I like my bikes like I like my coffee...
Indonesia is quickly becoming a hotbed for wildy customized
motorcycles, and we are all about it. Seeing a unique spin on the old
retro styles is incredibly refreshing. Last week we showed you a CB650
turned into a chromed-out drag bike, and this week we’ve got a
copper-hued Royal Enfield.
This Continental 650 was built by Krom Works out of South Jakarta,
Indonesia, to be shown off at the Kustomfest motorcycle show.
The motorcycle was dubbed “The 30” by its builder, Andika Pratama, since
he was 30 years old when he built it and it symbolizes his growth
through the industry. The theme of this year’s Kustomfest was “Back to
the Roots”, so the Continental seems like a perfect place to start since
it already is a throwback to the cafe racer
styles of the 1960s. Continuing that theme, Pratama added even more
retro touches, while still adding enough modern design to keep things
fresh.
That swept-back exhaust is the first thing you notice. It’s crafted
from stainless steel and flows smoothly along with the lines of the
engine and frame. If you look closely, you can see the welds from where
the pipes were welded together out of dozens of pie cut sections to get
the curves to flow just right. This was no quick off-the-shelf job,
someone crafted that entire thing piece by piece and then had to make
the other side match.
Then there’s the fairing, which is hand-beaten galvanized steel.
Nothing on The 30 was done the easy way. A new tank, fender, and tail
were also fabricated. In addition to looking gorgeous, the new bodywork
is also lighter than stock, which is always a bonus. The entire tail
section of the bike had to be reworked as Pratama switched out the dual
rear shocks for a single Sachs adjustable monoshock. My favorite detail,
however, might be the leather-wrapped grips.
Performance wise, things were kept mild, but effective. To match that
Sachs unit, the front end got 43mm KYB upside-down forks, and Michelin
Power RS tires are there to take advantage of the high-end hardware.
That rubber is wrapped around Akront wheels that are shorter and wider
than stock. Brembo and Tokico hardware reign things in and a set of
velocity stacks offset the stainless steel exhaust.
You would never guess that somewhere underneath all of the
hand-finished metal and hand-stitched leather is a Royal Enfield, but at
the same time, it doesn’t feel overdone. The 30 is one of those bikes
where you take a step back and everything just looks right. The fact
that Pratama built this at 30 is incredibly impressive, and a little
depressing. I was nowhere near that productive at 30.
