Written by Martin Hodgson

For the past few years motorcycle manufacturers have embraced custom builders and through various competitions have had them give a new look to their latest releases. But even a good idea can start to grow stale and rather than stick to the well-worn path, Indonesia’s Royal Enfield importer turned to a fresh pair of eyes. The result is a RE Himalayan designed and executed by leading architect Julian Palapa; ready to rip up the jammed roads of Jakarta, it’s called .02View.

Written by Martin Hodgson

Few, if any, foreigners will travel to the magical nation of India and leave without experiencing a life-altering change. However, it’s also a daunting place for the virgin traveler and one of the first things you’re confronted by is the traffic. So in a sea of two-wheels, four, diesel smoke and animals it can be hard to stand out. Picking a Royal Enfield doesn’t make the task any easier, they’re everywhere! But Cycle City Customs in the Northern city of Ludhiana were up to the challenge and have gone above and beyond a mere cosmetic makeover in transforming their one-off 2012 Classic 500 into a genuine Hot Rod for the Indian streets.

Written by Martin Hodgson

Two of our favourite surprises of 2018 was the release of the Royal Enfield Twins and the emergence of South East Asia as a hotbed of custom bike craftsmanship. So it comes as no surprise to us here at Pipeburn HQ that the two have been combined to produce this stunning creation. With the 2019 Bangkok International Motor Show fast approaching, Royal Enfield approached Thailand’s Zeus Customs to build them a crowd pleaser on an insanely tight deadline. Head honcho Mooyong answered the call and delivered this stunning 2018 RE Interceptor 650 to award winning success!

It’s September 26th, 2017. Through a series of events I still don’t quite understand, I’m sitting in the boardroom of the new Royal Enfield Technical Centre at Bruntingthorpe in the UK. Next to me is Siddharth Lal who’s the son of Vikram Lal, one of India’s richest men. ‘Sid’, as he’s called, is the CEO of Royal Enfield…

I have long thought that the original Mad Max is the best bike movie ever made. Improving on it would be harder than climbing Everest in roller skates. But there is one thing I think just might up the ante on the original, and Boston’s Madhouse Motors have just built the new movie’s star bike…

It’s easy for us in the west. Want to build an old airhead? Fire up Craigslist, go kick some tires and sooner or later you’ll have some Bavarian moto-goodness sitting in the shed. But in other parts of the world the dance is much harder. Like in Chennai, India, where Royal Enfield gurus KR Customs made this…

Let’s not beat around the bush; Bandit9’s critics have been many and varied. But for shop owner Daryl Villanueva, none of this really mattered. Like anybody with an honest-to-goodness mission in life, he knew where he was going and what he was doing…

One of the best things about running a motorcycle blog are the friends that we make around the world. We’re on solid beer-drinking terms with builders in the US, across Europe and Australasia. But the guys that we really love are the mad buggers from Indonesia, like the team from Lembinc…

EXCLUSIVE: What do you get when a builder at the top of his game and a manufacturer with a game changing new bike cross paths? In this exclusive interview with Rough Craft’s Winston Yeh – done in his home city of Taipei – we talked with one of Asia’s best customisers about his new project…

One of the best damn things to happen to the custom scene in years is the rise of the developing world. Countries in South America, Central America and Southeast Asia have been smashing builds out of the park. Builds driven by a level of craftsmanship and dedication that leave westerners in their wake…