshai Varde. Vardenchi specialises in building Chopper style motorcycles that are based on Royal Enfields.

Vardenchi Choppers are characterized by their low ride rear suspensions, elongated fork and tanks, extravagant alloy wheels and massive rear tyres.

Infinity, Slayer, Turbo and Sunburn are among the notable Choppers offered by Vardenchi. These have prices ranging from INR 1.5 lakhs to more than 5 lakhs.

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This Bangalore based Royal Enfield customization garage is run by Ricardo Periera. Bulleteer Customs may not be as big a name as the earlier two, but one of his build was declared to among the top three best custom bikes in India, which speaks volumes about his talent.

Ricardo Periera solely concentrates on customizing NEW Royal Enfield Bullets. Besides classic and retro custom designs some Bulleteer Custom bikes feature a contemporary, look, sometimes referred to as Street Rods. These most often get extensive modifications, including to the engines.

Thor , Eclipse , KArma, Streethawk and Phoenix are few Bulleteer Custom builds. These bikes can cost anywhere from INR 1.5 lakhs to more than INR 3.5 lakhs.

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The annual India Bike Week provides the perfect opportunity to spot all sorts of bikes from around India and abroad, custom bikes included. What's more, IBW even holds a biker build-off competition. The 2014 IBW will take place on Jan 17 and Jan 18 in Goa.

The main attraction at the 2014 IBW will however, be a very famous Chopper. Built by John Levey of JLR Cycles from U.S.A the bike is called Lucky 7, owing to the 7 cylinder engine that powers it!

Lucky 7 is powered by a massive 7 cylinder Rotec R2800 engine that originally came from a small propeller aircraft. The engine generates 216.68 Nm torque and holding the massive engine is a custom tubular steel frame.

From India to the U.S.A. The best place to spot the biggest names and talents from the custom motorcycle world from every corner of the globe would be the annual World Championship of Custom Bike Building. This international biker build-off competition is held by American Motorcycle Dealer (AMD) magazine. Winners are selected from a multitude of categories. Following are winners from two of the categories.

The winner was Second City Customs from the United Kingdom, which built ‘The Naughty Gentleman'. However, the bike we have featured here is the Legend (seen in image), another beautiful bike built by same builders.

Legend is characterized by an elongated and thin fuel tank, old school springer forks, 23 inch front wheel, 20 inch rear wheel, air suspension and a 124 cubic inch S&S motor that turns the rear wheels via Riviera belt drive.

The winner in this category was Rough Crafts' Stealth Bullet from Taiwan (seen in image). The bike is a unique Bobber style motorcycle that exhibits an unconventional styling and a deep black paint.

The 1200cc V-twin engine for the Stealth Bullet custom comes from a Harley Davidson. The front forks of the bike is supported by a single large spring.

It its more than half a decade long history the custom motorcycle world has given birth to several legends. These are men who have made a mark by living their passions and building rides which are legends in their own rights.

The late Indian Larry is a legend from the custom motorcycle building world. His interests were not just limited to bike building but also extended to stunt riding and acting.

Lawrence DeSmedt came be known as Indian Larry after he was seen riding a ‘Chopped' Indian Motorcycle in the 1980s. A renowned old school chopper builder, he died at the age of 55 from injuries received from a motorcycle stunt gone wrong.

Yet another legendary Chopper builder, Pouras is the founder of Denver's Choppers, along with partner Denver Mullins. Denver Choppers, located in San Bernardino, California has been in operation since 1967.

Yet another well known name is that of Ron Finch. Founder of Finch Customs, his designs are some of the most outrageous and unconventional, sometimes bordering the weird.

Other names worth mentioning are Arlen Ness, Rick Fairless, Paul Yaffe, Doug Keim, Fred Kodlin, Jay Allen, Steve Boyles Sr. The list is never ending and new talents are soon catching up!

Now lets shift our focus from famous custom bike manufacturers to popular reality series from the last decade. The resurgence of custom bike building in early 2000s is largely credited to these shows which were full to the brim with star power and custom bikes of every variety imaginable. The shows followed the exploits of bike builders and their teams and also showcased the building process of custom motorcycles, which was a large part of a shows appeal.

The very first of these shows was Motorcycle Mania. This popular TV show followed the day-to-day lives of famous TV personality and well known bike builder Jesse James and his custom bike building company, West Coast Customs.

This was a bike building competition with elements of a typical reality show. What started off as a single special on Discovery Channel soon turned into a long running series due the viewership it garnered. The show pitted two established custom bike builders against each other. Each team had to build a bike from scratch in 10 days. The winner was usually selected through votes casted by fans. During the show viewers got to witness some of the best looking customs bikes of recent times taking shape, starting from their bare bones to the final product.

American Choppers was more a reality series and less a custom bike building show, which look place at Orange County Choppers (OCC) in New York. While the show gained fan following during its early seasons, the continuous drama involving the OCC owner Paul Sr and his sons Paul Jr and Mikey soon overshadowed the core theme of the show, resulting in a drastic drop in viewership. The show was also known for some of the most expensive Chopper style bikes that were built.

This was a small journey we took you on through the world of custom motorcycles in India and the abroad. Hope you enjoyed reading it. Don't forget to leave behind your thoughts.