Royal Enfield seems to have become the new darling of motorcycle customizers, with the latest custom take on an Enfield, the Cerra GT 865’, unveiled in Melbourne this week.
The Cerra GT 865, like many custom Enfields these days, is based on the Royal Enfield Continental GT 650 café racer.
As a base, the Continental GT 650 has a lot of good points already in its corner. It is the most attainable cafe racer in the class that balances the need to inspire confidence in new riders, as well as satisfies the expectations of more experienced motorcyclists. Built by Carl Cerra in Melbourne, Australia, the custom is an audacious reflection of his personality and self-expression.
The inspiration behind the Cerra GT 865 was to create a retro 80’s-inspired TT-style race bike with a proper full fairing. The vision was to differentiate it from a generic custom bike and make it look and feel like a special edition production motorcycle. Further, taking inspiration from the 80’s motorcycle culture, the motorcycle has been endowed with interesting elements and shapes. This creates the impression that each motorcycle part was designed separately and then amalgamated to look like a perfect modern custom motorcycle with a distinct personality.
The approach for creating it was much closer to that of an automotive design studio than that of a traditional bike shop. Further to this, Carl kicked things off with a series of concept sketches, followed by a classic clay model to develop the proportions and the “surface language” in full scale.
Commenting on the Cerra GT 865 Custom Motorcycle, Anuj Dua, Business Head for Asia Pacific region at Royal Enfield said, “We have been working with some of the best custom builders across the world who use Royal Enfield as the perfect canvas for customisation. We have been credited with unanimous feedback be it - Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Korea or Australia that Royal Enfield makes the most custom friendly motorcycles in the world. We believe in being an ally for motorcyclists around the world to achieve their dreams in metal - imagination and craft from around the world. I am also delighted to share that in Australia & New Zealand, we have over 25 exciting Custom builds done by our passionate Dealer network, enthusiastic Customers and fans of the brand. Having built hundreds of custom builds across the globe, we sincerely believe that we will be able to take inspiration from builders and continue to provide motorcycles which offer Pure motorcycling joy.”
The Skunk Custom Motorcycle Specifications
The motorcycle’s front end contains a custom-designed CNC machined triple tree combo to accommodate 2015 GSX-R fork tubes with Brembo calipers. Then there are the custom-made stainless headers with SC Project slip-ons, the go-to Motogadget electronics and a very cool rearview camera instead of mirrors.
The engine was sent to Melbourne’s Hallam Cycle Works to transform it into an 865cc Big Bore (not stroker as listed previously), which was complemented with a Revelry Cycles throttle body set-up. It’s a tight, compact package with more cubes, more horsepower, and weighing in 30kgs lighter.
Commenting on the build, Carl Cerra says, "The thing I really loved about this project was the support I got from my network of creators; they believed in the project and they didn’t hesitate to help out. They are real supporters of Australian design and manufacturing and were glad to be given the opportunity to let the world see what we have to offer down under.” And with results as sleek and innovative as this, what a great ad for “Made in Australia” this retro racer has turned out to be. I thank Royal Enfield for giving me this opportunity to unleash my creative potential on one of the most gorgeous motorcycles in the recent past.”
Skunk Machine design studio was created by Carl Cerra whose roots originate in Automotive Design and concept prototyping for world-leading automotive brands spanning over a period of 20 years. Skunk Machine prides itself on applying effective and efficient processes to achieve the best results. Using up-to-date technology and methods, we strive for the ultimate solutions.