Sailing solo
After building more than 150 motorcycles for someone else over the past 15 years, Shaun Walker decided it was time for change. He was dissatisfied with the lack of ‘involvement’ het got from the company he worked for when it came to the subject of building bikes. As far as BikeBrewers are concerned, the best decision our British friend from Barnsley (South Yorkshire) could make.
First we take an Interceptor…
He started off his solo career veering away from all the Ducati’s and BMW’s he had been busy customizing in the last decade. Luckily for him Royal Enfield has created an ideal tableau to lay down his view on customizing motorcycles with the 650 Interceptor.
Since the launch early 2019 both the Interceptor as well as the Continental GT have become favourites among builders the world over. And rightfully so. Both models are perfect canvasses to get creative on. They are well built machines with a very strong retro reference. You will have to be totally talentless to create something that does not look good using the 650 platform as a base. Although the specs look modest, with only 48hp and weighing in at a 202kg wet, the 650 mill delivers its power smooth and hassle-free. The low center-of-gravity affects handling in a positive way, making it feel more powerful and lighter than it actually is.
For our English mate it was a local Royal Enfield dealer just down the road in Sheffield who supplied the bike Shaun used as his ‘épreuve d’artiste’.
View on the future
When we question the builder about his vision for this project he answers: “I wanted to show a different stance and style to what’s out there so went for the 16” wheels completely different bars hand controls and a wider set of trees to get the bigger wheel in there the rest is just how it ended up going.”
We probe on with a silly question about the inspiration for this build. He laughs out loud and with a wide grin he continues “Inspiration you say? After building over 150 bikes over the last 15 years I have plenty of inspiration now that I can do exactly as I want! But I could have done much more than this, if it were not for the budget restrictions I gave myself for this first endeavour.
So there will be much more from where this has been coming from. Don’t you worry about it.”
Help wanted?
There was no real need for outside help to finish the build. According to Shaun about 90 percent of the work was done by himself and it was just for some work on the wheels and the paint job some assistance from experts was required. The latter was provide by ‘Kustom Paint’. We strongly suggest visiting their page. There are some gorgeous examples of their work on display!
Doing it all in house meant quite some chores with the following set of changes:
• New bar and risers
• Internal wiring in bars and micro buttons
• Side panels
• Fat wheels
• aluminium mudguards
• YSS rear shocks
• YSS front fork internals
• Head light and brackets
• Motogadget bar end indicators
• Kellaman rear indicators with built in stop light and running light
• Sump guard
• Cogneto moto speedometer
Happy man?
“Are you happy with the results of your work during your first solitary shed confinement?” BikeBrewers continue the interrogation. “Absolutely!” Shaun reports. “It’s light looks tough and sounds awesome. From a riding point of view, it’s very good and crisp. It serves the rider with loads of fun man! Looking ahead, we are very happy with the build and are doing a range of parts for the Enfield hand made in our own workshop.”
