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Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Video! Homemade Enfield V-twin hits road
Aniket Vardhan's homemade Royal Enfield V-twin motorcycle is running and on the road. The young man in Columbus, Ohio built his own Royal Enfield 700cc V-twin motor from two 350 motors. Now, he writes:
"I'm utterly thrilled to finally be able to show you the almost complete bike. Still needs mufflers and a few odds and ends but I have been riding it every day. First ride on Friday night, did a 40-mile ride on Saturday, she's running perfectly well! Hasn't skipped a beat, no signs of overheating, no pipe bluing on the long ride, (did a very short burst heavy on the throttle -- saw the needle hover between 140-150kmh), still had some throttle left.
"I have a 20-tooth output sprocket right now (Ed: standard is only 17 or 18!), for a final ratio of 4.22/1 and I think this may be a good choice. She feels like she could do a bit taller still.
"Torque is really nice -- she pulls smoothly as low as 40km/hr in top gear and accelerates right from there without any snatching. Idles steadily regardless.
"It feels really mellow and almost hypnotic to hear the steady rumble at around 90 kmh (55 mph), when the engine sounds perfectly relaxed and unhurried, cruising along. Engine revs have dropped 25 per cent below the 350.
"Had some major clutch slippage first time round (expected), that seems to have gone with new plates and heavier springs. was thinking of trying the five-plate clutch but seems to not be necessary yet."
Here's his walk-around description of the motorcycle, which has a frame he stretched six inches.
Vardhan is originally from New Delhi. He came to the U.S. in 1999 for a master's degree in Industrial Design. He left his job as an assistant professor of Industrial Design at an art and design school in Columbus in July, 2008. He says his dream has been creating a Royal Enfield V-twin. He first showed the world his V-twin in a YouTube video posted in February, 2009.
Now he is on the road. A terrific accomplishment.
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What an accomplishment! It sounds and looks great.
ReplyDeleteThat is very cool.
ReplyDeleteSo, what is the future? Will production of these engines start? Will they be cheaper than the Carberry? Or is this a one-of-a-kind deal?
ReplyDeleteJorge, this is one man's dream and it has a lot of appeal because lots of us wish we could have pulled this off. I doubt Aniket forsees production, but he has created a priceless machine and a hell of a calling card for himself.
ReplyDeleteThat is AWESOME!
ReplyDeletethat is absoloutely wonderful. i have been following his developments since i came accross the first video on youtube. the proportions of the bike are good. i wonder if it will look better with a standard tank though.
ReplyDeletei wish i could a bike like that
that is absoloutely wonderful. i have been following his developments since i came accross the first video on youtube. the proportions of the bike are good. i wonder if it will look better with a standard tank though.
ReplyDeleteCool!
ReplyDeleteBeen following this project since saw the engine vid here on this blog. Superb engineering. Proportions just right. Sounds fantastic.
ReplyDeleteThis thing has great postmarket potential (as does the Carberry)
ReplyDeleteBy comparason, I wonder if Hitchcock's has been happy with the sales
of their 612cc conversion kit..It's the nearest reral-world equivalent.
And I'm sure the 700 v-twin would appeal to many more people.
What a killer bike!!! Can't even imagine the feeling one will get when one rides it!
ReplyDeleteExcellent! What a lovely noise, bet the neighbours love it! I think he may need a front disk brake conversion soon!
ReplyDeleteVardhan
ReplyDeleteWell done. All (4) of us at Carberry think what you have done is tremendous. A Herculean Effort. Congratulations. First production Carberry is on the road next month come what may so we know what you must have gone through to do what you have done.
Mike Floyd
Vardhan,
ReplyDeleteHI
Congratulations .. it was always a dream to see enfields reach that place.
Egli,carberry and you
what is the future?
Are you looking at short runs?
I think new design is a must..
Chandrashekhar
www.futuringdesign.com
I saw it in person monday night. He's got exhaust all the way back in a stacked pipe style with small silencers on the ends. It still starts up first kick and draws a crowd wherever he takes it. Awesome machine and a really cool guy.
ReplyDeleteThis is one of the best looking bikes I think I have ever seen, grate job on the engin.
ReplyDeleteI wish it would be taken up by Royal Enfield as a production bike , I would love to have one. :-)
You know even a series of .dfx files that I could plug into a CNC mill to carve out the crankcase etc would be a sellable item.
ReplyDeleteNeil R
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