Royal Enfield Maori

A cafe racer based on a Royal Enfield Continental GT. Single cylinder four-stroke 500cc custom bike.

маори / maori

Concept

A cafe racer built from a Royal Enfield GT500, inspired by Maori tattoos and culture. It is covered in aerographic patterns depicting spirits and beasts, like the ‘Tā moko’ tattoos worn by New Zealand’s indigenous Maori* people.

Awards

This motorcycle took 3rd place in the Freestyle class in the Russian Handbuilt Cup championship at the IMIS 2016 exhibition in St Petersburg, and 1st place in the Cafe Racer class in the Russian Handbuilt Cup championship at the MotoVesna 2016 exhibition in Moscow.

Наши награды
Наши награды

Gallery

Changes

We did not do anything to the engine and transmission. The bike is no faster or more powerful than it used to be. But here’s what we did to change its look:

  • the frame geometry was changed

  • a new fuel tank, tail fairing, seat, front fairing piece and front fender have been crafted

  • the tail fairing piece has the turn and stop signals integrated inside, so it looks like the face of some predatory beast

  • the front fairing piece has two fangs made of epoxy as turn signals on it

  • the seat is hand crafted of leather with stripes to imitate feathers

  • the bike’s sporty look is accented by a red line along the whole bike and a demonic black & red paint on everything that needed painting: the frame, swingarm, footpegs, fork, etc.

  • the frame has an offset for footpeg mounts; this togehter with the new handlebar gives the rider a typical cafe racer sitting position

  • the lightweight and delicate swingarm is welded from steel pipes

  • we said ‘bye’ to the old set of shock absorbers and replaced them with a single, more powerful YSS

  • an HP Corse exhaust and K&M air filter were installed

  • new LED headlights were installed instead of an old single bulb headlight, and new brackets were crafted to hold them

Work process

© Melnitsky Motors